Wrench set sizes: how low do you go?

[rick carpenter]

What are the smallest size wrenches that actually get used in general dicking around in the garage? I'm putting my Craftsman, GearWrench, and Husky wrenches up on the wall and while the sets go down to 9mm and 1/4" there's no need to rack up the ones that rarely ever or never get used. I find the smaller the nuts and bolts I encounter the more handy nutdrivers or sockets & extensions are.

 

[eschoendorff]

I go down to 1/4” and 7mm. A 7mm long pattern wrench comes in pretty handy around the radiator shroud in one of the cars (forget which one but not having the right wrench was a *****).

 

[plinker]

I prefer to have 7mm & 1/4 as the smallest in the set in general, ratcheting and regular combination style. Anything smaller is usually socket territory. I did have occasion to use a 5.5mm ignition wrench on a blower motor screw a couple times though.

 

[Lisamelting]

6mm.

 

[BigBoreFan]

8mm for me

 

[Magnum440d100]

6mm and 1/4” for wrenches.

1/4” and 4mm in sockets.

 

[Super Sport]

I go down to 1/4” and 7mm.

Same here. 7mm is very common on my vehicles and 1/4" around the house. While I typically use a socket for those sizes, a wrench is handy at times.

I have Craftsman midget wrenches that go smaller and I can only think of once or twice that I've ever needed them.

 

[NC Rick]

Yep, I have a set of Craftsman lignition wrenches that go way down. I have had them since the 70s and have even used one or two once or twice a time or two...

 

[bonneyman]

I prefer to have 7mm & 1/4 as the smallest in the set in general, ratcheting and regular combination style. Anything smaller is usually socket territory. I did have occasion to use a 5.5mm ignition wrench on a blower motor screw a couple times though.

Sometimes need a 3/16" socket but that's only on older furnaces. Though I have a pair of 1/8" combo wrenches for the cool factor.

 

[Hagatronics]

6mm. Used it just yesterday.

 

[Kev442]

1/4 and 5.5mm.

 

[M6erfan]

5.5mm, 1/4"

 

[Wamsutta]

1/4 and 8mm

 

[engineer2]

3/16" for DB-9 connectors.

 

[bwringer]

6mm on some motorcycle hose clamps, but I usually use a socket or driver for those.

As far as using an actual wrench, I use 7mm fairly often.

 

[Craftfab]

1/4 and 6mm

 

[pstemari]

I have them going down to 2.5mm and 5/64”, but seldom have need for them. The primary uses for ones that small are tightening jam nuts on the wheels of small robots and reaching behind panels to tighten the back nut of a switch. Many switches use two nuts, both in front of and behind the panel, to allow adjusting the front to back position of the switch. Pilot lights also tend to have nuts in the back where a nutdriver can't reach.

https://amzn.com/B00209TOAG/

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[Rarified27]

8mm and 1/4 are the common wrenches at the bottom for me, but every few months I need a 7mm wrench or socket and 6mm+3/16 sockets.

 

[danielbuck]

1/4", same as most folks here, is about all I usually need for small wrenches. I do keep a small box of extra small wrenches that go down pretty small, but they rarely get used. Actually, they almost exclusively get used when working on computers and RC vehicles.

 

[L.Cheapo]

5/32" and 4mm.

 

[Fedwrench]

6 mm and 1/4 however, realistically nothing below 8 mm gets used often.

 

[orangeblood]

pstemari - thats a really neat looking set (16 piece moody tools). assume you are happy with it?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00209TOAG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[DakotaMan]

5mm on metric, 3/16 standard

 

[Spacey_G]

pstemari - thats a really neat looking set (16 piece moody tools). assume you are happy with it?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00209TOAG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have the SAE set that I use for electronics work. Very useful for small standoffs, turnbuckles, nuts, etc.

 

[eschoendorff]

Forgot about this little guy. Never used it in my life but I’ve got one! Lol

 

[earthmover1980]

My sockets go down to 4.5 mm and 3/16. I play around with small engines, and do some of my own basic gunsmithing. I rarely use anything smaller than a 1/4".
The ignition wrench sets include small sizes. Now with electronic ignition, using small sizes are not all that common in my repairs anyway. I've never used a 9mm in my life, but it seems most sets have em. I used a very small metric wrench when I did a trigger job on my CZ 455.
Kohler and Briggs use a lot of 1/4, and 5/16.

 

[LilEngineeringBoy]

I think I have one set (like my original Craftsman set from when I was 15) that goes down to like 4mm that I keep in the wrench rack in the cart. The other sets don't go down that low without big skips and the ones that are below 10mm are in the basement in the bicycle workshop.

 

[pstemari]

pstemari - thats a really neat looking set (16 piece moody tools). assume you are happy with it?



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00209TOAG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Yeah, it's a nice little set. The wrench heads are very thin—some sort of black spring temper steel, which is perfect for my purposes. The heads are replaceable, which is a nice touch.

Not super fancy, but very practical.

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[Elvisidal]

4mm .

 

[1320]

1/4" and 7mm for me.

However, I have down to 7/64" and 3mm. Not sure why.

 

[turnthewrench 2.0]

5.5mm & 7/32 (5.556mm)

 

[Yarpo]

1/4 and 7mm for me as well, but I'm thinking about adding a 6 since I've got one slot left in my wrench wrack and use 6 a fair amount. So with that, anyone know where to buy Wright WrightGrip 2.0 singles?

 

[turnthewrench 2.0]

1/4 and 7mm for me as well, but I'm thinking about adding a 6 since I've got one slot left in my wrench wrack and use 6 a fair amount. So with that, anyone know where to buy Wright WrightGrip 2.0 singles?

https://www.royalsupply.com/store/pc/12Pt-Metric-Combination-Wrenches-c2691.htm

Edit: Don't know of these are 2.0...

 

[JR 42]

Epstein Hardware:

https://www.harryepstein.com/index....es.html?brand_for_product_detail=2823&cat=316

If you call them, I'm sure they can tell you if the open stock 6mm are 2.0 or not. Looks like they've got black oxide, satin, and full polish in stock. Jori is a member here, too.

 

[Yarpo]

https://www.royalsupply.com/store/pc/12Pt-Metric-Combination-Wrenches-c2691.htm

Edit: Don't know of these are 2.0...

Thanks! Similar to amazons listings its hard to say if the wrench is a 2.0 or not. I suppose a quick phone call would probably answer my question.

Epstein Hardware:

https://www.harryepstein.com/index....es.html?brand_for_product_detail=2823&cat=316

If you call them, I'm sure they can tell you if the open stock 6mm are 2.0 or not. Looks like they've got black oxide, satin, and full polish in stock. Jori is a member here, too.

Thanks as well, I'll call these guys and get one ordered. At 6 or 7 dollars, why not

 

[Al Borland]

i have a 3 mm. Snap-On combination wrench.
Found it in the road and thought it was a toy.