How does a spanner work? Complete Guide

A Spanner is a very useful tool for many day-to-day activities. Anyway, did you know how it works? We use many tools for day-to-day tasks, but we don’t know how they work. The wrench is another name given for Spanner. When going back through the history, we can find the use of Spanners in the 15th century. England exported this tool to North America in 18th and 19th centuries. Many types of Spanners are available today and I will discuss the types later in this article.

How does a Spanner work?: We can’t hold a tight fastener with fingers and turn it clockwise or anticlockwise. But a Spanner is designed in such a way to grip a tight fastener well, and turn it clockwise or anticlockwise The longer the handle, the more force you can exert. As you can see in the picture, the shape and size of the Spanner head; fit over the head of the fastener with a tight grip. When you turn the handle anticlockwise/clockwise, you are exerting a tremendous force onto the fastener head. The handle acts as a lever that magnifies the force you are exerting. So, the torque turns the fastener clockwise or anticlockwise.

Spanner types: Many types are there, but the working principle is almost the same. Well, I am not going to explain all the types as many types are there, but I will explain the most common ones.

* open-ended spanner:   A very common Spanner type widely used for many tasks. The one-piece wrench is another name given to this type. At both the ends, you have two U-shaped head openings to grip fasteners and bolts (of different sizes or same.) It’s a very versatile tool to use for home and industrial tasks. This type can remove fasteners with square, hexagonal or octagonal heads.

* Ring spanner (box-end wrench):  Another double-headed, simple, single-piece Spanner with two loop heads at both the ends. The loop head is designed in such a way to fit all over the fastener head for a good grip. The top benefit of loop head over the open-ended type is the good grip (the rind won’t slip over the fastener head.) It has 12 points and throughs. Its design allows the user to use it in a small space. Depending on the shape of the fastener head, choose the right loop head spanner. They come in various ring sizes too.

Well, as mentioned; I am not going to explain all the types in this article, but I am hoping to write another article explaining all the types.

Choosing the right Spanner: Many things are there to consider when going for a Spanner. The size is a major thing to consider. If you buy a bigger spanner, it will slip over the fastener head. The handle length is another thing to consider when shopping for a Spanner. Anyway, you can’t use longer ones for small-space applications. Longer the handle, the greater the force though. Thick Spanners are less likely to get damaged. A Spanner made with a quality metal will serve you for a lifetime.