Monkey Wrench
date: label: Date made
content: 1940s
label: date made
content: ca. 1940s
label: used date
content: 1850s-Present
notes: label: Description
content: This heavy wrench was used in steam locomotive and railroad-car repair work. A skilled mechanic used a monkey wrench only when a solid, open-end wrench was not available to properly fit a bolt or nut in question, or when the head of the bolt or size of the nut was non-standard. The jaws of a monkey wrench were only grossly adjustable and usually made a poor or loose fit on the nut or bolt head. “Monkeying” off a nut or bolt with such a wrench often involved several tries to get the wrench to fit without its slipping off.
label: Description
content: This tool is part of a collection of hand tools used in the inspection and repair of steam locomotives in the early- to the mid-20th century, roughly 1900-1955. Light repairs on steam locomotives were usually done in roundhouses at the many small locomotive terminals throughout a railroad's system; heavy repairs were done in a large, centralized repair shop serving the whole system (often referred to as the "Back Shop").
topic: label: Subject
content: Railroads
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Railroad
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: America On The Move
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of National Park Service
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2002.0075.11
label: catalog number
content: 2002.0075.11
label: accession number
content: 2002.0075
objectType: label: Object Name
content: monkey wrench
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 3 in; 30.48 cm x 7.62 cm