# Super cool machine tool wrench



## Janderso (Dec 8, 2021)

I say, machine tool wrench because I am making an assumption.
1 7/16 and 1 13/16” on the same wrench seems purpose driven.
Anybody know what this was for?
Armstrong makes good stuff.
I can see this in a K&T or Cincinnati horizontal mill tool kit.

I love these old tools!


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## DavidR8 (Dec 8, 2021)

Those look really similar to some Armstrong wrenches my dad had. The lettering looks exactly the same. No idea if they were specific to a machine but he did work around heavy road building machinery which all had massive fasteners. Or at least they seemed massive when I was ten years old.


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## Saguaro Slim (Dec 8, 2021)

I'm thinking tractor or diesel powered heavy equipment when I see wrenches that size...


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## MrWhoopee (Dec 8, 2021)

Early and late split window VW bus rear-axle nuts, 36mm & 46 mm.


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## woodchucker (Dec 8, 2021)

I have a Williams 1 5/8 on one end, and 1 7/16 on the other.
you think the 1 13/16 seems to far out from the other end?


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## mmcmdl (Dec 9, 2021)

Got a bucket full of them .   Some left with Jason the other week .


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## Janderso (Dec 9, 2021)

MrWhoopee said:


> Early and late split window VW bus rear-axle nuts, 36mm & 46 mm.


Are you one of those VW enthusiasts?
I'm pretty mechanically inclined but the Beatle engine had me stumped.
I know, simplicity at it's core, but with all that sheet metal, split case, air cooled, it was just too foreign for my linear brain.


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## Janderso (Dec 9, 2021)

woodchucker said:


> I have a Williams 1 5/8 on one end, and 1 7/16 on the other.
> you think the 1 13/16 seems to far out from the other end?


I'm not sure I understand your question.
My point was the wide range of the two sizes.
That's why I think it's from a specific machine or application.


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## MrWhoopee (Dec 9, 2021)

Janderso said:


> Are you one of those VW enthusiasts?
> I'm pretty mechanically inclined but the Beatle engine had me stumped.
> I know, simplicity at it's core, but with all that sheet metal, split case, air cooled, it was just too foreign for my linear brain.


Enough so that I didn't have to look up the sizes of the axle nuts.
I've been a VW bus owner for longer than I can remember, though for the last 30 years it's been my toy not my transportation.
I built one engine back in the 70s. Since I cut my teeth on them, they make perfect sense to me. A Chevy V8 stumps me.
My doublecab is currently being freshened up in preparation for selling it. I don't drive it much anymore and, being worth more than all 6 of my other vehicles combined, it just doesn't make sense to have it sitting in the garage waiting to burn.


A friend calls them "boltswagens" because that's what holds them together.


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## Bob Korves (Dec 9, 2021)

I have rebuilt several VW air cooled engines.  Their design is very similar to many smaller aircraft engines, where VW likely got the idea.  They are relatively quite easy to remove, take apart, repair as needed, and put back together with very few and simple tools, a pry bar, the factory jack, and some 2X lumber.  That is why they were so popular with teens and others with few assets for getting their VW bug or bus running again.  With a small box of tools, the jack to lift and lower the vehicle, and not very much money, it was quite possible to remove, repair, and put it back together on the side of a road (been there, young, poor, and needing to get back home!)


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## Cadillac (Dec 9, 2021)

Nice wrench. Idk why the big span in sizes. I e been buying these types of wrenches for acouple years now. Usually get a bucket full or box of them for acouple bucks. I have a friend that pinstripes them and resells for acouple bucks. Gives him practice on designs and people tend to enjoy them because he sells the crap out of them. This wrench is a 5/8 and 7/8 and is has 38 and 39 on it. So it’s universal?? 
i search for the biggest ones u can find


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## DavidR8 (Dec 9, 2021)

Bob Korves said:


> I have rebuilt several VW air cooled engines.  Their design is very similar to many smaller aircraft engines, where VW likely got the idea.  They are relatively quite easy to remove, take apart, repair as needed, and put back together with very few and simple tools, a pry bar, the factory jack, and some 2X lumber.  That is why they were so popular with teens and others with few assets for getting their VW bug or bus running again.  With a small box of tools, the jack to lift and lower the vehicle, and not very much money, it was quite possible to remove, repair, and put it back together on the side of a road (been there, young, poor, and needing to get back home!)


Yup in my younger days I dropped the engine out of my 71 Westy in my driveway, pulled all the extraneous bits off and carried to my basement where I rebuilt it. Had a friend help my carry it back up the stairs and popped it back in. Ran like a champ, 1600 cc of raw power! 
My 1300cc Honda V-4 has three times the power in a smaller package. Progress?


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## MrWhoopee (Dec 9, 2021)

Cadillac said:


> . This wrench is a 5/8 and 7/8 and is has 38 and 39 on it. So it’s universal??


Nice looking wrenches. Don't know what the 38 and 39 are, but they are not the metric equivalents of 5/8" and 7/8".


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## Janderso (Dec 9, 2021)

Bob Korves said:


> They are relatively quite easy to remove, take apart, repair as needed,


Maybe for you, I'll agree they are easy to remove. Tearing it down is for you professor types 
Give me an old Ford 302, 289, 260, 352W-any day of the week.
I cut my teeth on a 1960, 292- V8.

Nice Bug Mr. Whoopee!


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## Janderso (Dec 9, 2021)

DavidR8 said:


> My 1300cc Honda V-4 has three times the power in a smaller package. Progress?


Progress? = In spades.

The engineering on todays vehicles doesn't compare to units built ten years ago. (Imho)


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## Chip Monkey (Dec 17, 2021)

MrWhoopee said:


> Enough so that I didn't have to look up the sizes of the axle nuts.
> I've been a VW bus owner for longer than I can remember, though for the last 30 years it's been my toy not my transportation.
> I built one engine back in the 70s. Since I cut my teeth on them, they make perfect sense to me. A Chevy V8 stumps me.
> My doublecab is currently being freshened up in preparation for selling it. I don't drive it much anymore and, being worth more than all 6 of my other vehicles combined, it just doesn't make sense to have it sitting in the garage waiting to burn.
> ...


Man! That thing is beautiful!

I always found VW Engines as annoying as they were simple. But they did sell a few!


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