The Tool

The Tool (formerly, "The Ridgid Tool") is a 60-inch pipe wrench and the mascot of the Engineering Society at UW since 1968.

Choice of a Wrench
The Engineering Society began looking for a mascot, starting as early as March 1966, and the Engineering Mascot Committee was formed. A call for submissions went out on March 4 and a plebiscite was to be held two weeks later, in order to decide on the best submission. It appears that there were insufficient submissions, as another call for submissions was made, directed at Arts and Science students, on March 18. In May, the society decided to push the issue until the next term. What followed was two years of heated debate between Engineering Society A and Society B, as they could not come to an agreement.

Finally, on May 21, 1968, over two years after the initial call for submissions, the decision was put to a vote before all engineering students. There were two potential symbols on the ballot: a sword (Society B) and a wrench (Society A). Waterloo engineers had been referred to as "plumbers/plummers" since even before UW split from Laurier, and after (only 15% of ) engineers voted, the wrench was chosen as the official mascot.

"After the decision had been made to adopt a large pipe wrench as the Engineering Society mascot, Jim Pike and a few others went searching for the perfect wrench. After working in the Hamilton area, Jim found a local Ridge Tool supplier. The largest of the Ridge wrenches was selected and a letter was written to the Ridge Tool Company requesting that it be donated to the Waterloo Engineering Society."

The Promises
Since the engineering society couldn't afford the $350 that The Tool cost, it was donated by the Ridge Tool Company on two conditions:

 That the pipe wrench remain in original Ridgid tool colours.(orange and black) That the pipe wrench be given the name “The Ridgid Tool” 

The Engineering Society has since broken both of its promises to the company. Within hours of receiving the wrench, EngSoc president Jim Pike had the wrench chrome-dipped, violating the first promise. Later, in 1990, the wrench was renamed from "The Ridgid Tool" to "The Tool" after some expressed concerns about potential sexist/phallic connotations (especially after the École Polytechnique shooting), thus violating their second promise.

The Theft
The Tool was stolen on January 1982, by a group of University of Toronto students. The Tool was headed back home after a visit to the Engineering Welcome Back Stag. The car carrying the Tool stopped at "a local plaza" and members of U of T's Brute Force Committee assaulted a Tool Bearer, cut the chains holding The Tool to the car (damaging the vehicle), and absconded with the wrench.

After parading their prize around and taking lots of photos with it, The Tool was returned on March 4th, 1982. It arrived just hours before the Iron Ring Ceremony, encased in a steel, 45-gallon drum, filled with reenforced concrete. Working feverishly, the Tool Bearers were able to free the wrench from the concrete in time, only to find the words "U of T" engraved into it. This damage to The Tool can no longer be seen due to two more application of chrome to its surface since then.