Wrench Vs Rod

[MrZsasz]

How do they compare? I know different brands of wrenches make it difficult for a straight comparison but if you had to, how would match them up. For instance, a braced bend of 5/16 CRS would be semi-equivalent to what wrench? Or a 12" 3/8 CRS to what wrench. I think you can see where I'm going with this. Just curious to see if one could ballpark a wrench based on a current level of braced bending.

[Tim71]

Wrenches vary alot and for some people the flat shape makes it easier and for some it makes it harder. A decent show quality wrench let's say that Dennis or Steve would use in a 10 incher would probably be roughly equivelant to a keystone 10 inch spike. Take that as a rough estimate of probably the lesser ones used in shows. There are 8 inch wrenches that will be slightly easier than a 12 inch spike. I would say the same would apply to an 8 or 10 inch piece of 3/8 inch CRS. 5/16 wouldn't be compareable to any halfway decent wrench and I usually tell most people that I wouldn't even start trying wrenches until you can get at least a 12 inch by 3/8 inch spike pretty decently.

If you can bend a 12 inch piece of 3/8 inch CRS then you might be able to get the 8 inch Regal with the orange foam handle that you see in the 4.47 bins at alot of hardware store. Also, you'd stand a good chance at the 1/2 inch by 9/16 inch craftsman tappet open end wrench or at least the one below that. Depends too on what length you're comfortable with.

Wrenches do vary alot and there are some that are absolute killers and there are even some, like snap-on or crescent that even professionals agree that will never be bent by human hands.

1/4 inch by 1 inch flat steel is pretty comparable to a decent wrench at 10 inches too. Even in the wrenches that are bendable, I've done a couple 10 inchers that were brutal. Comparable to the FBBC 80d nail / spike and maybe even much harder.

There are some wrenches too that are absolute garbage and I'd avoid using those to show off. The dollar store type wrenches sometimes make you wonder what legitimate use there would be for one. Kid's toolbox maybe?

Hope this helps!

Tim

[MrZsasz]

Thanks for the reply. I was going to PM you the question but I figured everybody would gain some more knowledge from your expertise if I posted instead. And I am a fair bit away from bending a wrench but was just curious.

What I find strange is that the longer wrenches are so much harder. They don't seem to be a great deal thicker than their smaller counterparts and I assumed that the increased length would add to the leverage factor. But I guess that just isn't the case in the real world. Thanks again, Tim.

[Tim71]

Most of the time if you look at an 8 inch and 10 inch of the same brand the 10 is not only thicker but also wider which adds more metal. I've seen one exception to this where the 12 is actually thinner than the 10 but that was only one brand.

Not to say all 10s are harder than all 8s because that is most definately not the case. Plus the 10 inch length is typically harder to crush than the 8 for most people. So you've got one thing working in the 10 inches favor and that's the leverage in the kink, but then you've got thickness, width and sweeping "awkwardness" working against it so generally a 10 is harder.

Always glad to help and best of luck with it!

Tim