Handy Bar?

[donkeyoaty]

Hello all, hope you can help.

Once again horribly confused by Toolbank catalogue ... handy bar and pry bar named as two separate things, but everywhere else I look a handy bar seems to be just a type of pry bar. Are they the same thing, or is handy bar its own genre of bar? Uhhh... hope this makes sense :shock:

Thanks!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Crow bar, handy bar, pinch bar, wrecking bar, jemmy; no doubt many other names too. Different trades, different areas of the country and different tool sellers seem to have different names for the varieties of this tool, which also varies a lot in design - from about 9" long to about 6 feet long, made from round bar, octagonal bar or flat bar, and with any number of varieties of end detail.

The best bet, if you need one, is either to drop into the local agricultural merchant or tool dealer and buy over the counter so you can see what you're getting, or buy from photographs in a catalogue or website. Trying to guess the shape from a random name only is almost guaranteed to end in surprise!

 

[whiskywill]

Aldi is currently selling a 4 piece pry bar set. https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/s ... y-bar-set/

 

[disco_monkey79]

I've got that Aldi set - very handy.

 

[donkeyoaty]

Thanks guys, that's really helpful.

I wonder if I could ask one more thing - 'contour bar'? Seen many utility bars referred to as belonging to this subcategory, but can't visibly identify a 'contour' - to what does this refer? Shaft or claw? What is the benefit?

Thank you all very much for your time. #-o

I have attached a picture of a 'contour bar' as identified by TB's catalogue...

 

[donkeyoaty]

Just thought - have noticed that the straight claw of that bar is positioned a little further back than the bent claw, with the shaft on a very slight curve between them. Is this what is meant by contour bar? Would the benefit have something to do with the end you hold during heavier levering with the bent claw already being further back than that claw when you start to pull it back, thus giving you a greater angle of leverage.

:?: :?: :?: Just thoughts.