Tools

maybe, but only just :) does it matter if they are deep or regular sockets then?

i don't know what that means it was on the pulley there was a 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch size adjuster thing on it as well the T bar was on it there was a 3 foot scaffol pole on the end of the T bar it wasn't loose or anything but it was the actual socket that cracked ( the first one in two places) and then slipped

and rounded off nuts will still fit inside a 12 pioint socket, whereas the 6 side one will struggle

If the t-bar is spaced away from the socket it will tend to lever the socket sideways instead of just turning it. Of course, this is normal to a certain extent, and a socket should cope ok with a normal sized t-bar, or breaker bar straight onto the socket. But add an adaptor which spaces it out further and then use a scaffold pole...

In message , dojj writes

Particularly if its of the "flank drive" type that Snap-On and others use. All my sockets at work are 12 point because a lot of the bolts and nuts are also 12 point.

Shouldn't , it just makes it harder to apply torque without psuhing the socket sideways so to speak.

Although the longer the lever the less this is an issue :-)

That is clearly not true, for a 12 point socket to fit where a 6 point would not you would have to displace the corners of the nuts to the centre of the flats. Perhaps a poorly sized, poorly made socket will fit where as a good quality socket will not.

-- James

bi-hex are easier to get onto nuts and the like so maybe they are nicer to use, but when something is rusted up or a bit rounded off I a have found that a hexagon socket is more likely to shift it without just taking the corners off. The downside with hex sockets is that when they do take the corners off a nut, they take much more of the corners off than a bi-hex, i.e. round a nut off with a bi-hex socket, maybe you can still shift it with a hex socket, but round it off with a hex and it's angle grinder / welder / drill time.

The chamfer on the inside of the base of the socket makes them easier to put onto nuts, my sockets all have this chamfer and I don't like it. Britool sockets don't have the chamfer because if you don't have a lot of nut exposed it reduces the amount of socket you get onto the hex of the bolt, personally I rate Britool over Snap-On.

My 1/4" and my 1/2" socket set are both "wall drive" type hex, I went to the trouble of making sure I bought hex and not bi-hex because in my experience it makes a lot of difference. Admitadly my 3/4" set is bix-hex, but on 3/4" sockets you don't get a lot of choice in the matter unless you are paying a lot of money for your tools, and it tends not to be so critical on larger stuff.

-- James

but rounded over wheel nuts (fitted too tight) won't come undone with a 6 point socket put the 12 pointer on it and they come off with no problems :)

It's probably an indication that the hex socket is smaller than the bi-hex, which is closer to the correct size is an entirely different matter, personally I prefer sockets to be a little tight rather than slack because a tight socket can usually be got on where as a slack socket will more likely round stuff off when the load put onto it is big all other things being equal.

Have you ever put a set of vernier / dial / digital calipers inside both the

6 sided and 12 pointed sockets? Cheap / poor quality tools tend to be poorly size toleranced where as more expensive tools tend to be closer to the correct (i.e. ISO / DIN specified) sizes, so checking actual sizes is quite a good indication of quality.

-- James

I bought a set of "really" cheap 6 sided things once from the way that they tended to bulge out when I tightened stuff, I didn't really want to be putting my faith (and my knuckles) in them :)

they were great for using as drifts though, deformed at an exact rate with hammer blows :)