Higher quality allen wrench sets

[Siress]

People do the same thing with drill bits and taps. It’s hilarious because if you spend real time in a shop you understand that these are commodity items, not at all made to last forever like ratchets and hammers and measuring devices…and if you’re careful enough to make them last you’re probably very slow on the job.

how many people in this thread have commented on having their hex set for many years, though? Sometimes people just want their stuff to look nice too. Nothing wrong with that. As for machinists, it's usually more about organization than looking nice or having protection. An incredible amount of time is wasted in a disorganized machine shop. Knowing exactly where to grab that .022" radius-ed key cutter could save anywhere from hours of searching to days of transit time plus the cost of a new one.

[Chemical-x.....ahain]

I picked up a new set of Klein without the colored sleeves today, ill be using them and reporting back on it.

[flyweightnate]

I love how this thread has been going for 6 months solid.

Probably longer than most of us keep a marker before seeing something shinier and trading.

Good work, nerds!

[Drcemento]

😂😂 yeah if I’d know what I was starting. Get all excited when I log in and see a notification only to have it be another response to this thread! I do like my bonhus sets though. I do agree the color coding between metric and standard should be different. I’ve had that mix up a couple times now

[Tarsun2]

(years ago) I picked up a Wera bit driver and a bunch of bits along with a screwdriver set though the hospital i work for. I dont think i can go back....
The way the tips hold the bit would make you think it was magnetic. Even maintenance had to check them out after seeing them. The guy started poking and prodding the screw thinking that there was at least some magnetism.
lord knows ive used and made do with cheap tools and drivers. Along the years ive used decent stuff, basic stuff, and cheap stuff. Now i have the set i always wanted and theres no way im going back. This is for work though, at home i use harborfreight tools (and not even the icon series).

As ive gotten older, i started using tools only for their designed purpose. If i need to try something, ill get a pry bar (not a flat head screwdriver). If i need to punch something, ill get my punch set (not my phillips head screw driver). If i need to hammer something, im getting my hammer and not just using the biggest socket wrench i have.

[flyweightnate]

Ok, one MAJOR gripe with all of these. (That I've seen so far.)

I bought a cheap set of color-coded allen wrenches, metric and US. The 3mm metric is the same color as the 1/8". The 5mm is the same color as the 3/16". The 6mm is the same color as the 1/4". WHY?!

Does nobody think that I might have something on my bench that uses both metric and inch fasteners?

So I looked at Wera.

Same thing!

Also, 7/64 (and less important, 9/64) seems to be a size European manufacturers skip, even though my cheap Amazon Basics wrenches have it. And of course, my Bondhus.

Spend enough time looking at anything, and you become a connoisseur.

[flyweightnate]

(My solution... metric has paint marker stripes now.)