Spanner

[antifoul2020]

How many mm is 1/2W as far as I know it’s the same size as a scaffolding spanner
But I need an open ender for taking the wire brush off my grinder

 

[Amplidyne]

https://www.samstagsales.com/whitworth_table.htm#table

 

[antifoul2020]

9/16 AF closet I can find

 

[Phill05]

1/2" W is 0.920" or 23.37 mm across flats. the 9/16 is dia.

 

[antifoul2020]

Thanks for your help appreciate it

 

[okeydokey]

Or a cheap adjustable spanner - wrench or whatever they're called today

 

[Inspector]

Or a cheap adjustable spanner - wrench or whatever they're called today

I worked with a Newfy (from the province of Newfoundland) and he called them t'umb wrenches, 'cause you opens and closes em wit yer t'umb. Good ones had temperature compensating jaws.

Pete

 

[glenfield2]

Cheap adjustable spanners are horrible, get a nice Bahco one with extra slim jaws - accurate fit and handy for sliding into tight spaces.
Or just buy an open 1/2whitworth - plenty still around. Try a boot sale or on-line.

 

[ChaiLatte]

If you picked up 300 scaffold fittings today, you would be lucky to find just one with 1/2" Whitworth nuts on it.

Only very old fittings have 1/2" Whitworth. The vast majority are 7/16" Whitworth, or 21mm.

Thus, the only scaffold _spanner_ you would see today with 1/2" Whitworth is the large end of a double-ended one (https://www.hss.com/buy/p/spanners-scaffolding-double-ended). As the OP does not specifically say that it is the large end on a two-ended scaffold spanner that is required, any single-ended scaffold spanner picked up at random today will not be 1/2" Whitworth.

Rather than guessing, cut a slot 21mm wide into an old pizza box. If it fits the nut, that is the size. If not, cut a wider slot and try again.

 

[XTiffy]

These days scaffolders use cordless impact wrenches with a 21mm socket. 7/16th Whitworth spanners before that.

 

[Amplidyne]

Of course you could just measure the AF of the nut, and work from there. . .

 

[BillK]

I use the spindle lock and an old motorbike glove, sort of crack the thing rather than a slow pull and they come loose. Stout gardening glove would do it too.

Short of that a 24mm spanner will do it, sloppy fit yes but it's only cracking loose a wire brush or wheel.

 

[Fergie 307]

Cheap adjustable spanners are horrible, get a nice Bahco one with extra slim jaws - accurate fit and handy for sliding into tight spaces.
Or just buy an open 1/2whitworth - plenty still around. Try a boot sale or on-line.

Always described with derision as "plumbers tools" where I worked. Not sure what they had against plumbers

 

[throbscottle]

Yes yes a sharp whack with your gloved hand in the direction of spin should loosen it. I have a wire cup brush and it even works with that.

 

[Ross Buchanan]

Always described with derision as "plumbers tools" where I worked. Not sure what they had against plumbers

WO Bentley would sack a mechanic on the spot if they were caught with an adjustable spanner in their kit.

 

[Fergie 307]

WO Bentley would sack a mechanic on the spot if they were caught with an adjustable spanner in their kit.

Quite right too !
I can remember one lad where someone picked the offending article out of his toolbox, held between thumb and forefinger. "What the hell is this? What are you, a mechanic or a fu**ing plumber?".
At which point it was carried at arms length across the workshop and dropped in the bin.
Being a youth who knew no better I hastily hid mine at the bottom of my box!
I have several but only really used for bending and twisting type jobs when fabricating stuff. A good sized one is brilliant for bending bits of plate or bar.
Proper spanner is much better for anything involving an actual nut, even plumbing

 

[Amplidyne]

They have their uses. I've got a big old Clyburn that dad gave me many years back, and that's been useful lots of times for odd sized big nuts, and other jobs.
Once the thing is set on size, I defy anybody to make it spring!
We used to have a boss who said that the Spanish call them "English Spanners" after he saw us working on some hydraulic pipework with one. (Incidentally the highly paid contractors who occasionally came in to service packs also used them.) I said to him that if the firm provided us with the right sized spanners, we wouldn't need adjustables.

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

Or a cheap adjustable spanner - wrench or whatever they're called today

I prefer a wench over a wrench , ta