whitworth questions

[PartsGuy]

Have been looking at various new and vintage whitworth/british standard socket sets on the net, and I have noticed that most of the 3/8 and 1/2 drive sets out there have a lot of overlap between them. Is this pretty common for these socket sizes? Are the larger 1/2 drive sockets really that useful for auto/bike applications? Is there much point in having overlapping 3/8 and 1/2 drive sets? Just curious, since I'm running out of goofy oddball socket sizes that I don't have, and well, you just never know when an obsolete British fastener will pop up out of nowhere here in rural NY... and I wouldn't want to say "nope, don't have that".....

 

[straightcut]

If you pick up an old Land Rover Series or Morgan, you'll definitely need a good set. I hate to steal the fun of the quest, but you can learn from my errors, cut to the chase and purchase what, in my opinion, is the best set available:
Koken 3/8" dr, eight piece, six point sockets from 1/8W to 9/16W. These sockets are excellent quality. 9/16W is pretty large - much larger than 3/4" SAE, so I would recommend 1/2" dr for those in Britool or King ****.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TRIUMPH-NO...h=item51c4c2ae33:g:guEAAMXQjq5Q9kku:rk:6:pf:0

 

[madmanc]

I'll second Koken also look at some of the before sets on eBay

 

[madmanc]

Before and king **** still make very good comprehensive sets

 

[straightcut]

Before and king **** still make very good comprehensive sets

Do you mean Bedford?

 

[Gmonkee]

Lol! I have a full set of Whit wrenches for the same reason. They will sell last at my estate sale.

They make great metric fillers for the home kit.

 

[2oolhound]

I wouldn't worry about the overlap. A lot of camshaft nuts, drive sprockets etc are torqued to 80 ft lbs or more and can even be near twice as hard to remove if they've been on for a few years. 1/2" are good for that and 3/8 are generally shorter and thinner to fit into tight places.

 

[PartsGuy]

Thank you. To be honest, I have a hard time visualizing their actual size, because my brain is more tuned to AF and metric sizing. I saw the Koken and King **** pieces in a few places, and like the general look of quality. I'm a Snap-on junkie, but even THAT mania makes it hard to justify SO prices for something I would probably never (or rarely) lift out of the socket drawer. I'll keep an eye out for used... and if anyone with deeper pockets than I have is interested, there are a couple of VERY nice vintage Gedore sets on ebay.uk right now. AF, metric, and BS sockets with attachments in a purty blue steel case... both were about $250 US including shipping from the UK. I thought pretty hard about them, but blew that $$ on a couple of DOE deep offset Snappy wrench sets instead...

 

[dutchgray]

I have a Belzer 3/4" drive Whitworth socket set that I will probably never use, bought it because it was only £80 and you really don't see to many, got quite a lot of wrenches and sockets in the smaller sizes, do use them a bit as British machinery is full of Whitworth if its old enough.

 

[Jim C.]

........I'm running out of goofy oddball socket sizes that I don't have, and well, you just never know when an obsolete British fastener will pop up out of nowhere .... and I wouldn't want to say "nope, don't have that".....

Hey PartsGuy,

I like your way of thinking. Here’s the Craftsman Whitworth set. It was offered by Sears between 1960 and 1962. I’ve never used a single socket or wrench from the set, but when that obsolete British fastener pops up, I’m ready for it!

Jim C.

 

[2oolhound]

I have a Belzer 3/4" drive Whitworth socket set that I will probably never use, bought it because it was only £80 and you really don't see to many, got quite a lot of wrenches and sockets in the smaller sizes, do use them a bit as British machinery is full of Whitworth if its old enough.

Pictures or it didn't happen!
Really, I wouldn't mind seeing photos of your set. I have several german brands in whitworth but haven't seen the Belzer.

 

[PartsGuy]

Now that's just purty, Jim C..... too bad they were only available for a couple of years!

 

[Dave455]

The reason for the overlap is that within a given size range there are less Whitworth sockets than SAE, and considerably less than metric, so unless you are going to sell a set with just 5 or 6 sockets, there will be overlap!

A 3/8 drive set will probably deal with anything on a bike, and 80% of what you find in a car! If you were to get a 1/2 inch set it will still be good for most of what’s found on a car, as space isnt so tight on those older vehicles!

I wouldn’t be without a 1/2 inch drive set, but most of the whitworth fasteners I find are on machine tools, and 1/2 drive is just right for most of these!

Don’t forget to add a few BA sizes as well. Post war, the smallest Whitworth fasteners used BA hex sizes (2 and 4), and remember that the U.K. while adopting ‘Unified (SAE)’ sizes in the late 50’s, never adopted the numbered sizes, so you will find BA fasteners right up till the switch to metric, and beyond!

 

[PartsGuy]

Well, in for a penny in for a pound (sterling).... A nice used 10-piece Gedore 1/2 drive set is on its way to upstate NY from merry ol' England.... thanks for enabling me, guys! Should I feel bad that I sprung for a Koken 1/4 set from 0BA to 8BA, and a 7-piece King **** 3/8 set just for fun? No, I probably shouldn't..... unless I get itchy to add some 3/4 drive, that is!

 

[Dave455]

That sounds like a good combination! The Gedore 1/2 inch drive tools are not bad. The sockets are certainly decent, and depending on the vintage, you can always get a more modern ratchet!

Koken are very nice 1/4 drive tools. They offer BA sockets in deep sizes too, which is rare, but useful! My thoughts on King **** are similar to the older Gedore - sockets are pretty tough, but the ratchets are the same pattern that Noah used to build the ark!

Gedore, King **** and Koken all offer sets with Metric, SAE and Whitworth sizes all in the same box. Depending on what you do, these can get you out of a lot of bother!

 

[Gmonkee]

Changing times and needs are making Whitworth quite affordable on the used market.

In the US market number/USS wrenches of the ancient variety value steel weight for the most part.

I have full sets of both. In case a Teens car of a century ago comes to the shop.... all Whitworth up to regular sets and only short BA to have them all.
I still wonder why...