Loring Coes invented the monkey wrench, though he called it a screw wrench.
Be it known that I, Loring Coes, of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Adjusting Hand-Wrenches Used by Mechanics for Turning or Screwing Up Nuts and Screws of Different Sizes.
What can you say about Coes wrenches? They are as good as this style of wrench can be, I’d say. This style of handle can suffer from loose or rotten wood if not stored properly, but all of the Coes I’ve come across have been fine. They don’t mention, in the catalogs I’ve seen, what kind of wood the handles were made from, just that they’re “hard wood.”
This one has had a hard life, it seems, its owners not being shy of pounding on it. And it’s still perfectly fine.
