Telenco store offers professional grade spanners and wrenches, which are essential hand tools for any mechanic, tradesperson, plumber or even electrical and field engineer. They are especially designed to easily tighten and loosen nuts and bolts. You can choose individual spanners to tackle the job in hand, or opt for a set with different spanner sizes to always have the tools you need. Otherwise, adjustable wrenches are a versatile alternative to match the nuts and bolts you need to tighten.

What is the difference between a wrench and a spanner?

Wrenches and spanners are ultimately designed to do the same job: tightening or loosening nuts and bolts. This explains why there is often a confusion between these two wordings. However, they both have their own characteristics. Wrenches are usually adjustable thanks to their moveable lower jaw to adjust to different size nuts and bolts. It means that one tool can cover a wide variety of different fastenings. In narrow spaces or for precision work, it may be better to use spanners: they are size-specific with slimmer heads. They are particularly recommended for automotive work for example.

What are the different types of spanners?

Spanners come in 3 main different shapes: open ended, spanners, ring spanners and combination spanners. Flat spanners with a single open end have an open “C” in which the nut or bolt head is gripped to loose or tight. You can also find double end spanners which are made with an open end on both sides of the shaft, usually different sizes. Ring spanners, one or two ends, are made with a hole of particular shape (closed end) designed to grip a nut or bolt head. The combination spanner is the most common spanner: it is designed with a closed end and an open end to help with different access points. Ratchet spanners have the same ends as a combination spanner but ratchet action on one end moves freely in one direction and engages the fastener in the other direction to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts without removing the tool. They are perfect for difficult jobs that require you to tighten a nut or bolt without allowing for any slips that could occur with traditional wrenches.

There are many other types of spanners and wrenches, such as hexagon socket spanners which are in the form of a round socket. On one end of this spanner, there is a square hole and on the other end, grooves are cut inside in nut-bolt size, as in a ring spanner. Their angled shape enables access to hard-to-reach parts.

You also need to consider the length of the wrench arm as longer arms enable you to apply more torque to the nut. Of course, choosing between a longer or shorter wrench arm also depends of the space you have to work with and move around in. Wrench and spanner sets include various common sizes and shapes so you can easily and rapidly find the tool that you need for your job.