Wera vs Hazet vs Koken sockets
- Thread starter Rollerlocked
- Start date
ChevyEFI
Well-known member
Sorry, not sorry. This is a hard category to get wrong. Larger socket tend not to need knurling like small sockets in large hands do. Thicker impact sockets are going to last a good while unless you impact them a long time. Precision isn't critical in these sizes, blindfolded would you notice or care you had a 22mm on a 7/8 fastener head? Unlikely.
Go cheap (I went HF deeps plus a HF axle nut socket set to cover metric range) and go 12pt. By the time you break one, you will know if you even give a **** about anything with broaching, knurling, etc. And by that point, you won't have any doubt of the value of your most common used size being worth whatever it costs.
I would blindly buy Ko-Ken but I am not going to overshop this category. (I over think some stuff, but not 1/2" sockets.
You also didn't elaborate on your work much.
Ha. Do it!
I saw that. I think it was a Proxxon. I have a Proxxon ratchet in 1/4″-drive. The back-drag is comical. Literally doesn’t work as a ratchet. At least Proxxon sockets are dirt cheap and have half-decent steel (although they’re thick-walled, badly finished, and lack stamped marks, to mention some of the talking points in this thread). But the ratchets are dire in my experience of one.
I find it oddly dissonant to see people working on beautiful old cars with crude tools. But I’ve seen it often enough to know I don’t understand everyone’s motivation for working on old machinery. For that matter, people who love old Porsches may not realise that these cars, while enduringly beautiful, were pretty much a design disaster from bumper to bumper. In many ways it was only the work ethic of old-school German engineers, mechanics, and owners that cajoled them into approximate Funktion at all. Ernst Fiala saved that company by getting rid of the whole Beetle legacy in one savage chop.
Yeah.
I don’t want to be anyone’s gatekeeper, and I acknowledge I have a huge amount to learn (for instance, I learn a lot on this forum). But I seldom make it through a tool-heavy YouTube video without cringing at some horror or other. I’m not a pro mechanic, but I’ve been wrenching since early childhood and have always been curious about the mechanical world. Some of these YouTubers are hard to watch if you have much mechanical sympathy.
But I watched one of Greasy Fingers’ videos. Mad props to him for his camera work, editing, and Werner Herzog narration – all of which are beyond my abilities (and central to the high quality of his channel, which deserves more subscribers). Reminds me a bit of the quite different Geoffrey Croker (characteristic video / characteristic moment).
Greasy Fingers says he’s an “Automotive Engineer” on his About page. But:
- gratuitous use of an open-ended spanner
- using the wrong tool and using it wrong (not snugging up the adjustable while jiggling it)
- prying with a segmented knife blade
- … with predictable results except he didn’t lose an eye
- whaling at a cast-alloy part with a dinky hammer and a short socket for a drift, which does little to protect the part when something gives or he misses.
I dunno. Maybe I’m too fussy or too harsh. I’ve obviously made countless mistakes out of ignorance. But I reckon I treat tools and machines better nowadays.
Dave455
Well-known member
I’ve just been watching that guy too!
Great guy, obviously very knowledgeable about Porsches (especially 911’s) and his film making / editing skills are awesome.
But I’m with AEAdam, get that man a long handle ratchet!
Ouch that kind of hurts to watch
Proxxon is considered "high end for low money" in these parts, and for some people that's all they need to hear. I understand people don't want to dump a ton of money into tools for a hobby, and at least he isn't using the low quality no name stuff but... If you work on Porsche I think it's reasonable to step up a bit
Hazet was literally made for these cars. Definitely makes mecringe to see a person going even near a Porsche with an adjustable wrench.The channel "Mymechanics" is interesting to me. He uses nice tools in general, mostly tries to use local to him Swiss tools (though I think the ratchets and wrenches are taiwan rebrands by some swiss/german company). But while he has the patience and skill that I certainly don't have, if you look closely he does not seem to be too familiar with certain tools. Noticed it a couple times, but most memorable when he does any welding. He still always does a great and thorough job in the end and it's impossible to be perfect at everything but it always made me wonder what his "regular" job is/was before youtube. He seems to have a huge nice and clean workshop with many tools. At the same time, however, the lathe is "not quite" something you'd use for production nowadays, and neither is the mill. Hard for me to say.
Part of me assumes his "regular" job is not related much to any such work, but he is just a huge enthusiast with a lot of knowledge.