That's because the term "put your weigh behind it" doesn't hold much err... weight with Ian...

Jeez Dale, that took you 50 minutes to reply, I thought you would be much faster

That's a cool tool; you should spiff-up the design a bit and sell it. A bar works good with a pipe-wrench, but not a wrench.

No offense to yourself or Vik but that is a homemade tool that should only be used by the builder and then only for personal not for profit use. I am pretty sure that any oil company safety personnel who saw that tool would not allow it's use on their wellsites. It's been a few years since I was in the field but it was already getting to where using a snipe on a pipe wrench was considered a near critical task (by some companies) due to all of the injuries. Unfortunately lawyers rule the world we live in, Vik's tool is not an engineered piece of equipment and is intended to apply a force greater than the design of the wrench being "sniped" which is what the lawyers will jump all over. FWIW I would love to have one at home as it sure beats double wrenching, building and selling them commercially... no thanks!!

Duely noted, however this snipe is proven safer than hammer wrenches, or hammer wrenches and ropes with another guy holding the rope to keep the wrench tight after striking.

I JUST (partially) retired from the field, this tool has been allowed on every wellsite I have been too. Shell, Husky, Suncor/Petro-Can, Encana etc. The only time things change is when someone gets hurt or killed. It's sad to say but that's how the patch works. The situations we used this we secured ourselves pretty good while using it, or taking a knee and pulling down if using it on the ground. Since I was one of the taller guys with long arms I could stand up and pull down while using it on wellheads, where the biggest failure would be the tools falling the the ground. This had never happened though

We had pipe lifter contraptions made up after two guys backs got hurt in '08, help with leveling pipe while making up hammer unions. Beforehand we just picked it up while straddling it, hard on the backs that's forsure.

Lawyers I can handle, QHSE guys who know nothing about my job I cannot and there are lots of them. Personally they need to know the equipment, job scope, and have experience doing it to know what is safe and what is not, unfortunatley, these guys rarely have that.

For this tool to be sold it's a simple as getting an engineer to stamp whichever welder makes it up. Do a bit of teting, and market it with the appropiate certs. as far as snipes not being used on pipe wrenches (or not supposed to be used) I surely laugh at that since we have had 20' joints of 3" 2000psi CWP pipe on steel 36"-60" wrenches for a snipe.

One other thing I just thought of most wrenches do not have a max force or load of force stamped on them or come with certs to clairfy this so how would one know? It's mostly experience, temperature changes, and overall size of wrench.

Didn't take offense, just continuing the disscusion.

^^^ I hear you on all counts especially the HSE guys that come out and try to "re-engineer" (sic) something that works just fine because they think it might be a problem. I agree that using your tool is far safer in the real world sense than hanging off the side of a wellhead using a hammer wrench, the perfect scenario is air or hydraulic tools but that costs more.

I know what you're saying about using snipes, my personal record is a full joint of 73 mm on a 48" chain tong trying to break a 6" suction fitting off the side of a rig tank. But the truth of the matter is lots of things get done that shouldn't, it's the old it's not a problem until there's a problem... My last company experience was for Exxon and using a snipe was getting to be a last resort with JSA's, meetings etc. before breaking one out, granted EMC goes over the top on safety but so do some of the company's you listed. I would be very surprised if the companies you list aren't the same way, maybe the WSS's you worked for didn't worry about it? I can give you tons of examples of service company stories about major producers WSS not following ERCB/OHS rules never mind the companies they were working for.

As far as wrench specs you've got me, I might be talking out my ass but if I was to put money down it would be that the wrench was designed for hand use only. What other use you come up with is your responsibility but when it's a commercially available device you are stuck with the inevitability of liability should something go wrong, think of all the stickers on a common step ladder.

Anyway not trying to be argumentative, like I said in the real world your tool is far better than some of the "safer" alternatives although in the end it is still by definition a "cheater". I would be interested to know what the specs/limitations vs liability are on sniping any wrench, if the manufacturer won't replace a broken wrench that's been sniped it wouldn't look too good if an accident occurred during said sniping?

Here is another challenge.
The center section is flexable (like a speedometer cable)
The ends; one is a slot the other is a hex
The black part slides and engages the square drive on each end
What is it and what is it used for?

A good candidate for a gonculator.

Urban Dictionary
"gonculator
mystical device in automobiles which processes goncules for the gonculatory process; an inherently important component of the internal combustion engine. The gonculator is a fairly inexpensive part and is labor intensive and costly to install.

IT'S A JOHNSON ROD!!!

(also, I have never seen a steel wrench break by sniping, only deform, aluminum however, I would never snipe as they do snap, proven by others)

Urban Dictionary

1. johnson rod
Seinfeld slang for a fake mechanical part used to jack up the price on your ignorant azz.
Mechanic: "You're gonna need a Johnson rod."

2. johnson rod
(n.) A rod used to control the timing of, and how long the valves stay open on a steam locomotive.

3. johnson rod
device that is connected to a gazach via a knibbling pin
the johnson rod fell from the gazach because the knibbing pin fell out.

I have one of those, Ian (or had, not sure what became of it) so I'll refrain.

all this johnson talk reminds me of austin powers, classic.

that tool (heh heh, i said tool) is interesting. Obviously you connect it between two components and it allows you to turn both at the same time. But what two components...something to do with ignition again?

I suspect twin Webers?

That was my guess - carb balancing tool.