The 3/4 Question . . .

[Ulu]

I was working on my boat trailer the other day and I needed some 3/4" wrenches. I was trying to get to various bolts in various positions and I didn't know exactly which would work best. I didn't want to crawl in and out from under the trailer 6 times so I thought I would just grab all the 3/4 wrenches. That turned out to be a bigger task than I had thought.

I was interested to find that by the time I had picked out all my 3/4" wrenches, I had more available than any other size.

I'm wondering if this is just an oddity of my tool collection, or if this is a statistical fact born out across the business.

Is 3/4" really the most popular size? I own 15.

(My next closest was 9/16", at 11 wrenches.)

So for the sake of my quasi-scientific curiosity I'm asking you to look in your drawers and tell me what you find!

No no, Plymouthy, the tool box drawers please.

[Young Ed]

slightly outdated picture but I'm kinda anal and like to have sets. Sockets I do have some random ones and would guess 1/2 or 9/16 is the most. 

[lonejacklarry]

I have a lot of 1/2" and 9/16" wrenches of all flavors including sockets.  I buy them 4 or 5 at a time and when I get home, they have magically reappeared.  Sometimes, when I go on a cleaning binge, there are piles of sockets that were not there the day before.

Gradually, they all disappear until the next cleaning.  It must be gremlins or something.

[Ulu]

@Young Ed

I arranged all my wrenches like that once, really neat, in order, by sets; and it stayed that way for about one day.

If somebody was paying me by the hour to fix their car I might take more time to keep things neat.

If I get really bored someday I may arrange them neatly again like that.

But I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

[Young Ed]

7 hours ago, Ulu said:

@Young Ed

I arranged all my wrenches like that once, really neat, in order, by sets; and it stayed that way for about one day.

If somebody was paying me by the hour to fix their car I might take more time to keep things neat.

If I get really bored someday I may arrange them neatly again like that.

But I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

My box has looked like that for years.I put them back after each job. It was a challenge at first but now I love it. I can always find what I'm looking for!

[Ulu]

I have overlapping and ongoing projects, so jobs never actually end. I go through periods of shop cleaning, where I find all the things I need to continue the projects which are on hold.

[DonaldSmith]

Some tire lug wrenches tend to be 3/4 inch or 19 mm, virtually interchangeable.  19 mm equals 0.74803 inch, just shy of 0.75 inch.  I have a folding 4-way tire wrench, that has four sizes; if I remember, one size is noted as both 3/4 inch and 19 mm.   

[Dan Hiebert]

So...to answer the query, I have four 3/4 wrenches.  I know where two came from, the other two I think are their offspring, because I have no clue where they actually came from.  The most numerous wrench size I have is 1/2".  I have five of those.  Kind of the same deal, two I know the origins of, the other three just seem to have materialized...  There is a slight chance I have even more of both, since I have a couple 20mm ammo cans full of various tools that I haven't opened in a few years.

[Ulu]

19mm???

OMG, I probably have almost as many 19 millimeters as 3/4 inch.

[Frank Elder]

15 5/8 s.........1 25/32 s.

[Niel Hoback]

13mm=1/2"

[Ulu]

what? 

13mm × 0.04 in/mm = 0.52"

it's a full half a mm bigger than 1/2"

[Niel Hoback]

But it works.  10mm = 3/8 by the same margin.  I use what I can reach without crawling out from under.

[Plymouthy Adams]

1 hour ago, Niel Hoback said:

But it works.  10mm = 3/8 by the same margin.  I use what I can reach without crawling out from under.

loose fit...not worth it....

[Dodgeb4ya]

 

As for 3/4 wrenches I have many... just ended up with em from years of wrenching..

Lots of 7/16" and 3/8" wrenches all extras....

Some extra MM............18MM=18MM only..........11MM=7/16"

[DonaldSmith]

Don't crank on a wrench that's too loose, or the bolt head or nut might get rounded, requiring a pipe wrench or vise-grips from then on.   

[48Dodger]

To many projects to micro organize......my wrenches/tools have multiple homes all under my shop's roof.

So in a way......they are exactly where they belong, and since Its my domain, 9 times outta 10....I know where the dang stuff is!

48D

p.s. Most popular wrench?  my hammer.

[DonaldSmith]

I've got house tools and car tools.  My car tools reside in a a vintage toolbox secured in the DeSoto trunk, and in a carry bag behind the front seat.  Quickie repair tools in the bag, and the heavy-duty ones in the toolbox.  On occasion, I'll borrow a house tool, like when I need two wrenches the same size.  I'll mark a house wrench with masking tape, so it gets back home.

The really heavy car tools reside on shelves in the garage, like the pickle fork and tailpipe expander.  I don't expect to use them for roadside repairs.  

Most of the car wrenches and sockets are SAE, but I have a few 1/4-inch drive metric sockets that were part of a set.  I'll need them on occasion, when a metric bolt or nut sneaks in , as on an accessory.       

[Plymouthy Adams]

1 hour ago, 48Dodger said:

 

p.s. Most popular wrench?  my hammer.

the HAMMER, while I will not consider it a wrench it is a tool I use, I am in a ren-o phase at the house...I lost one hammer for 3 days....found it this morning....yep, forgot I had to work on the trash can lid...county man gave me a replacement lid for the one the squirrels chewed up...I forgot I had use the hammer to tap out the hinge rod..

[johnsartain]

Having organization in your tool chest is not a bad thing for a parent teaching their kids the virtues of taking care of the tools. Mine know that all it takes is a glance to tell a tool is missing. After listening to me a few times they learn quick to put it back when you're done or you can't use the tools again till it gets replaced. I haven't replaced a tool in some time unless I broke one.