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ToolGuyd: I have been using a Proto 8-inch Clik-Stop adjustable wrench here and there for nearly four years now, and I’m still not sure as to whether I like it or not. Sometimes I prefer to reach for a Channellock adjustable, sometimes I reach for this Proto.
4 comments:
Nicholas Coauette
said...
Now this looks like a tool that I might actually want to try out someday. When on a focus call, or anything really that requires one to tighten or loosen a number of bolts within a short amount of time, using a standard open-end adjustable wrench can be a right pain in the ass. They don't always like to stay where you put them! Thus, you come back to the same bolt you were just loosening three seconds ago and you have to adjust the wrench because it moved a few eighths of an inch. This Proto wrench seems like a good alternative, given some adjustments in muscle memory, to a problem that has always seemed to flog me on calls where sometimes speed is absolutely necessary.
I am all for updating tools, and making them easier for the common man to use. But honestly sometimes I feel as thought they are just going over board with the constant adjustments to wrenches! I mean they are a pretty standard tool, they have one job! And adding these locking and clicking and spring mechanisms, i feel not only take away from the ease of use but slows down the worker. A wrench is a wrench can it please just be left as the only non-futuristic tool in my tool box?
Meh. I feel like this tool tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist. If you are frustrated with unintended movement in your c-wrench's thumbscrew, then perhaps buy a better quality c-wrench. I most certainly can attest to the difference in precision between a good quality c-wrench and a c-wrench that you might find at the dollar store. Personally, I carry a 6" c-wrench to lighting calls. Although some people are aghast that I don't carry the standard issue 8", I feel that the smaller form factor and increased ease of adjustability is generally more beneficial than the increased leverage. So on those two counts, I have to vote nay on the Proto CLik-Stop Adjustable wrench.
This seems like a cool tool, but nah. It's a good concept, but I don't really know who would find it useful. As far as theatre in concerned, lighting designers who don't want to deal with a crescent wrench can get an altman wrench or an ultimate focus tool, and in the shop we use ratchets for most things. As Ben said above, it's trying to solve a problem that isn't there. Personally, I'm always playing with my wrench when it's in my pocket, so having it lock would be annoying, but at the same time it gets annoying when I adjust my wrench just a little bit while it's in my pocket and then I go to use it and it's the wrong size. But that can't be solved by a fancy wrench, that's all operator error. I'm sure some people like having this sort of wrench, but for the most part I see at as unnecessary and an inconvenience.
4 comments:
Now this looks like a tool that I might actually want to try out someday. When on a focus call, or anything really that requires one to tighten or loosen a number of bolts within a short amount of time, using a standard open-end adjustable wrench can be a right pain in the ass. They don't always like to stay where you put them! Thus, you come back to the same bolt you were just loosening three seconds ago and you have to adjust the wrench because it moved a few eighths of an inch. This Proto wrench seems like a good alternative, given some adjustments in muscle memory, to a problem that has always seemed to flog me on calls where sometimes speed is absolutely necessary.
I am all for updating tools, and making them easier for the common man to use. But honestly sometimes I feel as thought they are just going over board with the constant adjustments to wrenches! I mean they are a pretty standard tool, they have one job! And adding these locking and clicking and spring mechanisms, i feel not only take away from the ease of use but slows down the worker. A wrench is a wrench can it please just be left as the only non-futuristic tool in my tool box?
Meh. I feel like this tool tries to solve a problem that doesn't exist. If you are frustrated with unintended movement in your c-wrench's thumbscrew, then perhaps buy a better quality c-wrench. I most certainly can attest to the difference in precision between a good quality c-wrench and a c-wrench that you might find at the dollar store. Personally, I carry a 6" c-wrench to lighting calls. Although some people are aghast that I don't carry the standard issue 8", I feel that the smaller form factor and increased ease of adjustability is generally more beneficial than the increased leverage. So on those two counts, I have to vote nay on the Proto CLik-Stop Adjustable wrench.
This seems like a cool tool, but nah. It's a good concept, but I don't really know who would find it useful. As far as theatre in concerned, lighting designers who don't want to deal with a crescent wrench can get an altman wrench or an ultimate focus tool, and in the shop we use ratchets for most things. As Ben said above, it's trying to solve a problem that isn't there. Personally, I'm always playing with my wrench when it's in my pocket, so having it lock would be annoying, but at the same time it gets annoying when I adjust my wrench just a little bit while it's in my pocket and then I go to use it and it's the wrong size. But that can't be solved by a fancy wrench, that's all operator error. I'm sure some people like having this sort of wrench, but for the most part I see at as unnecessary and an inconvenience.
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