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Just buy Bondus, they are not all that expensive.
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How To Cut a Ball End on Allen Hex Wrenches
- Thread starter AmericanMachinist
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2016
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- 3,377
I have a set of PB Swiss metric hex drivers (not L wrenches). I find them to be very nice but the two draw backs are 1.) They are not ball end and 2.) They are expensive.
I now buy Bondhus. They are some of the tightest tolerance hex wrenches you can buy. Bondhus makes Snap On. Bondhus is made in Minnesota. They are an exceptional value.
EDIT: I find Elkind to be best left in the store. Not worth bringing home.
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- Feb 13, 2017
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Some years back, I purchased a Bondhus set, to get the smaller sizes. That purchase didn't pay off and they were set aside. I think I still have most of them. . . I think. Common sense tells me that the reduced cross section of the undercuts would not take the high torque of secure fastening, just for running the fasteners down. As a result, I just take a little more time and use regular wrenches. Sometimes with a "helper" to get (galled?) fasteners loose.
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I think you are supposed to just use the ball end to run the screw down, then flip it and use the short end to apply torque with the longer end as a lever.
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I have used them in the past but dont own any.
How come they cost so much?
" Powder coated over chrome plated SPRING steel"
I buy two sets of Bhondus a year, the twin packs...I cant imagine buying two sets of two (metric/sae)of the swiss sets.
How come they cost so much?
" Powder coated over chrome plated SPRING steel"
I buy two sets of Bhondus a year, the twin packs...I cant imagine buying two sets of two (metric/sae)of the swiss sets.
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- Jan 20, 2018
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- 5,974
Funny, I've had 5 Eklind fold-up sets (3 inch, 2 metric) since the early '80s. I also have multiple sets of Bondhus ball drivers, tee handles, ratchet drives etc. The fold-ups have been my go-to since the days of my wearable toolbox. Now they live in a tray on top of my roll-away, all the others are in a drawer. They've held up remarkably. Of course, quality may have declined in 40 years.
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- Feb 13, 2017
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Actually, the set I had(have?) has only one end. They look more like a specialty screwdriver or torx wrench. There was no need for the "L" shaped set, if I could get a regular wrench into the fastener, what need is there for a "ball ended" driver. Looks like someone trying to gimmick their way into my purse. I'm sure there is some specialty application where they would pay off, but in the 50 odd years I've had them, I've never run into one where the ball end would make things easier. A cute tool, but not something I would throw money at again.
Away back in the '70s, working at a foundry, there were a couple large ones that I ground off the broken off ball end so I could carry them in my hip pouch. Large as in a 3/8 driver. . . The rest got relegated to the "just in case" box. Never used, but never thrown out. . .
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- Mar 3, 2020
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Ball ends are very useful anywhere there isn't enough room above a screw, you're against a shoulder, working at an odd angle, etc.
Especially with T-handle drivers even more so than regular screwdriver type handles.
Especially with T-handle drivers even more so than regular screwdriver type handles.
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- Feb 2, 2013
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If I remember correctly, the blanks for hex wrenches have the ball cut on a lathe during the production process, then the 90 is bent into the handle before heat treatment and annealing
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- Feb 1, 2015
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A custom jig in a mill would work. Here is a concept for one. (The end caps and clamping screws are not shown) The jig is mounted in a vise. The Allen wrench is clamped between the 120º grooves in the two plates. The end of the wrench can be located relative to the end of one plate with a depth gage or an adjustable stop pin could be added. An end mill is referenced against the wrench flat. The ball end is formed by rotating the plates. Rotation is limited to +/- 30º by the bottom of the slot. The wrench is rotated in the grooves for the other five sides.
