Double Open-end Spanner (12x13)

An open jaw has one ability nothing else has: it approaches from the side. A ring must be dropped over the end of a fastener, which is impossible when a pipe, hose, cable, rod or bracket runs through or past it. Brake and fuel unions, hydraulic fittings, cable glands, pipe clips, adjusters and tie rods are all fastenings that can only be reached sideways, and on those the open jaw is not merely more convenient, it is the only tool that will engage at all.

The second thing it is good at is speed in the open. On fixings that are not tight, an open jaw goes on and comes off in a fraction of the time a ring takes, which over a stripdown involving dozens of fasteners is a real difference.

What it cannot do is take heavy load safely. Holding two of six faces, it spreads a little under a hard pull and works towards the corners of the nut, which is how heads get rounded. So the honest division of labour is that the open jaw is for access and speed, and anything genuinely tight belongs on a ring.

Notice that this is the only individual double open ended spanner in the range against five double ring pairs, which reflects how workshops actually buy: rings for the bulk of the work, open jaws for the specific fastenings that demand them. If you want open jaws across a range of sizes rather than in one pairing, the double open ended set listed in this category is the better purchase.

It is forged chrome vanadium, hardened and tempered, with a satin matt chrome finish, and the jaws are machined to a consistent opening so they sit on the flats rather than rocking on the corners.

Buyers are vehicle and motorcycle workshops, plumbers and pipefitters, hydraulic and brake specialists, electricians, maintenance fitters and hardware shops.

Message us on 94 77 111 8880 and we will help you decide between this and the ring version. Island-wide delivery.