Huwe® Wrench Info
Overview
Hammer unions have been in wide use for decades, but nobody came up with a better way than just beating on them with sledgehammers – until now. The powerful, versatile HUWE® wrench is an easier, safer and more economical way for your field crews to fasten and disassemble hammer unions wherever they’re used – without sacrificing speed or wasting precious rig-up time.
The HUWE® wrench comes in most of the sizes commonly used for temporary high-pressure service in western Canada’s oil and natural gas and mining sectors – from 2” to 6” union diameter. If you don’t see a size that suits your needs, please talk to us about designing and producing other head sizes for your company.
The tool’s pricing is highly competitive. More important, you’ll pay for your HUWE® wrenches many times over through fewer replacements of expensive hammer unions, pressure sensors and pressure gauges.
The HUWE® is incredibly easy to use. It’s rugged and brilliantly simple – with only two main parts plus a small locking pin and safety chain. While simple, its uniqueness is reflected in the fact that it has been granted patents in multiple countries.
But don’t let its simplicity fool you – the HUWE® is powerful. And every element was carefully thought-through, prototyped, improved-upon and retested, from the one-piece weld-free head to the one-way rotation and clear stamping. The HUWE® is beautifully suited to today’s generation of field worker.
When you’re out in the field, working under pressure – literally – then why not stop beating your hammer unions to pieces? Throw the best wrench at it! The HUWE®.
HUWE® Features
HEAD
Key to the patented HUWE®’s success is the ingenious head design. Cast out of a single piece of steel, each head has been designed to be harder than hammer-union steel. Heat-treated and water-tempered, with no welds, the rugged HUWE® head can operate indefinitely – outlasting any sledgehammer.
The HUWE® head fits easily and sits securely on the nut, thanks to its long curvature, width and open-ended guide in addition to the lug-hole. There’s plenty of lateral stability as well. The head torques the nut in one direction while sliding off easily in the other. It won’t wear out and will continue to sit evenly and grip properly without slipping, even on moderately worn hammer union nuts.
HANDLE
Much of the HUWE®’s user-friendliness and versatility come from the removable, reversible handle. Not only does it generate incredible torque but, just as on a box wrench, reversing the handle lets the user do 1½ turns. That’s great for tough jobs in confined working spaces.
PIN
The simple pin is all it takes to lock the handle to the head. It’s attached to the handle by a chain to prevent dropping.
Available Sizes
The patented HUWE®’s various wrench diameters cover most of the hammer union sizes commonly used in western Canada. Our four handle lengths fit all wrench head sizes, allowing selection of the handle that best fits the available working space and the user’s strength and preference. You can buy one head and handle as a unit, or a complete set of heads with four handles.
If you don’t see a size that suits your needs, please talk to us about designing and producing other head sizes for your company.
Metallic silver is the HUWE®’s standard colour. On large-run orders, a modest surcharge gets you custom-painted HUWE®’s. You might like to select your company’s official colour, for easy identification of your HUWE®’s on the job-site.
Handles
| Part Number | Description |
| 710-0059 | HUWE Handle, 24″ long |
| 710-0030 | HUWE Handle, 36″ long |
| 710-0031 | HUWE Handle, 42″ long |
| 710-0032 | HUWE Handle, 46″ long |
Heads
| Part Number | Description |
| 710-0019 | HUWE Head, 2″ Fig. 100/200/206/400 |
| 710-0020 | HUWE Head, 2″ Fig. 602/607/1002 |
| 710-0021 | HUWE Head, 2″ Fig. 1502 |
| 710-0022 | HUWE Head, 3″ Fig. 100/200/206/300 |
| 710-0023 | HUWE Head, 3″ Fig. 602/1002 |
| 710-0024 | HUWE Head, 3″ Fig. 1502 |
| 710-0048 | HUWE Head, 3″ Fig. 400 |
| 710-0025 | HUWE Head, 4″ Fig. 602/1002 |
| 710-0027 | HUWE Head, 4″ Fig. 1502 |
| 710-0049 | HUWE Head, 4″ Fig. 100/200/206/300/400 |
| 710-0050 | HUWE Head, 5″ Fig. 1002/1502 |
| 710-0028 | HUWE Head, 6″ Fig. 100/200/206 |
| 710-0029 | HUWE Head, 6″ Fig. 1002 |
Safety
The HUWE® avoids the hazards of swinging a large, heavy hammer. There’s dramatically lower risk of impact injuries to the operator or bystander. There are no flying metal chips. Strain on the operator’s joints and back is greatly reduced. Just using the HUWE® is far less tiring – and general fatigue poses its own hazards, potentially leading to other mistakes. The patented HUWE®’s safety benefits are further magnified when the work takes place up off the ground, such as on ladders.
Why pound when you can simply rotate? The HUWE® is so safe the user doesn’t need a face shield or earplugs. Fewer injuries equal greater productivity, a happier and more confident workforce, lower health benefit payments and, ultimately, reduced WCB rates.
Training requirements are modest, consisting of a simple demonstration. The wrench’s turning direction is clearly marked. Virtually anyone can use the HUWE® wrench proficiently.
The HUWE® head’s long curvature and three-sided guide in addition to the main lug-hole ensure a solid connection even on somewhat worn hammer union nuts, including excellent lateral stability. It is designed not to fit on overly damaged nuts – which should be replaced. Yet it also comes off the nut effortlessly and, if you turn it the wrong way, it simply slips off the fitting without damage. The handle is reversible, excellent for confined spaces, enabling 1½ turns – just like an open-end wrench.
The only two “don’ts” are:
Don’t beat the HUWE® head with a hammer or anything else; and
Don’t snipe or add any other artificial leverage to the handle.
There’s more on how to use the HUWE® here.
Applications
The HUWE® is suited to any job where hammer unions are used, i.e., temporary high-pressure service up to 15,000 psi. That is most commonly required in the oil and natural gas industry and includes flare lines, flow lines and injection lines, high-pressure lines used during hydraulic fracturing and other pressure-pumping services such as cementing, and under-balanced drilling. There can also be need for temporary service, such as steam, during facility turnarounds or expansions. The mining industry also has various requirements for temporary high-pressure service.
In short, anywhere that you might find a hammer union, there’s a need for the patented HUWE®.
What Not To Do
Do Not Hammer HUWE® Heads
Do Not Use Snipes/Cheaters
Do Not Hammer HUWE® Handles
Hammer Union Wear & Tear
Wouldn’t it be better to stop beating your hammer unions to pieces? Tightening and loosening hammer unions with the typical sledgehammer is incredibly hard on the union – particularly the nut.
Repeated hammer strokes wear down the union’s lugs, while missed strokes striking the union’s body can cause hairline cracks which are only noticed when pressure is added. Expensive pieces wear out quicker than they should and often become unusable – as the photos on this page illustrate.
Progressively more damaged pieces that are not taken out of service can pose the risk of catastrophic failure. That’s an acute physical hazard to field crews and bystanders, could trigger a reportable environmental incident and is terrible for your company’s reputation.
This is very costly wear-and-tear – but there’s an easy work-around: the HUWE®. Stop beating on hammer unions and start torqueing them safely and gently with the patented HUWE®. It’s not only safer, but far more economical, given the high cost of hammer unions.
Damaged or worn hammer union pieces impose recurring costs, while HUWE® sets are a one-time purchase. Your crews will avert hammer union damage every time they use the HUWE®. That means ongoing savings. Order a set of HUWE® wrenches today, and you’ll watch your hammer union replacement costs – as well as related worker injuries – go down.
Quality Control
The HUWE® is durable and designed specifically for use in rugged and harsh oilpatch conditions, so the HUWE® will far outlast any sledgehammer. The HUWE®’s head is cast from a single piece of steel with no welds. Head and handle are each heat-treated and water-tempered.
The HUWE® is manufactured in Canada. Each batch poured will receive its own material tracking record (MTR). The MTR will also report the procedures used to heat-treat and water-temper each batch.
With no moving parts and a total of only two main parts to the tool, plus the small locking pin and safety chain, the HUWE®’s strength and innate simplicity means it was designed for an essentially unlimited lifespan. It needs no lubrication or other maintenance.
Patents have been issued for the HUWE.
All HUWE® wrenches come with a one-year manufacturer’s warranty against defects. The tool is not warranted against abuse such as striking the head with a hammer or adding a snipe, chain or other artificial leverage to the handle.
How To Use
The HUWE® is incredibly easy to assemble and use. Not everyone can swing a sledgehammer accurately or safely. But the patented HUWE® can be used by virtually anyone after a demonstration lasting barely a minute. It’s highly intuitive, the turning direction is clearly marked, and if turned the wrong way it’s designed to slip off the hammer union nut without doing damage.
The HUWE® is designed for pure manual use. The handle lengths allow even an average-sized operator to apply hundreds of foot-pounds of torque – far more than needed to seat a hammer union. The nature of the wrench’s operation means that even a novice operator can distinctly feel the hammer union’s face being seated and the O-ring being compressed. That’s far superior feel to what you get with a sledgehammer – and it helps the operator avoid over-tightening.
How Customers See It
Magnaflo Systems (MFS)
Magnaflo Systems supplies under balanced drilling equipment and coil tubing rigs to the European oilfield market. We have recently introduced the HUWE® to our customers and are seeing great results. more >
Magna Fab Inc.
Magna Fab Inc. is an oilfield equipment manufacturing company that builds and tests high pressure pipe. The HUWE was introduced to Magna Fab in 2011, when we were asked to be the test facility for the new product. more >
Patents
Algeria Patent Number:
150571
Australian Patent Number:
2013382549
Brunei Patent Number:
BN/N/0114/2015
Canadian Patent Number:
2,810,346
China Patent Number:
2017030300974070
Eurasia Patent Number:
03057031
India
407360
Indonesia Patent Number:
IDP000052386
Iranian Patent Number:
B25B
New Zealand Patent Number:
711467
Nigeria Patent Number:
NG/PT/C/2015/1521
OAPI Patent Number:
17486
Philippines Patent Number:
1-2015-502064
Republic of Singapore Patent Number:
11201507387V
South Africa Patent Number:
2015/07060
Sudan Patent Number:
PCT/SD/457
Trinidad Patent Number:
TT/P/2018/00052
U.S.A. Design Patent Number:
D694078
U.S.A. Patent Number:
9,186,780
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Patent Number:
SA 7377