Black & Decker Auto Wrench

[DaveK]

Black & Decker have been running this ad on UK mainstream TV lately:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/mpd/permalink/m3NDUT3OCC4B3L

Do you reckon this is any good, or a gimmick that will break in a week?

[Benner]

Black & Decker have been running this ad on UK mainstream TV lately:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/mpd/permalink/m3NDUT3OCC4B3L

Do you reckon this is any good, or a gimmick that will break in a week?

You must have been watching the same side as me this evening as I was going to post the same thread. 

[DaveK]

Haha - it's been kind of hard to avoid that ad in the last couple of days.

It looks like an interesting idea, I'm just skeptical 

[Leatherman123]

I have the Auto Wrench, Handy Saw, and Power Scissors and they all work wonderfully! I got them all as Christmas presents last year! The Power Scissors are my favorite. I have used the Auto Wrench a few times..

[Benner]

I have the Auto Wrench, Handy Saw, and Power Scissors and they all work wonderfully! I got them all as Christmas presents last year! The Power Scissors are my favorite. I have used the Auto Wrench a few times..

Power scissors?

[Leatherman123]

Yup, http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/Product-Details.aspx?ProductID=10973

[Grant Lamontagne]

Pretty certain it was posted about before, and the reviews weren't too positive...

Def

[RaptorMan]

Just saw them at Walmart today they have about a million of them.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yup, here it was:

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,3042.0.html

Def

[DaveK]

Pretty certain it was posted about before, and the reviews weren't too positive...

Def

I never thought to look Def! I thought it was a brand new thing. I'm off a-searching....

[DaveK]

Can't find owt.....

Sure you didn't dream it Def?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Check the link above... that's what it's all about despite the original post having been edited out.

Def

[DaveK]

Check the link above... that's what it's all about despite the original post having been edited out.

Def

Ah yeah - I did spot that actually, I wan't sure if it was the same tool though. Thanks def.

[Splat]

I'll sum up what I wrote in the thread Def linked to.... don't waste your $. It doesn't grip the item tight enough. You're better off with the RoboGrip wrenches.

[Anthony]

That looks unweildly and uneccessary...I never had a problem with the standard adjustable wrenches I've used...

[american lockpicker]

I'll sum up what I wrote in the thread Def linked to.... don't waste your $. It doesn't grip the item tight enough. You're better off with the RoboGrip wrenches.

Does Craftsman still make the Robogrip?

[DaveK]

Well thanks to Eodtech - I shall shortly be in possession of one, for not very many $s at all, so I'll give it a whirl, and maybe pass around the UK if people want to "have a go".

Thanks Andrew again

[eodtech]

It's on a big silver bird as we speak headed to the Mother Land ...

Enjoy

[SoDak]

Looks kind of neat, but I wouldn't want one. I can't imagine the mechanism holding up very long if it was used on anything very tough. Just looks like an attempt to complicate a simple and useful tool.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Actually, it surfaces every year around Christmas because it's one of those tools that no one who uses tools would likely buy, but those who know nothing about tools will be intrigued by it and get it for friends/family who they think it will be good for.  My mother in law, bless her black heart, always buys me the latest "As seen on TV" type tools for Christmas.  I have a folding saw that won't cut butter, a laser level that was warped on arrival, and a wonderful 8 piece multitool set from Home Depot that sold for about $12.

I'll probably get one of these this year.... 

Def

[J-sews]

Hah! My sister gave one of those auto wrenches to my father last year for Christmas. What a big unwieldy lummox of a contraption it is. When he showed it to me I thought it was some sort of joke/gag gift. Ooops, it wasn't, my sister seriously thought it was a useful tool. To this day I think she is annoyed with dad and I for laughing so hard and making fun of her gift!

[Leatherman123]

and a wonderful 8 piece multitool set from Home Depot that sold for about $12.

Are they Husky branded? If so, I have the same set!

[Grant Lamontagne]

No, they were Sheffield.  My mother in law won't spring for top quality like Husky.   

Sheffield is so bad, they couldn't even get the stickers on the handles straight.

Def

[Poncho65]

I saw one of those wrenches last year a Christmas time as well

I picked it up played with it for a minute or so and put it back and kept on walking

I figured that a reg Crescent was enough for me

[DaveK]

No, they were Sheffield.  My mother in law won't spring for top quality like Husky.   

Sheffield is so bad, they couldn't even get the stickers on the handles straight.

Def

Lol. I'm sure you know this already, but Sheffield the town in England, used to be synonymous with quality steel products and still is in a much reduced way these days. As the coal has run out, the iron and steel industry in Britain has dwindled incredibly within my lifetime. It's quite sad.

It's ironic that someone is using that once famous name to churn out tat, it must be like rubbing salt into the wound for many Yorkshire craftsmen.

[Gareth]

I saw that add and laughed out loud.  Total gimmick IMO.  Save you pennies and get a Bahco shifter.  Now that I have stopped working I have managed to hold on to one for more than a year without it being "borrowed on a permanent basis".   

[jzmtl]

Hey Def does your crappy tire have boatload of those "as seen on tv with billy may" zip wrenches? Same thing, use smaller batteries, and all dead from being on display for so long.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Probably... thanks to a recently developed shopping district we now have the largest Canadian Tire in Canada less then two miles form my house.  They have pretty well everything there and then some- even given the amount of time I've spent there, I am sure there are parts of the store I've yet to see!   

But no, I haven't seen those zip wrenches yet.  Many of Canadian Tire's tools have gone painfully downhill in the last ten years, with more and more shoddy crap hitting the shelves.  Unless I need something specific I don't go to that section!

Def

[Mike]

My mother got me one (B&D Auto Wrench) last Christmas. It was all I could do not to laugh, but it was my mother after all and she was trying to be thoughtful. It has been in one of my tool boxes ever since and I have never used it (probably never will). It a design with no real need to it. One thing is, it's belt driven. How long will that little thing last IF you used this a lot? And then there is the battery thing.

I think a standard adjustable wrench is better than this thing and a regular open or box wrench is even better. Though I did successfully annoy everyone playing with it ......... open, shut, open, shut, open, shut. LOL!

Mike

[Grant Lamontagne]

Certain things really don't benefit from being battery operated... although some folks seem fascinated by playing on the wrong side of that line.  What's next- battery operated zippers on pants?

Def