Anyone use Bondhus ProHold???

[athyen]

Title kinda says it all. Has anyone ever used any of the Bondhus ProHold allen or torx tools? If you have, what did you think of it? Is it a feature that's worth looking into, or should I just stick with the "plain" allen and torx tools?

 

[Bouchard93]

I recently just got a set of bondhus allen wrenches & i love them x10's better then a normal set (being thats what all the weld tech's at work use and talking with them it was a no brainer well worth the 22$ i paid through amazon)

 

[athyen]

I recently just got a set of bondhus allen wrenches & i love them x10's better then a normal set (being thats what all the weld tech's at work use and talking with them it was a no brainer well worth the 22$ i paid through amazon)

Thats great to hear! Were they the Prohold allen wrenches?

 

[tilly79]

I would also appreciate some input from somebody that has used these.
I have a Proto set now, but I would definitely be interested in a set I could change just the bit out as I am always wearing out the 3/16"

 

[Bouchard93]

these are the ones I got

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00132CGTW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Nocturnal-G]

I purchased this set... so far so good.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SW9OA0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

The sockets are satin/matte finished instead of shiny chrome, which I thought was a big plus. The bits are stout and they are a pain to remove with just your fingers, they sit tight which is another plus. Use a punch and hammer to remove the bits.

 

[tilly79]

That's what I wanted to hear. I have the Bondhus hex keys and they are by far the best hex keys I have ever used. If you slip in a fastener they don't round off like every other set I have ever used. I just wondered if the same held true for the hex bits.

 

[Nocturnal-G]

That's what I wanted to hear. I have the Bondhus hex keys and they are by far the best hex keys I have ever used. If you slip in a fastener they don't round off like every other set I have ever used. I just wondered if the same held true for the hex bits.

The warranty is great too...

As soon as I got the set... I like tinkering and using the tools, so the closest hex fasteners were being driven out, those being all the Ikea furniture in the house. Oh... and these bits are impact rated as well, That's another plus!

 

[tomciob]

The L keys I had great success with, they are durable and awesome looking (silver for sae, gold for metric).

The bits in sockets on the other hand are terrible. All the smaller ones keep falling out of the sockets. Seems the green ball that holds it in the socket was worn out before I even got them. This is true for the metric, sae and torx set. Thinking of warrantying a bunch of them.

 

[sparky5982]

I have been using the Bondhus wrenches for about a year. They are excellent, and I'm going to buy a couple of more sets to replace the ones I have lost. I've noticed that they fit more tightly into fasteners than other wrenches I've used - reducing the chance of stripping. I used to have a lot of problems stripping screws, especially M4 and M6 button heads. Now I don't.

 

[Farmall450]

They look nicer than my cman's!

Probably won't rust in the drawer too

 

[Applesauce]

Hmmm...sweet. You can get just the bits here.

 

[larry_g]

I have had the prohold sets and they are great when you need to hold a fastener on the ball tip. Be aware that the prohold feature is just a plastic insert in the end of the wrench and it is subject to falling out. I soon relegated them to use only when the feature was needed and the rest of daily use was the standard hex keys. You can easily wrap a piece of paper around the tip before inserting it in the fastener and accomplish the same thing. I spent my working career on machines that were assembled with socket heat fasteners, so I tried a lot of hex turning tools. Bondus was the goto tool maker.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[EOC_Jason]

these are the ones I got

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00132CGTW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have those too and love them!

 

[athyen]

I have had the prohold sets and they are great when you need to hold a fastener on the ball tip. Be aware that the prohold feature is just a plastic insert in the end of the wrench and it is subject to falling out. I soon relegated them to use only when the feature was needed and the rest of daily use was the standard hex keys. You can easily wrap a piece of paper around the tip before inserting it in the fastener and accomplish the same thing. I spent my working career on machines that were assembled with socket heat fasteners, so I tried a lot of hex turning tools. Bondus was the goto tool maker.

lg
no neat sig line

Thank you. That's the type of insight I was hoping to get. So the prohold works well, but does not have a long life to it? If you were to buy the wrenches again, would you get the prohold, or just stick to regular ball end keys?

 

[bonneyman]

Hex-Plus by FACOM are supposed to be really good, and McMaster also makes an enhanced grip "high torque" allen wrench that members have spoken highly of. They are definitly on my "get when I can" list.

http://mdmetric.com/fhex.htm

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-hex-l-keys/=nn2kg9

 

[Stuey]

I don't like them that much. The retention mechanism is a small plastic nib that's embedded in a hole in the ball tip. It rubs on the way in and it seems like it will wear out sooner rather than later.

Wiha's retention mechanism is a bit more thorough.

To be fair it works well, but to me it just seems a little clunky.

I don't need the Prohold and only bought my set because it cost less than the non-Prohold set at the time. If given the choice again, I would pay a few bucks more not to have this feature.

 

[larry_g]

Thank you. That's the type of insight I was hoping to get. So the prohold works well, but does not have a long life to it? If you were to buy the wrenches again, would you get the prohold, or just stick to regular ball end keys?

The prohold has one function above the regular wrench, which is to hold the fastener on the tool. If I had to have only one set it would be a regular set of ball drivers. I would always advocate getting the basics first then the modified ones. I would always suggest that you get a basic set of combination wrenches before getting one with a ratcheting box end.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Monte]

like Stuey mentioned there´s Wiha who makes a "circlip" style screw holder
Available as screwdrivers, T-handles, bits and L-keys

 

[Outlawmws]

Geaze, I just use a piece of paper towel when I need to hold something like that on an allen (or even in a socket...)

Sometimes low-tech is all you need...

Bondhus has become my go to for allens though. Getting ready to sacrifice a spare ball end set to get the ball and a long reach on a set of hex driver sockets...

 

[athyen]

The prohold has one function above the regular wrench, which is to hold the fastener on the tool. If I had to have only one set it would be a regular set of ball drivers. I would always advocate getting the basics first then the modified ones. I would always suggest that you get a basic set of combination wrenches before getting one with a ratcheting box end.

lg
no neat sig line

Thank you, I'm just gonna go with the regular, non prohold wrenches for now. I will probably try them later though. For now, it's paper towels for me. Great to hear that everyone loves Bondhus though, sounds like I'm on the right track!

 

[pfctblu]

I was looking into the Prohold bits recently as well for torx and SAE/MM hex. I wanted bit sockets and was planning to use these insert bits with sockets but read about fitment issues and the retention wear (similar issues brought up in this thread).
Still, the Bondhus silver and gold ball end L keys are awesome so I got those but wound up ordering a Williams set of torx & hex bit sockets instead of the proholds. Though they are Taiwan Williams and not USA, I haven't got my hands on them yet but am hoping they are decent.

 

[Stuey]

Review of the Wiha MagicRing went up on ToolGuyd today - http://toolguyd.com/wiha-magicring-ball-hex-key-set-review/ .

I've been meaning to review them anyways, and they were sitting on my table when I was photographing other tools, and I remembered this thread.

I didn't realize the price of the L-key set was up to $65. Ouch. I also have the T-handles and screwdrivers, and power bits like Monte posted about. They've all been pretty good performers. Definitely stronger retention than Bondhus ProHold, but looks to be more than double the price.

 

[aczr2k]

[/QUOTE]The bits in sockets on the other hand are terrible. All the smaller ones keep falling out of the sockets. Seems the green ball that holds it in the socket was worn out before I even got them. This is true for the metric, sae and torx set. Thinking of warrantying a bunch of them.[/QUOTE]

Call them on this... I purchased two sets for work, all the bits were loose, factory rep stopped in here, of course they have never seen that before, tested some new ones. Much better this go around, they did change the plastic material for bit retention. In fact the 5/32 bit I have sitting on my desk has ran in almost 3000 bolts with no sign of wear or loosening up.