Were sliding T-handles ever a good idea?

[Packard V8]

It's easy to understand and defend speeders and breaker bars, which some here consider obsolete; but even a tool troglodyte such as myself seldom-to-never reaches for the T-handle.

When I discussed it with a tool historian, he said it was an early attempt to combine the utility of a breaker bar and a speeder in one tool.

What are your thoughts and experiences with the T-handle?

jack vines

 

[rsanter]

I don’t use them much but I do use them
Mostly with larger taps, but I also use them when I know I need to break something loose and then I can spin it off (when power tools are not available)

 

[bmwrd0]

Attaching an antenna to a police car that was in a recess in the trunk lid. Nothing else even came close to working

 

[Dave455]

I use them regularly.

Nothing works as fast for ‘spinning off’ a loose fastener. Certainly faster than a ratchet if a fastener is relatively loose.

I also tend to use mine in conjunction with a ‘ratchet adaptor’ when I want to work one handed.

The reason I use interchangeable sockets so much is the variety of handles I can use them with. Ratchet, breaker bar, sliding - T, speeder - they all have their place!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I also tend to use mine in conjunction with a ‘ratchet adaptor’ when I want to work one handed.

Old school, Dave! People tend to forget that's the reason the drive head slides. When it's slid all the way out to one end, it works like an Ell or Offset handle. Not a spinner. The tools it replaced (combined) were the Ell or offset handle and the T-handle.

 

[Provincial]

I use on when I want to put an even pressure on both sides of the handle. This is usually for tapping, but also for removing/replacing fasteners.

I also use them when I need to use a cheater pipe and don't want to risk breaking a (more expensive) breaker bar. I buy used non-collector T-handles very inexpensively, so some of them are expendible.

 

[d42jeep]

I prefer them to tap holders. I have 4 or 8 point sockets I use on different sizes of taps.
-Don

 

[Rick B.]

I used to have one but don't know whatever happened to it.

 

[JZiggy]

I don’t reach for my sliding t handle wrench much but I do have a fixed handle 3/8 that I use all the time.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000VUUFIQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

It’s great for spinning out fasteners and keeping an even side-to-side force on more delicate operations.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Using the Lisle tap holders, and when working a brake bleeder free come to mind....basically any time I need to go back and forth tightening and loosening quickly.

 

[3baygarage]

Wish I had a dollar for every old 1/2” and 3/4” I’ve seen that was bent, most likely with a cheater.

 

[Farmer J.]

Occasionally use my 3/8" drive 'Ferret' one to apply even rotating force to a tricky fastener, and for tapping threads with a tap holder socket.
Most useful is my 3/4" drive 'Britool', great for breaking large fasteners loose with a cheater pipe over the bar then slide the handle to spin off the stiff rusted fasteners using the bar as a 'T' handle with both hands working on the ends of the bar. Good for tractor rim bolts and those huge ones on disc harrow frames. I get in to a routine with this of: half a turn, spray diesel on the fastener, swop hands, grunt, turn another 180 degrees, run it back and forth, then do the same again until it's conquered..!

 

[Packard V8]

I prefer them to tap holders. I have 4 or 8 point sockets I use on different sizes of taps.
-Don

I've tried this setup for tapping but found they don't hold the tap as securely as a tap wrench with jaws or screw clamp.

FWIW, I carry an old beam-type torque wrench in each of my vehicles to loosen and tighten lug nuts/bolts should a roadside emergency change be needed. Now, I'm thinking the T-handle might actually be the preferable tool. After fifty years of practice, I wouldn't be looking at the scale on the torque wrench anyway and the T-handle would be much faster.

(Since this is "The Tools", who's going to be first to say he carries an Milwaukee 18V Fuel impact gun in each of his vehicles? Over on the Cadillac forum, they'd say, "That's what AAA is for.")

jack vines

 

[PelicanPines]

As a hammer... sure...

 

[dutchgray]

Use them often, they are a good tool to have available.

 

[ganymede]

Ive probably used one less than a dozen times in the last 25 yrs.
Mostly bench work.
Theres one taking up space in my go box . If I take it out to save space and weight Ill need it the next day :/

 

[disston]

I used to use mine a lot. Not very. Busy anymore but I may still reach for them.

 

[Jim C.]

I have a few in different drive sizes, but I can’t recall the last time I actually used one of them.

Jim C.

 

[larry_g]

I have them as dedicated tools on some of my machine tools. They have a specif socket for something like the hold down nuts.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[matt stott]

I keep one in my car- as an emergency lug bolt wrench. Longer than the wrench that came with the car spare tire kit, and I can center the handle and spin the lugs off and on. Also cheap enough to keep in the car (so I will not be upset if lost/stolen/misplaced/rusted, etc)

small enough to store by the spare tire, more leverage and I can use it as an emergency spinner for those side-of-the-road emergencies.

That is really the only place I have ever used one in the last 25 years or so.

Matt

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

I rarely use mine, but when I do need them it’s because nothing else will fit, so I’m glad to have them. I think I have 2 of the 3/8” and 2-3 of various lengths in 1/2”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[switchman]

1/4 " for bleeding brakes.

 

[MattT]

I used to use them back in the day. The ones I had were grooved in the center of the bar, with a retainer in the head, to hold it in position. Allowed them to spin fasteners out fast, with a flick of the wrist, once they were loose enough. The ones without said retaining groove have always sucked.

(Since this is "The Tools", who's going to be first to say he carries an Milwaukee 18V Fuel impact gun in each of his vehicles?

My W7150 stays in the truck. My step daughter went full blown Bridezilla when she found out I was changing a flat with it in the church parking lot before her wedding

 

[Larryjones]

Used to use one with a 24 inch extension to set the rollers on a printing press, back and forth to find the sweet spot without dickering with a ratchet reverse. And used a stubby extension and a crow foot to get into a tight spot.

 

[PoorOwner]

I once used an in car hub press tool.

I had difficulty getting the bearing started with a long ratchet, it would start to go in crooked. As you know, it is not a simple matter of backing it out and try again. So it's pretty important to get it correct the first time.

Only using a T-handle turning with both hands it went in centered. It took some muscle, but I completed the press with the T-handle just to be sure. It's a 3/4" drive so it's strong.

I did not have access to impact gun at the time which seems to be what most people use to drive a force screw, would have probably worked fine as well.

 

[coljar]

I have several, but I can count the number of times I've used them on one hand. Don't care for 'em.

 

[gatewaysysop]

I use on when I want to put an even pressure on both sides of the handle. This is usually for tapping, but also for removing/replacing fasteners.

I prefer them to tap holders. I have 4 or 8 point sockets I use on different sizes of taps.
-Don

This.

I especially like them when I am running a rethreading die down a bolt using a deep socket. So much faster to reverse direction and spin it up/down vs. a ratchet.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

I use my 1/4 drive with an extension as a t-handle when I need to spin a nut on and off quickly and torque it down once it gets tight by sliding the head to an end.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I think on some 3/4" socket sets they were the only drive tool , this lasted longer than on the smaller sets. Last Sunday I bought a 3/4 one at the fleamarket, unmarked though.

 

[joecon]

I use them some times. I like them for spark plugs when you can get a straight shot at them like on a 4 cylinder or valve cover bolts on a V8.

 

[DadsTools]

I've used 3/8 & 1/2 on rare occasions as a T when they were the most convenient tool at hand to grab for a need at the moment. Don't believe I've ever used one as a breaker or an ell. I do use my 1/4 inch from time to time when working on spinning reels to take the retaining nut off the rotor. I'd have to say that all in all, I'd rather have them in my tool arsenal than not.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I had the head of a Proto Challenger breaker bar break. I had that breaker bar since my '65 SIMCA, so it would have been old enough now to make the vintage rule. This was at home. I went to Canadian Tire and found a cheap sliding T-Handle. I used a pipe and was able to loosen the bolt. They have their uses. I think Proto should have been embarrassed.

 

[joel63]

I don't consider any of my drive sets complete without one.

Somehow they always find a use.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I think Proto should have been embarrassed.

Not defending Proto, but I think your anecdote actually illustrates a fundamental advantage to the construction of a sliding tee vs. a flex head or hinge handle (colloquially, "breaker bar") rather than an OEM flaw. The flex or hinge head is pinned on to the handle and susceptible to breaking there at the pins. The strain on a sliding tee head is on more of the contiguous metal in the sliding head itself and then dissipated over the length of the handle it is fitted on.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

You, LOL, didn't see the Mastercraft, LOL. It was Cheap !! The head was hollow.The Proto had broken at the bottom of the Y. I've heard breaker bars called, Johnson bars, J-bars and flex head. On an exam. all would be correct. On the Gray ones, the pin is a replaceable shoulder bolt. I was given a Gray that was broken, with a new bolt, I had another breaker bar. At work, my sliding T-handle was a Dowidat, it came with in a tool kit, with a new German machine. So the Germans thought they were still useful. That was only 15 or 20 years ago.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

You, LOL, didn't see the Mastercraft, LOL. It was Cheap !! The head was hollow.The Proto had broken at the bottom of the Y.

Okay, I take it back. That was an instance of cringeworthiness for Proto.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

All in good humour.