Alright, I am a self-proclaimed impatient tight-wad (rather, I refer to it as thrifty). That said, I need(ed) cone wrenches so I could overhaul and adjust the hubs. I didn't want to fork over $8/wrench for the Park Tools wrenches, which is all that is carried locally, so I found a set online which were double size and double ended. Each of the two wrenches had 13-14-15-16mm cone wrenches. I could order them from Performance Bike for $5.09 + $5.75 shipping, but I don't like paying more for shipping than I do for the item itself! I could have ordered them through Amazon and bought other tools to get the free shipping, but the cone wrenches specifically said that they usually ship in 3-6 weeks. Fact of the matter is, the reason I wanted them is that I f00bared my MTB front wheel by taking the axle out before having the cone wrenches. Noob mistake.
So, my choices were $$$, $$ and waiting, or $ and waiting even longer. I opted for $0.00 and 20 minutes of waiting. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the adjustable cone wrench:
No, this idea is not new. I've read of recommendations to do this with normal wrenches, but that seemed like too much work - and I didn't have a spare set laying around to work on. Then I saw a page on Instructables suggesting that it be done to an adjustable wrench. I had just purchased a 4-pack of adjustable wrenches from Harbor Freight for the 10" wrench when I needed to replace my cassette and had a spare 8" in the pack. With no bench vice in my arsenal, I bribed my brother to stand on the wrench whilst I went to down with the angle grinder.
It ain't pretty, but I'll be danged if it doesn't do the job. A minute after it was done and hosed off, I had the front wheel of my MTB back in commission and 10 minutes later, the rear one was repacked as well
Now I can take care of my folks' bikes when I go home next weekend. Now I just need a good source of bearings (any ideas other than hitting up the LBS?).
So, while necessity may be the mother of invention, cheapness and impatience are the final two members of the relationship that brought about this contraption!