Stanley Wonder Bar tool, anyone have one?

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1Tracker

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Don, is this a tool worth buying? I picked one up in a store a few weeks back and thought," Hmm?, seems like a too short bar to be useful; and is this soft steel that'll bend if used with a cheater on one end?":confused: I noticed 2 sizes also, and both were painted black, so the steel grain was'nt visible. Are they made in China too?
 
I have one of those but not a stanley. I keep it in my car. I picked one up
for removing carpet (tack boards) in my house. I figured I could keep it in the car in
case I needed to break a window or if I needed a strong yet compact prybar.
Luckily I did because one day I closed the door on my apartment and the
security latch closed by itself somehow and I couldn't open the door. The
prybar did the trick with minimal damage.
 
Yup Esav, the 15" with the bend I saw, the 12" I did not, and there was a shorter 5-6" one I saw.
 
Not sure if it's a Stanley, but my father has had one in his carpentry toolbox for years (still does, I'm sure), and it has seen quite a bit of use, all without any thought of restraint for the sake of the tool. Uses including repeated strikes with framing hammers, and prying out framing/2x4"s, etc.
The wonderbar was one of my most used prybars (along with a 36" wrecking bar, and a small moulding bar; task-specific, of course), when I'd tag along. My personal, all-around fav. This is within the scope of carpentry, and altho I can't think off-hand of any necessary wilderness applications, I have no doubt that it would not fail you (assuming the Stanley product is not far below contractor-grade quality)

*edited to add:
I think I remember my father mentioning it was carbon steel; it certainly looked it, having had all the paint worn away (dark patina).
Memory is fuzzy on this, also, but I believe the cost was $10-20, so performance/build-quality should be reasonably similar.
I have no experience of using it with a cheater bar.
It was always paired with a large (guessing 18") framing hammer, tho

Have you looked at the Stanley Fubar? seems to incorporate a few possibilities, such as the addition of a hammer, a claw for gripping 2"x4"s, and a rubber handle to save you some impact. Two sizes available, if I remember right; both heavier than a wonderbar. Seems very demolition oriented, but a relatively small package for the task. I have not used this item, but it has caught my eye ever since it came out, as another, 'useful gimmick' (meant well).

Also, I have a small one, made by Vaughn; dimensions are 5.25"x.5"x1/16"strong (I know, inconsistent measurements), which seems to be plated/chromed/shiny (sorry, can't remember what it's called). Purchased to save wear and tear on knife edge, but I don't get much use out of it, for my personal uses. Very lightweight, and fits in most pen/pencil slots. Leverage generated isn't very high, unless you can step on it. Guessing the County Comm product is more useful, tho I haven't tried.
Altho I have not put this little bar through it's paces, and it seems kind of like a toy (what job requires this specific tool??), I imagine the $5-10 piece of steel will be comparably as tough as a Mora, while providing a stronger tip & nail pulling options. Possibly less leverage, due to shorter length, but somehwat compensated for by the angles (also, if a piece of steel pops out of place due to pressure being too great, would you prefer the projectile to be sharpened or no?)
I only have a Doan, which happens to be too small, but I wondered if the groove would strike well on a firesteel.
I haven't done the following, but wondering if they'd provide any worthwhile benefit:
Sharpening the end, for use as a chisel.
I see space for a paracord wrap, like everyone seems to enjoy on their county breaker bars!
Sides provide another two decently sized surfaces for squaring off, to strike a firesteel (I assume, altho seemingly plated, that the steel core is carbon, like other prybars, and suitable for striking natural flint, incase packing a stainless blade), or create fine shavings for first stage tinder.

I tend to have my Vic Farmer's screwdriver more readily at hand for that extra touch of leverage. Tips are roughened for extra grip, via diamond file of a Leatherman Wave.

Sheesh, how's that for long-winded?
hopefully somewhere within that long digression of ramble, there is a useful tidbit.
 
Countycomm has what they call a "wiggy" bar, a small pry bar. Nice gadget that you can pry with instead of you blade.
 
1Tracker said:
Don, is this a tool worth buying? I picked one up in a store a few weeks back and thought," Hmm?, seems like a too short bar to be useful; and is this soft steel that'll bend if used with a cheater on one end?":confused: I noticed 2 sizes also, and both were painted black, so the steel grain was'nt visible. Are they made in China too?
Click to expand...

I don't know if they are made in China or not, I guess it is even money that they are at this point in our societal development. :)

I have one of them (Stanley Wonder Bar), they're pretty strong. None of these things replaces the destructive capability of a three-feet long crowbar. I used to have one of the shorter versions, about 12-14 inches long, of the classic wrecking bar as well.

I think the Stanley Wonder Bar and the four small pry bars from County Comm are all worthwhile tools to have really, but along with the TOPS tool, the Boker COP Tool and the Breaker Bar from County Comm (the knife-like tool, not the aforementioned four smaller pry tools), you cannot expect any of these tools to perform like a large piece of steel - that is a large crowbar.

The current thread running on the TOPS tool has a link to the product and when you view it, you will see a picture of the tool ready to open a door by forcing it. That's a dubious claim given the door and frame shown.

That's not to say that the tool is useless, it's probably a pretty good prying tool but that particular "job" for such a prying tool is a bit much. You could use a pipe for leverage but it's likely the tool would break because the fence-post-pipe isn't going to first.

The County Comm tool is about $12.00, the listed price of the Boker COP Tool is in the mid-$30.00 range. It will be interesting to see the price of the TOPS Pry and Probe Tool. If it's not somewhere in that range, I would say that it is not a worthwhile tool to have for the money.

A real crowbar is usually either hexagonal or octagonal in cross section for the length of the bar and then that curls or otherwise dissipates into the working ends of the tool. There is no flat bar and certainly no knife-like instrument that is going to be as strong as those are. They are for deconstruction/demolition use and that's what you need to force a door like that, barring special forced entry tools that Fire/SWAT uses that can spread the jamb and pop the bolt. If you cannot spread the jamb and pop the bolt, you basically have to force and rip the frame and door to get the bolt to pop out, etc.

Improperly installed doors and frames, prior damage to doors and frames or a bolt that is less than 3/4" in length - you might make it in with this (TOPS, Boker, CountyComm) tool and other tools like it - given the door and frame combination we are talking about.

Wooden doors and hollow core wooden doors and all the rest, yeah, it will probably work. I think they just chose a poor picture for the ad on their page. Double doors or single doors that have a lot of glass and aluminum or similar frames will probably fall to this and other tools like it because there is more room to work and get some leverage and the metal is softer.

It's common in the knife industry to try to get knives to perform like pry bars and now they are trying to get small prying devices to perform like wrecking bars.
 
Check out STR's knifemaker's forum. He has these great Mini Titanium Prybars. You can't really "hack" a hole with them though.
I've got two of them. I haven't really abused them yet, but they worked wonders levering the sliding doors off of my closets. And those suckers were pretty much jammed tight.
 
The Stanley version is invaluable for roofing and siding. That's all I got.
Well, except that I use a "Sharpened Prybar" for my outdoors/leisure activities.:D
 
I've got a Vaughn Wonder Bar, and I like it a lot. (Maybe Stanley bought Vaughn?) If you're renovating a house, it's a very useful tool. It's light, and the thin blade gets into places a bigger wrecking bar wouldn't go. By using the "shove and twist" method, you can remove molding without ruining the drywall. Definitely a good tool for graceful demolition.
 
I have one in my Emergency Tool Kit in my first floor closet. I decided I needed some quick at hand tools that I could grab and go as part of my graduated evacuation kit. I have used them before and know what the limits are. I expect it to do medium duty prying. I am picking up a fireman's hatchet for the heavier stuff.
 
I've been interested in the knifemaking possibilities of those prybars. I actually went to the point of getting a few, heating them up, and quenching them to see how they did. I remember that the Harbor Freight one didn't harden, but the Vaughn Powerbar hardened up nicely. I imagine you could make quite a decent hard-use outdoor knife with that steel. Though I haven't been able to find out what kind of steel it is. Anyone know?
 
I got a Fubar last year,a bit heavy and unweildy,but it does make people look!Saying that, it has done some serious demolition work and all that happened to it is a bit of chipped paint;buy the ordinary wonder bar,it is alot more cost-effective.
 
You can get a really nice little pry bar from Snap-On. They sell one with a large screwdriver handle on it, that is about 10" long. You can buy the bar without the handle, if the dealer has an extra bar in his truck, which will save you a few bucks. They are maybe 7/16 square stock, with a bend in the end. They are fairly light for a pry bar, and seem like they are a natural for an extension.

The flat bars linked too are pretty tough. Typically, the Vaughans are better tools. If you get to looking at the little 7" trim bars, they are not good for much. They will flex a lot under any kind of a load. For a BOB, I would get the little Snap-On bar I mentioned over a little trim bar.
 
NaturalWorld said:
Also, I have a small one, made by Vaughn; dimensions are 5.25"x.5"x1/16"strong (I know, inconsistent measurements), which seems to be plated/chromed/shiny (sorry, can't remember what it's called).
Click to expand...

I have an old 15" Vaughn that has served me well. In fact, I used it Friday to remove a bad cinder block from my porch for a repair, then again today to help my brother-in-law take his deck down.

I keep it in the car most of the time. I put it in the trunk and forgot about it. After that I figured I'd leave it there with a couple other tools since it takes up little room.
 
Don Rearic said:
It's common in the knife industry to try to get knives to perform like pry bars and now they are trying to get small prying devices to perform like wrecking bars.
Click to expand...

LOL! Well said, Don!

Regarding the TOPS Pry tool, I can almost bet that they were approached by a SAR or resuce team, or some kind of spec ops unit to make that. It looks like something easy to carry on foot without getting weighed down, and is probably designed mainly for vehicle extraction. Think Hummvee hit by RPG or roadside bomb. Guy inside has to get out, or guy outside has to get him out.

As far as prying a car door, imagine one that is mangled and needs to be forced open the rest of the way. I'm sure Mike Fuller didn't blow up his car first to show it in action. :D

That looks like it wouldn't add much to the 90-100 odd-lbs soldiers carry on their backs.

Menawhile, back at the ranch, I am digging the FUBAR!
 
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