How To Cut a Ball End on Allen Hex Wrenches

A

AmericanMachinist

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How is the ball end cut so the six flats are true across the full length of the ball profile?

This video shows the process.

Maybe the lathe spindle and the cutter head are timed precisely enough to allow this?

I'm contemplating a solution to do this at home, low scale. Other than hand-filing.
 
Dave Smith said:
I've just used an angle grinder and a cutoff disc--- doesn't take long time and they don't have to be perfect to work well.
Dave
Click to expand...
Thanks, that (something free-hand) was going to be my most-likely outcome, but naturally curious if I can find a more advanced way to do it
 
Or maybe hold the Allen wrench in a hexagonal C5 or ER series collet block? Lighter than a dividing head - so you can move/slide the Allen wrench about a fixed grinder to "free hand" the ball faces.
 
A bit off topic ...
AmericanMachinist said:
How is the ball end cut so the six flats are true across the full length of the ball profile?

This video shows the process.
Click to expand...
Just for fun I checked Amazon for Swiss Tool Allen wrench sets. GOOD GRIEF, they're expensive!

Sharpening tiny drills - HomemadeTools.net

The best way to sharpen small drills is to buy them by the dozen and discard the dull and broken ones. Nevertheless, there's always the inevitable
www.homemadetools.net

PB Swiss Tools PB 212H-6 RB Ballend Hex Key Set rainbow - - Amazon.com

PB Swiss Tools PB 212H-6 RB Ballend Hex Key Set rainbow - - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

Has anybody used this brand? And if so, is there something about these that makes them worth 3-5 times the cost of Bondhus???
 
My best idea so far (I think) to get a profile pretty close to the real thing is to hold a cutter near the outside diameter of the lathe faceplate and hold the hext stock on the cross slide. Use a sort of "tracing" fixture on a taper attachment to slowly work in to the final profile. I seem to recall seeing a few videos of similar concepts a long time ago.
 
(This is probably more theocratical and a thought exercise vs practical, but may be a good thought exercise for a future scenario)
 
hman said:
A bit off topic ...

Just for fun I checked Amazon for Swiss Tool Allen wrench sets. GOOD GRIEF, they're expensive!

Sharpening tiny drills - HomemadeTools.net

The best way to sharpen small drills is to buy them by the dozen and discard the dull and broken ones. Nevertheless, there's always the inevitable
www.homemadetools.net

PB Swiss Tools PB 212H-6 RB Ballend Hex Key Set rainbow - - Amazon.com

PB Swiss Tools PB 212H-6 RB Ballend Hex Key Set rainbow - - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

Has anybody used this brand? And if so, is there something about these that makes them worth 3-5 times the cost of Bondhus???
Click to expand...

I doubt it. How much better can Allen wrench get than what Bondus makes?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It looks like one difference is the PB Swiss say their ball works at 30 degrees. Bondhus claims 25 degrees.

I wonder how hard the PS Swiss are. A set of Eklind i have are soft enough to very easily file.
 
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