Among the many definitions of cheat listed in Webster’s Dictionary is the following:
“To deceive by trickery.” This definition seems to aptly describe the wrench cheating technique; an unorthodox technique used by the unwary to get extra power by adding a length of pipe or other extension to the wrench handle to gain extra leverage.
The trick is that the tool user is in a sense falsely telling the wrench it can do more than it was designed to do. When this is the case, something has to give and it could result in damage to the tool, damage to the fastener, injury to the tool user, or all three.
The Hand Tools Institute, a trade association of American hand tool manufacturers, says that workers using this dangerous technique, knowingly or unknowingly, are in a sense playing a game of Russian roulette and the odds are stacked against the worker.
The main function of a wrench is for holding and turning nuts, bolts, cap screws, plugs and various other threaded parts. Since the threads of the product being turned act as a remorseless wedge, it is possible to strip the threads by applying excessive torque. Threads can be an integral part of costly equipment.
Different types of wrenches are of different strengths and are designed for different purposes such as for wrenching high strength fasteners. Box end and socket type wrenches, because they surround the fastener head, are the strongest types of wrenches and have less chance of slipping off the fastener. Open end, flare nut, and adjustable wrenches are not as strong as the corresponding sizes of box or socket wrenches, because they do not surround the fastener head, and are not intended for heavy loads, such as breaking loose frozen fasteners.
