Socket and ratchet set advice bahco
Discussion
I have teng 1/4 and 3/8th, CK 1/2 and draper 3/4. I like the Teng sets the best. I use them almost exclusively at work. I have had the 3/8ths about 11 years and in that time it has dismantled and reassembled my potato harvester and destine several times and NOTHING has broken or slipped.
You can spend a small fortune on tools but you want to make sure you are going to use what you buy. Look carefully at what any tool kit contains and see if you are going o use all the bits in it. The Teng kits looked quite good value when I was setting my self up, but all of them had tools in them I didn't need. So best to buy things as you find you need them.
You can spend a small fortune on tools but you want to make sure you are going to use what you buy. Look carefully at what any tool kit contains and see if you are going o use all the bits in it. The Teng kits looked quite good value when I was setting my self up, but all of them had tools in them I didn't need. So best to buy things as you find you need them.
mygoldfishbowl said:
^^ That set only has what looks like 1/4 drive hex sockets which is an improvement I'd agree, but the rest look like 12 point.
DocJock said:
Erm, the large sockets pictured in that link are not hex sockets, they are 12 cornered...same as my Halfords Pro stuff.
Oh, I see - you're talking about six-faced, as opposted to twelve-faced. By "hex socket" I generally presume people are talking about male hex bits! My mistake.In that case, you're right - I think the set is designed for ease of use for the amateur, and the twelve-face sockets make tight or blind work much easier, but yes, you are a bit more likely to round off really stubborn stuff.
That said, I've swung off a twelve-point sockets via a two-foot bar and still never damaged any fasteners! It remains that for the price, and countrywide places to swap anything you do manage to break, it's damn hard to match.
Another vote here for the Bahco S106.
I ordered one of these for work use along with some other work colleagues and we've never had an issue with any of the tools.
In fact I loved it so much I spent my own money and bought a set for home use.
The ratchets and bits have taken all sorts of abuse over the years and they have never broken.
When a friend was looking for a set I naturally recommended the Bahco and also the Halfords Pro/Draper Expert sets due to good reviews and lifetime warranty. They went for the Halfords set as it was cheaper but have ended up with faulty ratchet mechanisms on two occasions (jammed up) which funnily enough are not cover under their lifetime warranty.
I ordered one of these for work use along with some other work colleagues and we've never had an issue with any of the tools.
In fact I loved it so much I spent my own money and bought a set for home use.
The ratchets and bits have taken all sorts of abuse over the years and they have never broken.
When a friend was looking for a set I naturally recommended the Bahco and also the Halfords Pro/Draper Expert sets due to good reviews and lifetime warranty. They went for the Halfords set as it was cheaper but have ended up with faulty ratchet mechanisms on two occasions (jammed up) which funnily enough are not cover under their lifetime warranty.
As ever with tools don't buy cheap unknkown brands ,bahco ,halfords pro ,teng ,britool and many others are in my kit along with snap on, proto built up over 50 years ,snap on is now too expensive [ was it all ways? I tried selling it for a while ] if unsure ask a known mech/ tech for a veiw of his setup and listen to his words
mygoldfishbowl said:
^^ That set only has what looks like 1/4 drive hex sockets which is an improvement I'd agree, but the rest look like 12 point.
DocJock said:
Erm, the large sockets pictured in that link are not hex sockets, they are 12 cornered...same as my Halfords Pro stuff.
12 point are still hex sockets. As far as I know, the only 6 point sockets halfords sell are impacts, and they are all 1/2" drive. 12 point are much handier overall, but may struggle with very corroded fasteners, which is when you break out the impacts, and a long bar or impact gun. I bought the rail of impacts from Halfords from 10mm to 19mm, and they are all I've ever needed as they are the very common sizes.Viperz888 said:
12 point are still hex sockets. As far as I know, the only 6 point sockets halfords sell are impacts, and they are all 1/2" drive. 12 point are much handier overall, but may struggle with very corroded fasteners, which is when you break out the impacts, and a long bar or impact gun. I bought the rail of impacts from Halfords from 10mm to 19mm, and they are all I've ever needed as they are the very common sizes.
Some people call 12 point sockets double hex, I simply call them multi point. 6 point are known as hex because they have 6 points/sides as in hexagon. I like Halford's professional range & think it's extremely good quality for the price but I do wish they'd sell with all 6 point rather than mainly 12. I also agree that 12 point sockets can be handier in some situations but they will sometime one day round something off & let you down, think anything underneath like a damper fixing that has been exposed to water & salt for a few years.
Vladimir said:
McSam said:
es they do.
This is the one I have, love and have recommended to many, and it's on the decent offer at the moment too. Very very occasionally (perhaps for one weekend a year) it goes to £80 but this'll do nicely.
Yep, I picked mine up for £100. It's brilliant.This is the one I have, love and have recommended to many, and it's on the decent offer at the moment too. Very very occasionally (perhaps for one weekend a year) it goes to £80 but this'll do nicely.
I did have a ratchet which would stick but I took it back and it was exchanged well I say exchanged what I mean is it was taken out the back and freed off by taking it apart but it does work.
I didn't know till I got home as when I looked closely you could see the screws had been undone in the ratchet mechanism but if it goes again I will make sure I pick one up beforehand and take it to the till.
I want to thank everyone for posting their thoughts and advice. In the end I stumped up the cash and went for a Teng 3/8 socket ratchet (tm3839) to get me started. The Teng set is not comprehensive, so no deep impacts or strange bits and the like supplied but it'll do what I need for now, plus the bigger sets were way out of my budget. I'll definately be looking to pick up a Bahco or Halfords Pro set in the near future to cover all the angles.
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