In the 1850s oil was used to make kerosene and John D. Rockefeller made his fortune on standardizing oil production. But a problem that people in oil business had is the fact that it is hard to ship it to anywhere since it is a liquid. The easiest way to ship it is through pipes. The most used metal in pipes is iron instead of steel since it is softer than steel, more bendable and was more common than steel at the time. Since pipes are round and have round nuts and bolts it was hard for plumbers and pipe workers since they were used to hexagonal bolts and used monkey wrenches so they couldn’t grip the soft iron pipes. A man of the name Daniel Stillson invented the pipe wrench with easier pipe turning in mind when inventing it. The main difference between the pipe wrench and the monkey wrench is the fact the pipe wrench has small metal teeth in the jaws whereas the monkey wrench has flat jaws. The steel teeth dig in to the round, soft pipes which allows you to get a grip on the pipe you are working on. The second biggest difference is the pivot point. The pivot point is a point on the wrench that allows the wrench to automatically clamp onto a pipe when you start twisting and to unclamp when you pull back. Another bonus to the pipe wrench is that all parts are replaceable so that if you damage the handle you only have to replace the handle.
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