Oh Stanley Wrenches, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
Note : This is NOT sponsored content, and only my personal opinion on a set of wrenches I purchased with my own money approximately 2.5 years ago
Ok, So we all have wrenches, well if your reading this post I assume you have some tools of your own. If not, here’s why I love my Stanley Wrenches.
1: Black Chrome finish.
Honestly the reason I bought these wrenches over any other brand was the BLACK CHROME finish. Yes they look cool, but more importantly it serves a greater purpose. I purchased these wrenches for work, not home shop use. So the black finish helps me find MY TOOLS, if someone else borrows them. Fellow maintenance staff is not my concern, however group leaders, supervisors, or even helpful co-workers sometimes comes around and grab a tool to fix something extremely easy, and may forget to return it. If I happen to see a wrench sitting on a piece of equipment and its black, I know right away that that was my tool and I can return it to its rightful throne in my toolbox.
2: Big, Sturdy and small at the same time.
Ok, I know that sounds confusing, but after a couple years of using these wrenches, I have come to find that they are nice and long for a nice torque on stubborn bolts.
For reference in this section I will be talking about 14mm wrenches for all comparisons.
Now as I mentioned the wrenches have some nice leverage, however in the larger sizes is where this seems better. the 14MM is 80mm (Approx 7inches long) and seems pretty average for the three wrenches i compared.
The thickness of these wrenches is where I notice a difference in usage. The Stanley 14mm wrench is 7mm thick at the open end, and 9mm at the closed end. For comparison purposes I measured a Mastercraft Gear Wrench which was 9mm at the open end and 10mm at the closed ratcheting end. And a standard run of the mill Mastercraft you get in a full set measures 9mm and 10mm respectively, and the exact same size as the gear wrench (which actually surprised me a little.
I know it doesn’t seem like much, but 2mm makes a big difference when you need it. (at least that’s what I tell my wife)
3: Well Balanced and feels good.
When I hold one of these wrenches it just feels good in my hands. This is hard to explain. When I grip it, the thin body feels better in my hand. The wrench can balance very nicely while holding it. Like I said this one is hard to explain, but since this is purely a personal opinion point, you would have to hold one to understand what I mean.
4: Quality craftsmanship & rugged durability
This is sort of bias and plays with the feels good from above.
The wrenches look nice, there are no casting marks as with some other wrenches. All sharp edges have been cleaned up. and they look amazing. This is because someone took the time to grind and polish these before the chrome coating. (yes regular chrome ones have time taken to them as well) but these are just incredibly smooth compared to my sample ones, and ones I’ve used in the past.
After 2.5 (ish) years in light to moderate service these wrenches still look amazing. There are some small surface scratches on the more frequently used ones, but all the edges ares till crisp and clean. I have used wrenches in the past that slip on the bolts and mar the edges causing loose fit later on. These still have edges that look as good as the day I bought them.
Now…. Whats the Bad you ask?
1: Case is not durable
The case they give you is not really durable. I like to keep my tools grouped together. Wrenches with other wrenches, Socket sets together and screw drivers together. The plastic case they give you is pretty much just a step above a cheap case for advertising on a store shelf. Which by all means is perfectly fine. I get it, they want to have a pretty package on the shelf. With just a little more rigid plastic I think these cases could have held up better. My one set has a finger broken that holds the wrench in place, and the cover is long gone. I think the hinge pins broke and it got tossed. The second case for SAE I still have in tact but i think that’s because i don’t use them as much, and i was probably more careful after loosing the first one.
2: Missing a couple sizes
The SAE set, may have some missing wrenches, But I don’t use them as often to really see it. the Metric on the other hand is missing both 15mm and 16mm from the set. Now this is more of a minor nuisance because in the 2.5 years Ive had them, I cannot remember more than one time i needed a 15 or 16mm wrench. The one time i needed a 15mm was a co-worker needed to borrow it for his bike on the weekend, and I didn’t have it (also when i realized I didn’t have it) So maybe it was omitted because its not as popular as I think is should be?
3: I don’t have a set for home (yet)
Ok. So this post took me a few days to fully write and photograph. During this time I actually saw a set go on sale at my local Canadian tire. Long story short, I don’t have a #3 point. I bought a 36 pcs set that does not have a case at all, and guess what it HAS A 15mm WRENCH!!! No 16mm, but that’s ok. I do not ever recall needing a 16mm wrench in all my time working on cars, so i can like without it. This set also came with a few little stubby wrenches that may come in handy. Also…. there’s a 15mm stubby wrench too 😀
The one final thing I plan to do now is make a custom wrench holder for my home wrenches. Then add them to my tool wall (which I have yet to build.)