Glad you mentioned these, I brought a set when over...I really like these keys.
This is 100% correct!
-SS fasteners are notorious for galling themselves into a unified assembly. Perhaps some anti-seize on the threads (if allowed by FDA) would help. If FDA says anti-size is verboten try some Phillips Milk Of Magnesia on the threads instead. That's what I had to use when we ran out of anti-seize. Phillips MOM was used by USAF flight line mechanics decades ago to combat frozen/galled fasteners, that's where I got it from. It's not as good as real anti-seize but it does work.
There is such a thing as food grade anti-seize but it almost seemed to make things worse .... plus it tasts horrible lol
Those PB keys are really cool! I have too many allen keys, but it seems that maybe still not enough?This is 100% correct!
The only thing I would add in respect of the PB Swiss, is that although they flex, they do so elastically and return to straight, rather than taking a permanent bend. I once spoke to Max Baumann who runs PB and he explained all this!
I should also point out that PB Swiss offer round shank hex keys too!
Although I’m a fan of the PB Swiss (and I still think they are the most accurately made - certainly my first choice when I need a good fit and don’t want to damage a fastener) I like the Wera too. I’d never really thought about why, but I think you’re right, it’s the stiffness - they’re a really good tool for automotive use. It’s not just the shape though, they seem to be made of very decent steel too, and I like the colour coding.
The Wera Torx keys are also superb. They’re one of the few firms to offer a ball ended Torx, and I absolutely love these. Have really needed them on a couple of occasions and no complaints.
I also like the selection that Wera offer - hex or Torx, Inch or metric, short or long, coloured sleeves or not, then repeat all the options in Stainless.
The best solution, and I know this is a real “Garage Journal” answer, is to have both!
Agreed with regard to Wera screwdrivers. Love the blades, but the handles don’t work well in most of the environments I work in. I use the stainless ones for woodworking.
-We can hang out but I'm not staying for dinner at your houseThere is such a thing as food grade anti-seize but it almost seemed to make things worse .... plus it tastes horrible lol heck even manure is better than nothing"
-My first encounter with that shaped handle was in 1995 while on assignment in Wuppertal. I made a complimentary remark about the unique shape and was told by the German engineer that it had come from a contest. The contest was to create something new/innovative and all the German tool companies were competitors. Supposedly, an engineer at Wera was searching for a more ergonomic handle shape and started with a lump of modeling clay. Gripping the clay squished that shape, which went on to win a prize at the national competition. Perhaps that's why they tried to promote the handle shape so much. I don't have one any more (lost in air travel) but like it just because it's unique. For torque I like getting a wrench to assist like Snap-on had/has on some of theirs. Just passing on info that may not be known otherwise.
Yes I know, and I never thought about it but I wonder how different the fit is. Those that are "all hex" are probably forged to the shape, not machined, cause machining something that long is no easy task. Maybe final grinding but I really doubt it cause they're the cheap models?
Normal hex keys are made from pre sized Hex stock, bent, sheared to length, machine the ends if ball, heat treatment, plating processes etc.
-Can't speak for every maker but I really doubt any of them are forged due to time involved for forging plus the fact that there's a much faster process for making the ball drivers. I was involved in the ball driver project for Eklind Tool and have made a few posts on GJ describing the machining process that Bondhaus used (indexed broaching) as well as the faster process (profilator) developed by/for Eklind Tool. Evidence from other makers products strongly suggests that almost all other makers are now using the profilator method for making ball drivers.
Same experience here: the Wera keys rust more easily than almost anything else in my toolbox.
www.kctool.com
www.kctool.com
Same experience here: the Wera keys rust more easily than almost anything else in my toolbox.
Often there is a trade-off between corrosion resistance and strength (e.g. stainless steel). Perhaps this rust reflects that?
I rate these Allen keys better than the alternatives because the Hex-Plus feature works and, being still under patent protection, is not available elsewhere. You can think of Hex-Plus as the male version of Flank Drive.
Here are some photos of one of my Wera Hex-Plus keys, a 4 mm key to match the photos by the original poster. It’s interesting that the machining is a bit different from the OP’s key, especially on the tip face. Mine are probably ten years old.
The photos show the interesting design features – long round shank, visibly modified hexagon tip shape, labelled sleeve – and their effect.
Note that the Hex-Plus shape is not applied to the ball end, which is nonetheless better made than most ball ends. The ball end of my key below has never seen more torque than can be spun in my finger tips. I cringe when I see people put 5 Nm into the ball end of a 4 or 5 mm key. That’s not what they are for.
I take uncommonly good care of my tools, wiping them down with an oily rag regularly, using them carefully and correctly, and storing them in a dry location. And yet you can see several rust spots on the metal and the fading labels on the sleeve.
Note the beautifully wide wear marks on the faces of the modified hex. That’s what Hex-Plus does: it presents a subtly convex shape to the nominally flat faces of the inside of the fastener head. When you crank on the tool, this slightly convex shape deforms elastically (as does the flat of the fastener) to produce a broad contact patch (times six, of course). The risk of plastic deformation (damage) to tool and fastener is therefore reduced.
The marketing material for Hex-Plus is misleading. The promotional pictures show pointy star-shaped tips with concave ‘flats’. As you can see from my photo of the tip end-on, the reality is that the shape bulges outward just before the corner of the hex, to produce the convex shape just off-corner that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This is the essential feature of the design. But since even professional mechanics don’t always seem to understand that steel is elastic and half of the mechanical world relies on that elasticity to function (e.g. fasteners in the first place), I guess Wera thought the reality would be too hard to explain to your average Amazon shopper. Or maybe their marketing agency didn’t understand the physics of the design.
One key benefit of this arrangement, as with Flank Drive sockets, is that it greatly reduces the downside of a sloppy fit between tool and fastener. And indeed the Wera Hex-Plus keys have a pretty sloppy fit compared to other expensive Allen keys. Don’t mistake that for poor quality. It makes for faster insertion of tool into fastener without much of a downside.
Does anyone know if Wera makes Hex-Plus bit sockets WITHOUT the stupid spring-loaded ball bearing that causes failures? I would love to buy some Hex-Plus bit sockets that don’t have that ball bearing.
www.garagejournal.com
Interesting, the ones with the holding function don't seem to use the hex-plus shape on either end at all.You want the one that are not designated “with holding function”. The holding function adds about 40% to the price, so this should work great. KC Tool has them about 30% off right now.
Wera 073593 Multicolor Hex + Ball End Hex Metric L-key Clip Set (Retail Package) | Wera at KC Tool
Wera 950 SPKL/9 9-piece metric hex key set with Hex-Plus technology, ball end, blacklaser blades, and color-coded clip storage. Shop at KC Tool.
These are the ones with the holding function:
Wera 022210 Multicolour Metric L-key Set with Holding Function | Wera at KC Tool
950 SPKL/9 SM HF Multicolour L-key set, metric, BlackLaser, with holding function1.5 x 90mm* 2.0 x 101mm* 2.5 x 112* 3.0 x 123mm 4.0 x 137mm 5.0 x 154mm 6.0 ...
I’ve never figured out why that is. I once took a tour of a poultry-processing plant that had those SHCSs everywhere. Half of them were clogged with chicken viscera. The fitters were constantly digging that **** out of the heads to give their tools reasonable purchase.
-Not to denigrate your opinion but I can think of several reasons for using SHCS instead of HHCS.
Definitely loads and loads of pros and cons, that's why there's so many standards.
-What would you want to know? Straight cut off in the stamping die with the bending components removed. Insertion into the round stock (back then) handles and dipped in plastic polymer. That was in the mid 90's, I quit Eklind in 96/97 (before they moved to Chicago suburb) and have no idea what they've done since. Material and Rc (hardness) may/may not have changed. I don't get a Christmas card anymore....
I picked up a set of these, they seem like a great idea for my needs, but the plastic nubbin was too big to seat in my proto sockets.
Huh? The nubbin is for fasteners, not sockets.
They make some with it on the drive end too.
