Stubby Whitworth/BS combination spanners?

[gasket999]

Quick question, in case anyone has ever come across them.

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that ever made a set of stubby Whitworth/BS combination spanners?

These would be in the 4-4.5” long range.

Happy to track them down on eBay if they’re no longer made. Equally, given the short length, they’ll see very little torque so happy to look at cheap Chinese ones if there’s a no-name make of them,

In Whitworth/BS my shortest spanners are Snap-On WOEX and while they’re classed as “short” they’re just a smidge too long at 6” for a couple of recent jobs and I’ve resorted to using the nearest SAE/Metric stubbies and keeping everything crossed that I didn’t round the bolts.

Thanks.

 

[qwakers]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AB-Tools-Toolzone-Imperial-Spanner-Combination/dp/B01N9CB1F6?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&psc=1&smid=A10QL4DLSICX54

 

[bourbon]

I'll have a look tomorrow

 

[gasket999]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AB-Tools-Toolzone-Imperial-Spanner-Combination/dp/B01N9CB1F6?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&psc=1&smid=A10QL4DLSICX54

Thanks - but they’re just SAE/Imperial/AF stubbies (I’ve got a set of these already) rather than the Whitworth/BS stubbies I’m hoping to find.

 

[Jack_K]

Which size spanner are you talking about?

 

[frank horton]

get a set of normal whit spanners n shorten them....

 

[Agroshield]

I suspect the 'stubby' concept in spanners post-dated when Whitworth was popular, hence your difficulty.

Trawl through eBay searching 'whitworth spanner'. If not even one single example is seen, that is a reasonable indication that they do not exist.

As above, a nice cut n' shut job on a standard one could be a good project. Alternatively, buy two of each size and make a short open-ended only and short ring only set.

Do you have any height challenges? You could heat up and bend into a Z-shape to loose some length, but that makes reversing the open end to achieve a different angle rather awkward.

 

[winchman]

Think we have a set in a yellow wallet so possibly CK I will see if I can locate them

 

[gasket999]

Thanks all.

Winchman - that sounds interesting, thanks for taking the time.

Frank/Agro - if there isn’t a CK set, then cutting-down a set of each sounds very sensible and a nice little weekend job.

I think I have a few sets of BS double open end / offset ring Elora spanners sitting in a carrier bag somewhere that would be ideal for this.

 

[voipio]

A set of metric stubbies could be opened up a bit, to fit. It shouldn't change the jaw geometry by much plus, being shorter, the applied torque will be lower. 3/8"BSW only requires 15 microns off each side of the jaw of an 18mm metric spanner, to be in-spec, and the other BS sizes generally require only 0.1 to 0.2 mm off each jaw of the appropriate metric spanner to make them fit.

 

[zzr1200]

Quick question, in case anyone has ever come across them.

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that ever made a set of stubby Whitworth/BS combination spanners?

These would be in the 4-4.5” long range.

Happy to track them down on eBay if they’re no longer made. Equally, given the short length, they’ll see very little torque so happy to look at cheap Chinese ones if there’s a no-name make of them,

In Whitworth/BS my shortest spanners are Snap-On WOEX and while they’re classed as “short” they’re just a smidge too long at 6” for a couple of recent jobs and I’ve resorted to using the nearest SAE/Metric stubbies and keeping everything crossed that I didn’t round the bolts.

Thanks.

A Sunday morning touring your local boot sales looking/buying whitworth/bsf spanners, a hacksaw and a cheap bench grinder, would probably be time well spent, then a bit of DIY..... .

We all have those cut n welded modified spanners in various degrees of butchery.....

 

[Agroshield]

A set of metric stubbies could be opened up a bit, to fit.

For the CDO among us, we'd need to come up with a way to obliterate the metric number and add a fraction (maybe etch using salt solution).

Edit:

The fettling could be a little tedious on the ring end.

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An alternative to the Z-shape is an S-shape:

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With very careful cutting, you could make these into a KICK brand:

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These are short, but only open ended (not combination)

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This is a brand (Gordon) that produced stubby ones:

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[zzr1200]

The fettling could be a little tedious on the ring end

 

[Jack_K]

There was definitely a range of lengths of Whitworth/BS spanners. I think a lot of the new ones are "long" spanners designed for industrial uses. A lot of old ones designed for automotive purposes are shorter. I have heaps so can measure which make was short if you can give what size spanners you need and how short you want them.

 

[TEO]

I've inherited a set of stubby double ended ring spanners in whitworth sizes. Think they're Britool, probably from the 50s or 60s, possibly my grandfather's but may have been bought by my father. I don't have them to hand ATM, I'll get pics when I do. The range of sizes in metric equivalent would be roughly 8 - 19mm

 

[gasket999]

Thanks folks - in terms of sizes I'd be looking at the ones below (I've included 1 and 0BA as they're often in the same set).

I've been going through my bags of old tools and I definitely have enough '80s Elora (ring and open) and post-war Blue Point (WXS short ring) ones to cut down to make a really nice set. I'd end up with one set of open ends and one set of ring ends to cover the range above.

The Gordon stubbies in Agro's link above are actually longer than my Snap On short ones.

In terms of length I'd be looking at 4-4.5" max.

Sorry - I feel like I've gone right off the deep end here with a thread that would better suit the Garage Journal wrench polishing crowd . So at least I've now got a plan (chop down the ones I have) - but if one of the CK/Britool sets mentioned above turn out to fall in that length range then I'll hold off on taking the bandsaw to the old set and will track them down on eBay instead.

I've now seen a few double open end spanners, that I'd class as antique, that fit in the size range. But they've got to be usable, so the cut down set of '80s chrome vanadium Elora will likely be much more practical.

 

[TEO]

Just to be clear, mine are not for sale.
As far as finding vintage ones goes, don't be worried about age per se, the ones I have are well used but still fully functional.
Searching for Britool stubby double ended ring spanners on eBay found this amongst others :

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