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Which Hex driver?

Cheap hex wrenches are false economy. You only need to buy them once!

Will definitely be a metric size. My bolt down gear from the 70s use metric screws.
 
S_J said:
a dab of WD40 that is allowed to flow into the thread
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WD40 isn't a release agent or a lubricant per se.......... I'm sure we all know that WD stands for Water Dispersant?

You have to admire the company behind this product as you see it everywhere yet it is rarely the best suited product for the tasks most people buy it for. A bit like CTEK battery chargers really.

Use KanoKroil but given some on here think £29.99 + VAT is expensive for a set of Allen keys (which you'll only need to buy once).

As noted elsewhere I wasn't able to undo a 2.5mm Naim heat sink screw the other day. 3 came out although one of those was 'tough'. I tried t******g the 4th with a suitable hammer and drift, I tried breaking the lock by attempting to tighten it first, I tried using a centre punch to try drifting it around, I tried heating the affected area. In the end I did end up having to drill the d**n thing out.

Regards

Richard
 
Somafunk said:
No toolkit is complete without a few wera tools,
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My favourite Wera tool:
wera-kratform-stubby-screwdriver-style-drink-beer-bottle-opener-handle-[1]-2796-p.jpg
 
S_J said:
Nah, money well spent. They pay for themselves the first time they free a stubborn bolt that you'd otherwise have to drill out and extract. Or maybe your time is worth a lot less than mine :) What is it with pfm and penny-pinching anyway? Is it a competition?
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Most of the stuff I do in my workshop comes under the heading of "hobby" for which a synonym is "pastime". :D

BugBear
 
Standard procedure at the factory for unsticking those hex screws was generally in this order.
  1. Grind down the tip of your T handle hex driver so you have fresh un-worn metal contact
  2. Drift the screw round with a centre punch when that doesn't work (because you already wrecked the head before you did 1)
  3. Attack it with the pillar drill
 
mansr said:
£30 for a Wera set is a no-brainer.
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Great tools, even at a steep price, remain their own reward because effective tools are such a pleasure to use! Then - once the immediate problem is solved - there remains the aesthetic pleasure and trust that you'll get a lifetimes enjoyment out of such yet. Buy cheap, buy at least twice... and once I realised that is a truth from experience, I've never had a problem accumulating top-quality like Wera, Bahco and Facom etc - slowly, one by one for each purpose: so now years later I find have a wonderful set of kit, slowly expanding, and exactly the right tools for the things I want or need to do, all of which remains a pleasure to use.

(also leaves me to freely cut down/ grind/ heat + bend/ adapt, for a single purpose, some of the cheaper, older crap in my possession for any singular purpose I come across, without caring! So yes, there is use for very, very cheap 'tools' too - as a low cost of entry thing to be used&abused for singular purpose: just expect nothing more out of it.)

PS:

On the point of buying the best you can afford, for the task at hand: I've inherited crates of wonderful woodworking tools and bespoke planes from my Grandfather, for whom woodwork was a pastime and passion. To buy a new tool of such quality was an indulgence in the context of raising a young family in the 1930/40s...

Yet - the result remains a set of objects of great beauty, and great utility, and value even today - even though many pushing 80+yrs old. They'll see me out, too.
 
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I suggest a correctly sized bit driven (in reverse, of course) by a cordless electric impact drill. That will remove the bolt with percussive impact rather than brute torque, which carries a much higher risk of deformation.
 
bugbear said:
Yeah. Because sets at £30 and sets at £3 are the only two choices.

I hear you.

BugBear
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I have had sets at intermediate prices for the last 50 years. Eventually I paid the extra for the Wera keys. Carry on wasting money for as long as you wish.

It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.

John Ruskin
 
awkwardbydesign said:
I have had sets at intermediate prices for the last 50 years. Eventually I paid the extra for the Wera keys. Carry on wasting money for as long as you wish.
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I bought two sets (one metric, one imperial, at a discounted-for-the-pair price) of allen keys by "Wiha", at an Axminster trade show. That was 20 years ago, and I have yet to snap a key, or round a socket.

I don't consider my money wasted.

The best is the enemy of the good.

BugBear
 
bugbear said:
I bought two sets (one metric, one imperial, at a discounted-for-the-pair price) of allen keys by "Wiha", at an Axminster trade show. That was 20 years ago, and I have yet to snap a key, or round a socket.

I don't consider my money wasted.

The best is the enemy of the good.

BugBear
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But the point is this:-
"Wera make a scalloped allen key that engages tight into the points of the hex, they allow far greater torque to be applied."
 
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