3/8 crome sockets on an impact gun

[Kracin]

C'mon guys,

I hate to break it to you, but they make impact sockets for impacts.

It's stupid to use the wrong tool unless you're in a real pinch when HF impact sockets can be found cheap.

color me the color of stupid then, cause i've been impacting on chrome sockets for years, putting cheater bars on wrenches and allen wrenches, using an adjustable wrench because my tools were a half mile away, using screwdrivers as prybars, and using anything heavy as a hammer.

still alive, i wonder why

 

[Skin]

Anyone use crome sockets on their 3/8 impact gun to do low torque assembly/disassembly?

I know people do it but I want some thoughts on the matter

Most people do. Go look on ebay at socket sets that have a picture of the drive ends. I'd bet at least half of the auctions have wallowed out drive ends from being used on power tools.

On a related note I tried to get a couple snap-on socket sets through ebay, looking for new or like new. 3 out of 4 sets I got had obvious, if brief, impact use/damage. Like new indeed.

 

[Pumpman1968]

Wow. So you put up a little bit of hay?

Understatement of the month!

 

[Pumpman1968]

Most people do. Go look on ebay at socket sets that have a picture of the drive ends. I'd bet at least half of the auctions have wallowed out drive ends from being used on power tools.

On a related note I tried to get a couple snap-on socket sets through ebay, looking for new or like new. 3 out of 4 sets I got had obvious, if brief, impact use/damage. Like new indeed.

Don't you know that EVERYTHING on Ebay is either "vintage", "like new", "lightly used" or "only used once".

 

[Tinner]

Why intentionally damage a perfectly good tool? A sloppy fit on a fastener or a drive tool just makes future use of the socket a pain in the ***.

To quote another member, it's one of those things that defines your mechanical aptitude.

 

[85camaro]

A friend of mine who sells used tools at the flea market has a bin of cracked sockets of every brand known to man.

I told him he should put a sign on the tub that says, "This is what happens when you use chrome sockets on impact gun bin."

 

[stock z/28]

I never use chrome flex sockets on impacts for obvious reasons but I would say that on 75% of the stuff I work on "typical" impact sockets simply wont fit. Just no clearance.


I must mention that in my opinion not all non-chrome sockets are impact?


I have several sets of black sockets that are thinner than a typical Snap On impact socket but I am not sure that they are not simply an industrial finish version.


Real impact sockets simply wont fit in most applications I deal with.

In 40 plus years I have broken a few chrome sockets but not a lot.


Jeff

 

[FiendFX]

can it really wear the anvil if you are using 14mm and below?

 

[Balor]

Guys, the chrome sockets have a much higher (RC hardness) temper on them then impact sockets which are designed for the contuse impacts from an impact gun on your work and made to soften the impacts (blows).

I have a friend (fellow technician) that now has only partial use of his left hand because he was supporting the chrome socket he was using when it exploded removing a compensator nut on a bike.

SO DON'T USE A CHROME SOCKET ON AN IMPACT GUN. RNGR1

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I do from time to time. Yes, agreed, it is not ideal, nor is it my go-to practice. I only use them on my 3/8 impact, an old worn-out snap-on I'm putting off having a rebuild done to. If let to sit and hammer, it might be able to put something on at 150ft/lbs. Maybe.


It's a situational issue. I typically buy the impact stuff first anyways, so lack of the proper "grade" of socket isn't the issue. It's all about access.

 

[rtole]

What the OP may not realize is that the chrome sockets wear the square drive out on the impact gun too.

This^
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Also the higher possibility of a chrome socket shattering.
Rounding out your chrome socket drive end.
I hate that it ruins the anvil on the gun. When a socket wont stay on the gun it ***** in tight areas.
I didd it for years before I knew better. I spent a lot of time getting sockets warrantied. Now as a pro I use impact sockets for everything. Unless the rare case impact sockets dont fit. (seldom happens) I do this for 1/2 , 3/8 and 1/4.

 

[FiendFX]

This^
|
Also the higher possibility of a chrome socket shattering.
Rounding out your chrome socket drive end.
I hate that it ruins the anvil on the gun. When a socket wont stay on the gun it ***** in tight areas.
I didd it for years before I knew better. I spent a lot of time getting sockets warrantied. Now as a pro I use impact sockets for everything. Unless the rare case impact sockets dont fit. (seldom happens) I do this for 1/2 , 3/8 and 1/4.

Even on 14 mm and below? Usually it doesn't even require much torque to remove them so how could it actually harm?