Adjustable Wrench (12")

That is what it is genuinely bought for, and it is worth saying because it is one of the few jobs where an adjustable wrench is the right tool rather than the available one. Plumbing fittings come in a scatter of sizes, many of them not standard hexagons, and a great many are brass or chrome-plated. A set of spanners covering them all would be large and expensive, and half of it would never be used. One adjustable covers the lot.

The caution that comes with brass and chrome fittings is real. Both are soft, both mark easily, and a great many plumbing fittings are visible when the job is finished. The flat jaws of an adjustable will print into brass and scar chrome, so wrap a cloth round the jaws on anything that will be seen — or use a strap wrench where appearance really matters.

The technique that makes an adjustable work applies with more force at this size. Wind the jaw right down until it is snug on the flats, since slack is what lets the jaw splay and round a fitting. And pull in the direction of the movable jaw, so the load bears on the fixed jaw and the frame rather than on the worm screw mechanism — at 12 inches there is enough leverage to damage the adjusting mechanism if you load it the wrong way.

Forged from medium carbon steel, chrome plated for corrosion protection.

The buyers are plumbers and pipe fitters, heating and sanitary installers, maintenance staff, machinery fitters, general building trades, and hardware dealers supplying the plumbing trade.

On a genuinely seized fitting, a pipe wrench or a proper spanner is the tool — an adjustable at this size will round it before it moves it. Message us on WhatsApp for a price.