I'm sure they are just trying to limit the torque on the ratcheting system,
Huh ? .... how is that ?
People will put as much torque on them as they want to no matter what point they are.
Today's modern 12 points with flank drive engage the hex heads just as well as
yesterday's 6 points. 12 points engage quicker than 6 points. No need for a ratcheting 6 point.
I have to pretty much agree with all of that.
A 12 point flank drive socket may be even better than a regular 6 point .
The thing is ,even if you had a ratcheting 6 point ,in a tight spot it may not be positioned so you could get it on the bolt and then you would have to keep turning the 6 point insert till it would fit and I think that would be a real pain.
When
Snap On invented flank drive they pretty much changed everything and when there patent ran out everybody started using that design as it is superior.
I don't think there is any mystery. To make a six point you would have to make the head larger, the gearing smaller, or the metal in the contact surface way smaller.
So a six point would have a huge head, in comparison to the twelve point. The more points, the rounder the part, thus the smaller.
Mathematics are the main reason.
Couple that with the facts that most gear wrenches are not used for brute force work and are already too big in diameter and there is no mystery.
What the ..........Ummm ...... No ........ that is all wrong.
The size of the insert would not need to be a bigger outside diameter at all, it would not change .
The only change is that the insert would covering up six more points.
It would just be a 6 point instead of a 12 point no other changes are required.
I saw a 6pt Blue point ratcheting flex head wrench on eBay. It may be still on there.
They are auctually 12 point....well kind of .... with a twist.
On the blue point flex heads they are 12 point all the way through but the one outside edge is 6 point.
They did this so it can be used to prevent the bolts from slipping all the way through the wrench .
It is just another innovation from Snap On.
Obviously the 12 point nut can't slip through and a 6 point will but only if it is aligned with the 6 points on the edge of the wrench.
If it is slipping through you just need to align it over one point and it wont.
I looked at the ebay link and I can see how it would be confusing with only one like that.
As far as that ebay set goes, I have no idea why his are like that.
I have both sae and metric sets and they are all 12 point with a 6 point outer edge just like the one 3/4" wrench pictured.
old snap on clunky ratchet wrenches were either 6 or 12 point
If by "clunky" you mean the ones that have been around a long time that are flat steel riveted together with the exposed teeth ....well Snappy still offers some in 6 point...but not many.
The Mac tools "EDGE" sockets and box wrenches are basically using two of Snap On's patents or at the very least there ideas.
They have the radiused corners to put the load on the flats of the socket (Snap On Flank Drive ) .
Then the have raised ridges on oposing flats like Snap On has in there Flank Drive Plus open end wrenches.
They just combined two of Snap On's ideas.
The only reason the egde wrenches are 6 point is because they have to be as they need the flats to put the raised edges on.
