Ken,

>Didn't realize that anyone specialized in collecting wrenches, but I
>should have figured.

Oh! You'd be amazed!  There's a body of literature on old wrenches and their 
patents, some of it available through Astragal Press.  There are collectors 
who buy them because of their ingenuity, and there's a different type of 
collector that is more interested in their geometry. The latter type often 
lays them out in attractive groupings on a painted backboard and then wires 
them in place through small drillholes in the wood, not the tool.  The 
boards are then hung on the wall.  It's a kind of folk art.  It's also 
galoot-approved folk art because "No Antique Tools Were Harmed in the 
Production or Testing of this Product."  (I'd like to trademark that!)

>Not my smallest adjustable "monkey wrench" wrench, though; somewhere
>in the debris downstairs is a little one -- all metal and about 4
>inches long, if I recall correctly.
>
Ebay completed auctions will give you some hints.  Here are some ideas I'd 
float as a "trial balloon":

1) Any Railroad-Marked wrench.  In general, "railroadania" is collectible.
I once saw a 24" Coes at a train show with a RR mark and an outrageous 
price.  It was presumably from the days of steam

2) Any wrench marked with the name of an automobile, truck, motorcycle, or 
argicultuaral implement maker.  The exception is that there a type of Ford 
wrench that is very common because it was in the toolkit that came with the 
model T.  (I had one of these as a teenager, was surprised to find it fit a 
LOT of the fasteners on my 1965 Mustang!)

3) Any wrench marked Roebling or John Robeling.  Usually "Alligator" 
wrenches.

4) Unusually small or unusually large wrenches.  I just picked up a 1/8" 
open-end marked Bonney Chrome Vanadium. Yep, one EIGHTH!!!     When I 
laughed over the use of high-strength steel on such a small wrench, my buddy 
said, with a wink, "Oh, that's for Titanium machine screws!"

You are on the right track with the 4" monkey wrench.

5) Wrenches made for use around antique machinery which had square-headed 
bolts.  The older engines (gas & steam), lathes and milling machines used a 
distinctive type of wrench, usually made by Armstrong or Williams, to adjust 
various parts. Having the name of a famous machine tool maker on the wrench 
is a plus.

I'd like to find out what wrenches some of the other galoots favor......I 
could keep my eyes open at Flea Mkts.

John Ruth

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