More Wrench Contact Points (Tons of pics...beware)

I'm back again with another round of pictures of wrench contact points. This time I have a lot of 13mm wrenches. Most of the images are of the box ends but since some of the wrenches have a non-standard open end I decided to show some of those too.

As before, here is a group shot of all the wrenches:


From top to bottom are the following wrenches:

1.Snap-On SOEXM13 (USA) – New, graciously loaned for the test by Chadster1
2.Wright 12-13mm (USA) – New, graciously donated for the test by TRTOOLSUPPLY
3.Craftsman Pro 45992 (USA) – Lightly used, purchased last year.
4.Craftsman Raised Panel 12 pt (USA) -V inverted V - 42917 – Used, from late 90s
5.Craftsman Raised Panel 6 pt (USA) -V inverted V – 42870 – Used, from late 90s
6.Craftsman Raised Panel 12 pt (USA) -VV- 42917 - Used, from my grandfather
7.K-D 63515 (USA) – New, graciously donated for test by QuattroJon
8.Facom 40R.13 (France) – New, graciously donated for test by QuattroJon
9.Metrich (Unknown) - New, graciously donated for test by QuattroJon
10.Signet (Unknown) - New, graciously donated for test by QuattroJon
11. Kobalt Stubby 22989 (USA) – New
12.Gear Wrench Ratcheting Stubby (China) – New
13.Pittsburgh Stubby (India) – New

Here are some close up pictures of the wrench box ends on the same fastener. The top picture shows the wrench in the “down” position hanging by it's own weight. The bottom picture shows the wrench in the “up” position where I am holding it up so it is tight against the fastener. The nut in these pictures has distances between the flats of of 12.78mm,12.78mm, and 12.79mm. These pictures will hopefully show the fit of the head on the nut.

1. Snap-On



2. Wright



3. Craftsman Pro



4. Craftsman RP 12 pt



5. Craftsman RP 6 pt



6. Craftsman RP 12 pt Older



7. K-D



8. Facom



9. Metrinch



10. Signet



11. Kobalt Stubby



12. Gear Wrench Ratcheting Stubby



13. Pittsburgh Stubby




Here are the pictures of the wrench's imprints on the nuts. These nuts are Class 8 and from McMaster-Carr. The part number is 90591A161. Dykem layout fluid was used this time instead of a Sharpie marker. The test wrenches were placed between two pieces of wood in a vise with the box end out. A bolt had two nuts placed on it then a washer followed by the test nut. Each test nut was torqued to 27 ft-lbs using a Harbor Freight torque wrench except the 10 Signet wrench. I was unable to find a secure way to hold it in the vice for testing. Instead I placed another wrench in the wise and torqued on the test nut with the Signet. Hopefully, it was torque similarly to the other nuts.

As a generalization, the wrench imprints are smaller than in the previous tests because the nuts are harder that the others used in my tests in the previous posts. Two nuts were tested in each wrench and the best imprint from each has been pictured.

1. Snap-On



2. Wright



3. Craftsman Pro



4. Craftsman RP 12 pt



5. Craftsman RP 6 pt



6. Craftsman RP 12 pt Older



7. K-D



8. Facom



9. Metrinch



10. Signet



11. Kobalt Stubby



12. Gear Wrench Ratcheting Stubby



13. Pittsburgh Stubby



Once again, I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions from the pictures.


Since wrenches #1, #8, and #9 had non-standard open ends I thought I'd post some pics of them.

As before, I'll show two pictures to show how the wrench grips a fastener. The #1 and #9 wrenches are hanging by thier own weight in each picture. The #8 wrench is held in the clockwise direction in both of it's pictures.
1. Snap On



8. Facom



9. Metrinch




Here are some pictures of the imprints on the nuts. The first picture shows the top imprint and the second picture shows the bottom imprint. I define top and the upper part of the wrench shown in the first picture of the open ends above.

1. Snap On



8. Facom



9. Metrinch




Thanks goes out to Chadster1 and TRToolSupply for sending wrenches to be tested. Even more thanks goes out to QuattroJon for supplying wrenches and continuously encouraging me to do the test.

Sorry if some of the nuts aren't centered in the pics. I automated the process to crop and resize them since there were so many. I also apologize for bogging your internet connections down with all the pics...but hey, you were warned.

Enjoy

I exceeded the post length with the above post so this is posted separately...

As a purely subjective aside, I used some of the wrenches to break the bolt/nuts combo loose. The test wrench was still on the test nut. I used the other wrenches on the locking nuts. I found that Wrenches 1-3 and 10 made breaking nuts loose easier. I found I like a standard wrench better than the twisted design of wrench 10. To me it seemed like the #10 wanted to twist off the fastener more than the regular designs. This might have been caused be me though. An yes, the longer size of wrenches 1 and 3 made it a little easier to break the nuts loose than the #2. Nothing monumental though.

Thanks for writing that up, It was very interesting to read.

Metrinch appears to have the most surface area, all the while staying away from the corners.

I have seen their TV ads 10 years ago, and have never seen anyone actually own their tools.

I am impressed with their performance, as always I thank you for providing us all with a little more insight keep up the good work!

Seriously David........you need to find a hobby!


Thanks again for the "real" world testing.

Let me know if want test sockets next!!!!!!!!!!

TRTOOLSUPPLY said:

Seriously David........you need to find a hobby!


Thanks again for the "real" world testing.

Let me know if want test sockets next!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Thats the problem, I have too many hobbies already. It took a while for me to do get this posted because I'm in the middle of restoring a 1940s Craftsman bandsaw for my wood working hobby.

David,

Once again you have done an excellent write up. We all appreciate the time and effort that you have put into this.
I'm happy to send you sockets to test........... once you have had a rest.

Jon

Hey David......how about some pics of the 1940 C-man bandsaw.

TRTOOLSUPPLY said:

Hey David......how about some pics of the 1940 C-man bandsaw.

Click to expand...

+1! I love that old Craftsman machinery...

Sure, here is a quick pic of it from when I picked it up. It's in pieces now. I misspoke earlier. It is a 1940s bandsaw and not a 1940 band saw. It's a 12". I'll probably start a separate thread once I get it back together and working.

Nice clamp collection!

Cool......it's not a Do-all but it looks like it has been doing the job for 70 years!

Pretty cool read.

I like that Facom quick wrench.

I'm not sure what I am getting from the contact lines, torque to fail is what counts isn't it?

I'm just trying to show where and how the wrench grips the fastener. Older wrenches, such as the #6 wrench, grip the fastener at the edges which can cause rounding. Snap-On came out with an design called Flank Drive years ago that moves the contact area onto the face of the fastener. Since the patent ran out everyone has copied them. Ideally you'd want a wide contact point close to the edge but not on it.

This is my thoughts on the issue... The closer the contact area is to the edge the more torque you put on the fastener for the same amount of force on the wrench. But putting the contact area at the edge increases your chance of rounding off the edge. A wider contact patch reduces the amount of pressure on the fastener.

David

Thanks David.

That was very interesting.

I have Metrinch Sockets they are my oh no nut/bolt is screwed solution. They also do both mm/sae so you buy one set of deep and one set shallow.

Teken said:

Metrinch appears to have the most surface area, all the while staying away from the corners.

I have seen their TV ads 10 years ago, and have never seen anyone actually own their tools.

I am impressed with their performance, as always I thank you for providing us all with a little more insight keep up the good work!

Click to expand...

Do a search, there was a thread on them a few months back....

Looks like I may have to use my set more often....

Thanks for all the research, David. Great info. I feel better about my Craftsman Pros and even the raised panels now.

PDF version of the above available here:

http://www.sonic.net/~alexz/Metric Wrench Test.pdf

Link is not working for me...

Fixed.......... (now that's 10 characters isn't it?)