An Addition To The Tool Definition List

[crokett]

that has been floating around with alternative definitions for tools. Add this one:

basin wrench: a device supposedly used to turn retaining nuts off of plumbing fixtures in tight spaces. Actual use is to give you false hope, waste time and cause you to mutter words that cause the paint on the walls to blister.

I don't think I've ever used a more totally useless tool than a basin wrench.

[dbhost]

Appropriate definition. I own one, and they forgot one bit to that definition. The tool handle inevitably gets slippery, and slips out of your hand and smacks you in the face while lying under said basin...

[pelligrini]

I don't think I've ever used a more totally useless tool than a basin wrench.

You just need more practice with one. I've got a couple faucets that need replaced if you want.

[Uncle Cracker]

I have found that they can be very useful for slipping off, and cracking porcelain sinks from underneath, after you have become bored with cracking them from above, like everybody else...

[Tom Slick]

If you'd have used an 8/16 basin wrench you'd have a different opinion!

[docrowan]

Have you purchased a "good" one? I've tried a HF quality one and one I purchased from a plumbing supply place and the difference between the two was an order of magnitude.

[crokett]

I was using one that looks a lot like this:

http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/52...ign=googlebase

[docrowan]

I think the one I got from the plumbing supply place was about $20.00. There's no play in the hinge joint, the spring is pretty strong and the teeth are very sharp hardened steel so they get a really good bite. I've had trouble not being able to turn the handle, but I've not really had it slip.

[smorris]

I have one somewhere in the shop I bought and used once. It was well worth the money I spent on it. Of course I had mauled my hands trying everything else before I embraced the concept of buying the right tool for the job.

[sscherin]

I have a set of Crow Foot socket wrenches that work great for sinks and faucets
They come in handy 2 or 3 times a decade like most of my other special tools.

[Ed62]

I've actually been happy I had one on a job or two.

Ed

[eezlock]

an addition to the tool definition list

Yes it is commonly called a basin wrench....some plumbers called it a lavatory wrench also. Got that terminology from my dad...he was a plumber
for over 40 years and he taught me how to use it properly when I was growing up and helping him out in the "field". It, along with some of his other
tools from days gone by, have been called back into service as of late, when I needed to make repairs around the house...could not have made them without the proper tools!