Patent Remake: 1911 Swivel-Jaw Alligator Wrench
In this patent recreation, I work on a type of alligator wrench designed to work with tapered fasteners. Do I know of any tapered fasteners? No. Does that mean the person who originally designed this wrench in 1911 as insane? Possibly.
You can view the original patent here: patents.google.com/patent/US9...
All major parts were made of 1" thick 4140 steel hardened to 47 HRc. I tried to cut the serrated swivel-jaw portion with the metal planer, but switched to machining on the milling machine after one face because my arm was going to fall off.
I chose not to polish this wrench to a mirror finish as it already looks too much like something you would put in a dark place while bending over.
In the end, it worked well and the spring action of the swivel jaw would be useful in modern pipe wrenches.
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Ah yes, the long awaited Alligator Wrench! Did you know that Alligators can grow up to 14 ft? -Fortunately, most of them only have four.
I wasn't expecting an Alligator joke, but appreciate it all the more for it.
Noice.
Lol
Oh how my heart burns to give you a 10/10 for this joke. My soul is in agony right now for the fact your take off was excellent as was the landing, but you should have stated, "Did you know alligators can grow up to 14 feet". A small thing I know and such is why my heart and soul hurt to give you............9.75/10.
@@evilkidd174 Ah, right you are. You can bet I'll never make that mistake again!
The inventor, Fernando Oscar Jaques of Rhode Island, patented dozens of tools and similar items; he was born in the 1870s and filed patents from 1910 through the 1920s. One of the assignees of his patents, the Central Tool Company, is still in business in Rhode Island and still making tools in the USA.
I think your comment is the most relevant and useful comment I've ever seen on KZhead lol. It was informative and it ended with some good old fashioned American spirit NOT having ended lol. Thanks for the facts brotha.
Eyyy, RHODE ISLAND BABY :D
Rhode Island? Isn't it a Greek island of the Mediteranean? ... I know. It's a crappy joke. I'm going out.
@@th.l.7768 Nah, it's the one going to Rome
@@grekygrek Did you try to join the Enclave in Fallout 3?
The "you only need" part is often overlooked in many of the "look what I made in my shed!" project videos.
We use a similar tool to tighten spikes onto threaded risers and to put spines on top of fences without scarring them up. Saves a ton of finishing and repainting. Love these tools of yesteryear.
I have used something very similar for tightening spiked and ball finials on ornamental steelwork - the lack of flats on the spikes makes them just a bit more vandal-proof.
Looks like it would be great for tightening old fire hose/general air and liquid hose nozzles. Long tapers, and most I've seen appear to have no flats for a regular wrench. And most were brass, so this tool would get a good bite.
I thought of a nozzle myself. I repair brewing and dispense equipment, and as soon as I saw the picture it reminded me of the nozzles that you get on a beer tap.
Many manufacturing plants had chemical processes back in the day with those kinds of nozzles (just smaller). Often for washing/cleaning. The tool rooms often fabricated and installed the nozzles on site, hence a tool like this. Cranston, RI (where the patent was filed) was know for textiles, ropes, cables, and paper. All of those industries use tapered mandrels or nozzles
Yep, also maybe like drawer knobs or the decorative thingies on top of flagpoles and stuff?
Maybe not tightening since most have gaskets and shouldn’t be tightened more than hand tight but it would be great for removing one that stuck
Seems insane not to put flats on those, but maybe they didn't want them tightened down hard.
I like how auto-generated closed captions try to make sense of the sounds of machining tools. Small drills say: "Uh", bigger drills say: "Oh", rotary tool with the cutting disk says: "Hmm". Tiny explosion during the spring washer quenching said: "So".
A lot of [Music] and [Applause] annotations during the lathe operation.
Hahaha!!
I especially like the metal planer saying "Okay" on it's first pass. Thanks for mentioning this! Although now I wonder if any of my tools are talking 😆😆
Extra views on this vid HTR! We're all going back to watch again with cc.... 😁
"Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo," said the Rockwell Hardness Tester.
My great-grandfather showed me a picture of this tool many years ago and said it was designed specifically for tightening up the special tapered nuts that hold the spikes on the head of the Statue of Liberty. He told me that at the time, there was some concern that they were loosening during the winter gales, and the spikes might fall off. A man was sent up with one of these tools and they've had no trouble ever since.
I'd love to see some proof of this
@@Kadco6PM The proof is there for all to see! All the spikes are still holding firm. What more do you want?!!!
@@garyjonah22 we were sceptical at first, but now you've convinced us all. Those spikes are certainly of an appropriate size to be tightened by one of these, hefted by one man. As well, the design of them, giant spiked bolts, makes perfect sense from a mechanical standpoint...
@@operator8014 You're quite right, of course. But I can fully understand your initial scepticism, given the nimby-pimby attitudes of today. However, we mustn't forget that this dates back to a time when men were men (and indeed, women were glad of it). After all, cement came in 2-hundredweight sacks in those days, and it wasn't unusal for a chap to carry one on each shoulder up a ladder . So you see, tightening up a 6" diameter thread was no more than a trivial matter for them.
@@garyjonah22 Lmao
this looks incredibly similar to a wrench I've used out in the field doing water main to house connections. the tool I'm used to is basically a pipe handle, with a metal Y at the other end with notches similar to this design. used in places you cant get a regular pipe wrench into.
@03:30 - When you push the part so hard that your vertical bandsaw, flips into an horizontal bandsaw.
I have a big bowl for some oil, so I'm most of the way there to making one of these for myself. Sweet!
Just pick up some calipers and I'll bet you can wing the rest.
I've got the oil. We should do a colab.
It's a good thing he said it was oil... I thought it was just funny Canadian water.
This is why I love this channel, you're like the Enterprise, boldly going where no man has been before! Just watch out for Khan, that dudes nuts!
I don't know if the "You only need..." at the end was a joke but I find it interesting seeing what is used on projects like this. I own exactly 1 tool in this project and its the oil lol
I got the bowl. Let's get together and find the rest of the misfit tools!
he forgot to list the Canadian snow
@@ryanpeterson5239 It's the missing secret to that "lucky" heat treating!
I have a medium vise, mapp torch, file, hand saws, drill, tiny grinding wheel, and a very tiny tap and die set...See you in 6 years with a finished product 😅
hey, there is a thousand different ways to skin a cat!
Definitely 1 of the strangest looking tools I've seen. My guess is it was conceived for a very job specific use. Like when a completely new designed aircraft or vehicle is being produced and the engineers need 1 specific tool for a certain section to do something that no other tool can do. For instance when they were building the SR-71 Blackbird they had to invent brand new tools and machines to work and shape the metal for the airframe because the titanium was so hard that nothing that was in use or invented at the time could handle the job. Just a guess.
That sounds most likely. Another possibility.. dunno if this happened back then but today there are a lot of speculative/troll patents, like somebody will patent the idea of a rocket powered washing machine or something, so if something remotely like that ever actually exists then they can claim royalties
@@alakani excuse me just a moment, i need to jaunt over to the patent office. no reason... carry on.
That's exactly what happened. This was brilliantly conceived to solve a very specific issue but mass production would be an absolute waste
@@Turk380 🤣
This was like the DRM of the day. That special tool that you need to make a specific car repair.
Really nice hand tool reincarnation of that old patent! I can somehow imagine conical things that screw in as part of a manufacturing device - but I'd think they'd change that to use a different fastener type if possible (i.e. a screw-driver) to avoid the need for a special wrench. Really nice video and outstanding result!
Доктору Дью покажите эту Полуляховую ерунду !
In 1911 id think more towards something railroad
Possibly teeth on old mining equipment, where once it's worn out, there may not be flats on the base anymore, and all that's left is a lump of metal shaped like a gum drop. I could also see it for installing or removing fuses on artillery shells, where the nose of the shell screws in, and you potentially have nothing but a smooth cone to work with. This was just after WWI afterall.
Of the sea of restoration channels, you stand above them all, sir. Keep up the incredible work.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. Making something from scratch from simple drawings, with no expectations, made this all the more interesting. Love it.
I could feel the band saw squealing on that hunk of 4140 clear over here and then magically jumped to horizontal. Nice edit! Great build HTR giving it elegant but gnarly shape and mostly appreciate all the efforts and tools to make this!! Thanks Much!
Cool tool. I have seen some threaded, cone shaped nozzles for water and air jets, low pressure stuff. They did not have a machined face for a typical wrench, just a nice smooth cone. Perfect application. Normal? Nope, but this tool is probably what some of the comments suggest, specialty tool. It's the "need a tool, make a tool" taken to another level. A pipe wrench with one articulating/rotating jaw would be a cool modification, adjustable as well. You could pull it off.
From one machinist to another, you did an excellent job.
I can only imagine that someone, clever and skilled, had a unique need and made one. Then a friend came by and said “Wow! You should patent that.” Thanks for the video.
I love these old patent videos. They are really fascinating. Thanks for this
This was interesting. A tool that was patented but never manufactured. Makes me wonder what else is filed in the patent office that was never manufactured. It would make an interesting channel if someone had the skills, tooling, and interest to do it.
This is that channel. Not specifically. But this is the guy
@@4thdimensiontravels855 Another channel (fireball tool) is also making old tools videos recently.
Most things that are patented were never manufactured or commercialized.
Is this channel a joke to you or what?
I always love when you make a tool from an old patent. Loved it
How incredible! What an interesting little tool! I love how specific tools can be for individual uses. Thanks for bringing this tool to life!
Dang, yeah, I was watching you caaaaarefully use the metal filer for that square piece and I was making a horrified face - that definitely seemed like the most time-consuming part. Making your own golden (brass? copper?) screw was really pretty, thank you for showing us that! And for lamp-shading the absolutely ridiculous number of tools and bits and bobs one would need to make this at home. How WOULD this have gone into mass-production with such a complicated square screw part?? Welp, that's not what the inventors get paid to think about! :P
Easy piece because it's just a thru hole in the middle. Get a bar feed mill with some live axis tools, cut the face groves with a single pass of a form tool / threadmill, drill center part off. Repeat and then batch heat treat.
If you were going all out I'd cast the piece with a investment shell mold which would be very cheap.
legit this is the hardest way to make this but least capital intensive
@@brandonsmoot4056 ok.
Could a die filer be an option?
I love watching a master craftsman work. Well done!
I'm more of a woodworker. I really enjoyed watching a metal craftsman at work. Well done bringing this imagined tool to life.
I'm so glad we have a clutch on our drill press at work every time I see somebody tapping stuff on KZhead it reminds me how useful that thing is.
I can definitely see a use in this. Fire Departments have to use cone shaped plugs to assist with containing hazardous material leaks when tanks have been punctured. We currently have to hammer the rubber plug into the holes. This tool could help us screw it into the holes and make it more secure. Send it to me and I’ll let you know how it goes….. 😂
Make the manufacturer put a gigantic hex shape on the back and use a portable impact gun with a big socket. Can probably find who makes them on aliexpress and contact the factory directly, they usually actually have pretty reasonable minimum orders for simple requests like that
@@alakani That’s a pretty good idea for stopping leaks that aren’t flammable or explosive. All of our tools are made of bronze which doesn’t spark to work around explosive and flammable areas.
@@captkleppto Gotcha, I guess not setting more things on fire is a good idea, heh. I know there are explosion-proof motors but I don't know if they exist in hand tools. Apparently there are some intrinsically safe pneumatic impact guns, but dragging an air hose from who knows what safe distance doesn't sound much faster than a hammer. How about a steampunk bronze bicycle powered air compressor?
@@alakani 😂😂😂 That’s Hand Tool Rescue’s next project!
@@captkleppto probably easier to machine out of beryllium or bronze than steel anyway. I used to be a fire officer and haz mat tech. Older officers be like " if youre over the upper explosive limit, hammer away with that Halligan!"
I was picturing this, with opposing cut jaw (angled opposite direction), for more versatility and angle adaptability. Very nice work.
If the opposing jaw was also cut, you'd have to design in a joint that allows the two halves of the jaw to be separated in order to extract the thing you were just turning with it, and then you'd end up with something approximating channel-lock pliers or a plumber's wrench. If you've noticed, the jaw of plumbers' wrenches always has a lot of play in relation to the handle. This is intentional, because it is critical to being able to get the wrench to release from what it was turning. The specific design of both the wrench's system of attaching the moving jaw to the handle, and the serrations in both the jaw and the opposing gripping face on the handle, both allow the plumber's wrench to act as a ratchet when properly adjusted. Most people that aren't familiar with them tighten the jaw too much. They're also not really intended to hold hex-head fasteners as the jaws being parallel is never guaranteed and always sub-optimal from a "grip strength" perspective, but they will in a pinch.
"you only need a metal workshop" nice video, always fun to see an old patent revived
I wish I could do machining like this. But I'm 38, unemployed, ruined back, no money for tools, school, or a shop to do any of it in but I can't tell you how much I appreciate being able to watch videos like this.
One step at a time. I built a 3D printer for $60 way back when I was homeless, it took years to get it working right with junk parts but I eventually used that to make an MPCNC, and am now using the MPCNC to make 6 axis robots. I'll never have a big heavy lathe or mill for super high accuracy since just picking up the chuck would probably give me a hernia and I have nowhere to put them, but it's a lot of fun even on a smaller scale, and I'm constantly surprised by what a tiny tabletop CNC can do, with some tuning and rigidity improvements (I just put a piece of angle iron in the rails and filled them with epoxy, and it can cut pretty thick steel now, albeit slowly)
@@alakani imho, you need to share your experience and knowledge to inspire and teach people who interest in DIY. I'll be glad to see your projects 🙂
Take Google courseraclasses and be a project coordinator. The classes are dirt cheap.
Wouaw quel patience !! J'imagine le nombres d'heures juste pour faire une clé. BRAVO 😉
I will admit for a first time build that looks pretty good and even I've never heard of this type of wrench I guess I learned something new everyday hope all is well with you
Tapered fasteners sounds demented at first read. But then I started thinking about decorative elements like finials or escutcheons, transitional pipe fittings, etc. It's more common than one might think although needing a specialty tool seems odd outside of a production environment
I imagine a strap wrench would be just as good, but easier and with a larger range of sizes you can torque on.
I love how the pattern is pristine white paper and once you've finished it's smothered in the pawprints if hard graft. Really enjoy seeing these ghost tools coming to life. 👻
I'm just so damned impressed about the consistency of what you do
I love it when he breaks the 4th wall and does the sit-com laugh into the camera 😂 o
I bought my best mate one of your screwdrivers and a wrench for his birthday (which was a few days ago) and he’s chuffed to bits (I believe), I have one of each too… that said, I’m not sure what use (if any) this beastie would be in most people’s shops, but as with every other rescue/remake and build you’ve done : huge respect! I don’t have the tools, skill, ability or sense of humour to attempt the herculean tasks you take on, but I will definitely be supporting you as best I can. Be well and stay safe… and thank you for sharing.
I hope chuffed is a good thing?
@@1983mojo1 chuffed is a good thing 😊
I'm not a tool person AT ALL, and this STILL one of my very favorite channels on The YouTewbs. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any other channel that I get more excited when there's a new video released. I LOVE this channel!!
Wow, thank you!
I've enjoyed your restoration projects for quite some time, however I'm really enjoying your digging through old patent archives and building strange and wonderful tools (the first of which I watched was the 1909 ratchet wrench).
My guess is that this is more useful as a pipe wrench than as a wrench for fasteners. It's easier to "get in" if things are inaccessible because you don't have to reach around the pipe as with a regular pipe wrench, but can access things from the front. It also doesn't need adjustment.
This would be a great addition to Mr. Pete's mystery tools! :)
It is the spring washer that makes it work so good I think. That little movement permits the better indentation of the jaw on flat surfaces and the grip as well.
Pretty cool , like you said it is unusual at best. I'm wondering if maybe it might have been used in the railroad trade to keep from having to carry a lot of tools from one end of the train to the other, what do you think? Thanks,
I always enjoy these Patent remakes ! Great work buddy !
I love how everyone just geeking over tools. But tools and machinery have so much history. Keep it up bud.👍👍👍
I love the camera angle when you make the brass screw! I've never seen lathe work that way, so thank you!
Great video. Pliers, pipe wrench and adjustable wrench all in one. Should be one in every tool box.
I agree. He seems to disparage it a bit, but I was definitely thinking pipe wrench. Would be fast and work with tapers. But it does seem a bit clunky..
@@ronskopitz2360 well I guess it could be scaled back and different sizes made. I thought it was a cool tool
@@flyfisher301 it definitely is!
What a fantasic tool and so unusual. I bet if you worked with AvE and This Old Tony, you could make a limited edition run! Thanks for sharing and, Cheers.
Ave supports the Nazis
@@iolithblue Huh what? I mean, I don't really like the guy, but supporting nazis?
Really neat project. I like these weird old school remakes!
Have you ever watched another Utuber that goes by Junkyard Dave,I think you two are related,with all of your meticulous fabrication and machine work and the way your mind works,you two have to be.LOL. Very creative project and great tutorial on this part.great video,just keep doing what your doing.👍👍👍😎😎😎
Absolutely beautiful watching you work, and I am not questioning that the patent described it as a solid square chunk for the jaw. This question is more for my own education... is there a reason not to use a stack of square "washers" to build up that stack? Especially with the spring washer tensioner, I would think it would be even better for applying grip to irregularly shaped items, would be simpler to mill a single 45° edge (sharper bite) as in the illustration rather than the 90° valley that is required without a highly specialized milling bit. It would make replacement easier and more cost efficent since you could remove damaged washers, slide undamaged ones down, and purchase more to top off the stack from your tool company. Given the shape, I'd definitely expect the body to be cast with minimal machining, but again, you made a piece of art that also demonstrates the tools basic usability as well.
I thought they were square washers from the thumbnail
Great job! I do love these Patent builds.
Bro you're my favorite resto channel of all time. Your intro never gets skipped on my screen lol....even with many many shows I've enjoyed over the years id always skip the intro...not hand tool rescue. The forbidden nutella and your freakin smile always kill me lolol. Love it brother never knew you did patent remakes either, talk about a gold mine of top notch content.
This would have been a great tool for messing with water well fittings. Especially something like threaded poly adapters since they are conical in shape so depending on the situation this could have been a nice tool . Edited typo
great vid as always look forward to more thanks
My man spent 13 years in the making of this video. It trully crack me up since my first though once you started cutting the first piece out of the steel was "that some hard ass steel he will take forever to cut it"
Patent examiner here. If you're able to recreate it that means it was a well written patent.
Perhaps there were many poorly written and joke patents coming into the office. Your predecessors had to draw the line somewhere.
Might be useful for installing the points on old German military helmets.
1:28 oh lord. This is going to be a good video
The automatic subtitles bring your tools up to life. Love their personalities. Especially the HRC50 file that said "yo yo yo yo" at 18:53. 😂
Ahhhhh....my fav, the fireside chat. So warm and cozy.
What if you need to twist something with a Morse Taper? I mean, it could happen, right?
Ah yes, 13 years is the exact amount of time that seemingly passes when I am removing massive amounts of material, great minds exaggerate alike! PS: can you send me some of that quenching snow? TYIA
So damn cool! Thank you so much for sharing this with us and for bringing it to life!!
You find the most unique and fascinating things! I always enjoy learning something new!!
What a fabulous concept. I have a few patents on things I never built (mostly in software), long expired, that you might want to look at.
Nuclear war on the horizon and I'm watching this instead.
great job. love your work, sir!
I was gonna build this too, but was only missing the large bowl for muh oil!
This is really cool. I love that you're making a tool that never was until now!
Impressive! Have you ever performed a restoration on a stripper pole? Or for that matter a stripper?
I have seen him with a stripper many times. He laid it on thick and then rubbed it out.
The center hole of the square potion could be off centered for more gripping options.
Your dedication to the useless is commendable.
What a crazy handle design, can't imagine anyone making a wrench like that in 2022
Nice~ Specializedtools on Reddit might want to know about this. A bunch of square washers stacked loose on the fastener pivot thing would work. Then the edges could be left as stamped out of sheet metal and it would be fine. - Guessing this kind of bespoke tool is what this patent is supposed to industrialize.
Handtool rescue bringing into existence things that should have never been created. Keep this series going! "Today we are going to be bringing the eldritch god Cthulhu. From what I can tell nobody has ever done it before. I found this old stone tablet with all the summoning instructions though. I hope you enjoy it and let's get started!"
Bwahahahahahahahaha
You're very skilled and knowledgeable, glad I found this channel
I love how you went all out with the bluing and scribe for the rough cuts... lol
You forgot the band saw!! For the necessary tool list I mean. Lmao great video but I'm sorry it took 47 years to do it all, you have the patience of a saint.
You only need: a full machine shop. Simple!
I can see a need for that in plumbing as a way to hold an adapter (example: i"-3/4 street adapter staying away from the threads. A regular pipe wrench will rock if you try to go between the threads. And if you go on the threads you risk the problem of crushing the threads out of shape.
I remember now, this is the video that introduced me to this channel.
15:20 was your spring washer intentionally bend in reverse? Usually they're bend the other way so the accompanying nut doesn't unscrew and the washer edges dig in. But the way it's bent would allow possible unscrewing.
Anything from your channel is amazing, especially when its narrated
That snow quench is just the kind of content I'm looking for haha. I'd like to think the OG designer was just playing a prank on the patent office lol.
I love “you only need ( all the tools enumeration ) “ that’s why things are expensive! Good work
It's the perfect wrench for finials, globes, spires and knobs.
I was kinda surprised that it actually worked as described. Good job!
its been a while since i watched one of your videos, and let me tell you, you improved a LOT on the time i was away. Keep up the good work, I'll be a more frequent viewer from now on
It's the first time I see such an interesting tool.
Lovely ambiance from the fireplace…
Man id just be overjoyed to see and old school style wrench set made of modern steel with the hand tool Rescue logo on them id buy two sets
I just recently found a wrench that uses a spring action in order to set the jaws, and i think its similar to that lock washer action. It's stampings say "popular morco" and "Moore drop forging co, Springfield USA" size 14. Its a monkey wrench but the upper jaw pivots and is held downward by two tab springs.
You should recieve every grant, award (and beer! beer is also an award!) and honorary title available for your efforts in this historical engineering niche of yours!
I really liked this video......nothing better than a homemade tool !! You did a great job making this it was a AWESOME learning experience with the Metal Plane I really enjoy your work !!! 👍👍
I find your videos both equal parts entertaining, and sleep-inducing.
Man I really love these patent recreation videos
Sweet work, as always. The only thing missing was the sand blaster! Nice job, glad to see you back!!
Beautiful work on making the initial gator “jaw” point of contact.
In your list of required tools and materials, you left out the important and difficult to obtain Canadian quenching snow. This looks like an incredible amount of effort, I'm really curious how long this took to make...at least 13 years of band saw work. This was interesting and a surprisingly good result, really fun to watch, nice work.