Author Topic: Hex key and hardware question  (Read 3919 times)

Dwight (DW)

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Re: Hex key and hardware question
« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2020, 11:46:45 AM »
Socket head cap is different than flat head. M8 flat head takes a 5mm wrench. That’s why I pointed everyone to McMaster. Look it up.


PonoBill

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Re: Hex key and hardware question
« Reply #16 on: May 01, 2020, 01:44:56 PM »
One supplier among thousands. If you buy all your hardware from McMaster Carr you can bank on that. I use them a lot because I can import their fasteners and other products directly into CAD, but if I used them for everything I'd also spend a lot more than I already do on fasteners. That won't matter to anyone who uses a few bits for their foil, though their offering for stainless metric is very skimpy, especially torx. I have to dig deep into Alibaba to get the stuff I want. For example, right now I'm mounting a Tesla house battery into the frame of my stupid motorhome project. I'm using 5/16 grade 5 button head hex, and for the button head, flat head, and socket head they are all tiny 7/32 hex keys. In stainless they are all 1/4". Pain in the ass for sure. It could be worse though, my Vincent is mostly Whitworth.

This is part of my fastener collection. If it were all McMaster Carr there would be a guard dog in front of it.


Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

PonoBill

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Re: Hex key and hardware question
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2020, 02:49:15 PM »
You can drop into a black hole screwing around with fasteners (pun), especially if you race or fly something. When I build a racing engine most of the critical bolts are ARP, which can easily cost ten bucks per bolt. The nuts and bolts are shaped similarly to aircraft bolts, which have much smaller head sizes than typical grade 8 stuff despite handling much higher torque. In those circles grade 8 is viewed as junk. There are all kinds of issues, including counterfeiters and salvage being sold as new. I'm a little nutty about the subject. I bought some head studs that were supposedly ARP. Some Triumph head studs go way deep into the block. One of them broke off at the thread line, which was about eight inches into the hole. Took me two days to get it out--it was kind of a miracle I could do it at all. a 14" long jobber bit and a homemade pilot that slipped into the hole, and then an easy out welded to an extension rod, and a lot of praying to Norse gods. It's a good thing it wasn't really ARP or I wouldn't have been able to drill it.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Caribsurf

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Re: Hex key and hardware question
« Reply #18 on: May 01, 2020, 04:03:56 PM »
This metric stuff is confusing... seems pretty straight forward but that hasnt been the case when shopping for hex keys
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PonoBill

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Re: Hex key and hardware question
« Reply #19 on: May 01, 2020, 05:38:51 PM »
This metric stuff is confusing... seems pretty straight forward but that hasn't been the case when shopping for hex keys

Honestly, metric is easy compared to SAE, though the sizes and thread pitches tend to be a little more inconvenient than SAE. But if you buy a decent set of keys or t-handled wrenches then you're covered. I have a big drawer in my largest toolbox devoted to Allen wrenches, and I should have two--metric and SAE. And then I have another drawer for unidentified Allens, though they are more or less separated into probably metric or probably SAE. On occasion I find a screw that nothing fits very well. Invariably there's something in my junk key drawer that fits it well. If I'm not pressed for time I measure the Allen and try to figure out what it's supposed to be. Usually it translates to some odd SAE size like 17/64ths. The metric world seems a bit more standardized, though there are decimal half sizes. 4.5 and 5.5 MM is fairly standard in sets, but I've got half sizes from 3 to 10mm.

Probably the most irritating size is M6 (10mm wrench, 5mm allen), which is also the most common. In an emergency if you can't find a 13mm wrench a 1/2" will work, 5/16″is close enough to 8mm, 7/16″ is 11mm, 9/16″ works on 14mm but don't herk on it or you'll round the corners, 5/8″is about 16mm, 11/16″ is a loose 17mm etc.

There is no SAE equivalent for 10mm, and 10mm fits no SAE bolt.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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