Vintage Pipe Wrench Questions

Hi guys,

I found this at another estate sale a few days ago. Was wondering why the wrench becomes narrow, tapers at the end and has a screw in handle. I have not seen this before. The handle says KROO No. 7 - Foreign Patents Pending.

Also was wondering what the numbers mean on this wrench. The numbers say 179. Is this a model number? I think this Stillson Wrench .

 

It used to have a wooden handle
The piece on it now is nothing like the original

 

Like this, with a cap that screwed onto the end of the handle -
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134101773654

The handle you have is more likely designed for use on a file.

 

Thanks for your answer. Yes I thought also that this handle looked like a file handle. The wrench just looked very strange on this kind of handle.

 

The wooden handle is most definitely for a metal file or wood rasp but the pipe wrench handle looks to be a spud wrench. Spud wrenches were and presumably still used by iron workers erecting structural steel beams. The pointy end was used to line two holes up so a bolt or rivet could be inserted and then tightened with the wrench end. Never saw a pipe wrench with that feature and I can't imagine why it would be necessary. Although a pipe wrench probably predates the typical adjustable wrench we have today. The pic is of a typical spud wrench

 

Thank you so much for your answer. This is very interesting. When I saw this wrench I knew it looked kind of odd with a pointy end like that.