French (tool)
A French is an adjustable wrench with a double mouth.
It is a universal hand tool for loosening and tightening screw connections . By turning the handle, the distance between the two clamping jaws can be continuously adjusted. It can therefore be used for screw heads and nuts that have parallel outer edges, regardless of the system of units. Metric and imperial screws can be actuated as well as screw heads that e.g. B. by rust corrosion do not correspond to any standard dimensions. In addition, flat workpieces can be clamped together.
In contrast to the English , the fine thread allows a much stronger clamping. Thanks to the jaws on both sides, a second nut of the same size can be clamped into the opposite jaw if the screws are tightly seated. This means that no bending moment acts on the tool and the jaws remain aligned in parallel despite the strong clamping. An Englishman, on the other hand, can also be used in confined spaces.
Socket wrenches and ring spanners have the advantage over adjustable wrenches that they act on all flanks of the screw head and can therefore transmit greater torques with hexagon and polygonal screws than adjustable wrenches that only act on two sides.
The Frenchman is shown on the German road sign for breakdown assistance (No. 365-62).
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