Recommend me a good quality 3/8th spanner
Discussion
Ramthorne said:
HRG said:
Britool simply won't spring. Never had the need for anything more expensive and that was when I was in heavy engineering. You can even grind chunks off them if access is tight and they don't seem to mind too much.
A view I shared but having recently bought some new Britool tools I feel the quality has significantly deteriorated.I sheared an 8mm allen socket with minimum force, far less than I wanted to use.
That Daddy said:
Ramthorne said:
HRG said:
Britool simply won't spring. Never had the need for anything more expensive and that was when I was in heavy engineering. You can even grind chunks off them if access is tight and they don't seem to mind too much.
A view I shared but having recently bought some new Britool tools I feel the quality has significantly deteriorated.I sheared an 8mm allen socket with minimum force, far less than I wanted to use.
One of the guys here in the office has lent me a Snap-on 3/8ths combination open and ring spanner (OEX120) which I'll have a play with tonight. It looks very similar in stature to the Halfords Pro - albeit a little shorter. (do I mean stature? - thickness etc.)
One thing I've noticed about my Halfords spanner is the small dinks on the flat faces of the open end. It looks like pressure has deformed the flat faces on both sides of the open end.
I've only ever used this spanner on the ARP stainless manifold bolts because I haven't had the spanners long, so does this indicate a quality issue?
One thing I've noticed about my Halfords spanner is the small dinks on the flat faces of the open end. It looks like pressure has deformed the flat faces on both sides of the open end.
I've only ever used this spanner on the ARP stainless manifold bolts because I haven't had the spanners long, so does this indicate a quality issue?
eliot said:
@ the O/P - are you using proper manifold bolts, with the smaller heads like these:
http://www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=222
Sorry eliot, I missed your question.http://www.v8tuner.co.uk/product.php?id=222
Yep, they are the exact bolts I'm using.
I dropped in at Halfords today and asked about the Lifetime Warranty on the spanner I just happened to have in my pocket.
To their great credit, the manager took a set off the shelf, removed the 3/8ths spanner and swapped it for me without even batting an eye.
He said he's never had to replace one before and agreed mine looked a bit soft to have the dings pressed into it from a bolt head.
Well Done Halfords Loughborough
And I'm off to the garage to do a quick spanner review.
To their great credit, the manager took a set off the shelf, removed the 3/8ths spanner and swapped it for me without even batting an eye.
He said he's never had to replace one before and agreed mine looked a bit soft to have the dings pressed into it from a bolt head.
Well Done Halfords Loughborough
And I'm off to the garage to do a quick spanner review.
I've been using Snap-on for 30 odd years, and yes I've seen the quality deteriorate over the years, and the warranty issues get tougher with the dealers.
As far as I'm aware ALL Snap-on wrenches are manufactured in China now. The quality is still there, no doubt, but maybe not in the long run. As for Blue Point, they're still good if not as good as, for a less expensive 'Snap-on' option. Avoid at all costs the Eurotools unless just for light or back-up work with other quality tools to hand.
I like Mac spanners sometimes, having used them but never actually owned any. The shank is shaped slightly different from conventional looking spanners, and imo offers an excellent grip. There are subtle differences too in the head angles of regular spanners between manufacturers. These differences can mean one manufacturers spanner giving access where another manufacturers can't. Of interest to 'special' applications are spanners specifically designed with non conventional head angles. Snap-on have a good range of spanners to accommodate different tasks. You need a Snap-on catalogue!
Snap-on also have what I consider a range topping best of the best when it comes to open ended spanners. Their trademarked "Flank Drive" is a series of grooves in the jaw of the spanner, designed to grip and place load on the head of the fastener in such a way that it will apply torque at the same time as offering non slip. By far the best open ended spanner available.
In the case of any Imperial size open or ring ended Snap-on spanner, unless you strike lucky these might well have to be special order from the US. As far as I'm aware Snap-on don't keep Imperial sizes on stock in the UK anymore. Best advice I'd give anyone - next time you see a Snap-on tool van, if you have the opportunity ask for a catalogue.
Snap-on might be expensive but I still find them hard to beat just about all of the time for all of the different tools. Yes Facom, Stahlwille, Beta etc make good hand tools, but they too are not cheap. In the end it comes down to personal choice but one thing is for certain, Snap-on are the dogs b
ks, and when and if they don't work for you most likely you're into something else because nothing else will work either other than lateral thinking. In other words bodging, lol!!
As far as I'm aware ALL Snap-on wrenches are manufactured in China now. The quality is still there, no doubt, but maybe not in the long run. As for Blue Point, they're still good if not as good as, for a less expensive 'Snap-on' option. Avoid at all costs the Eurotools unless just for light or back-up work with other quality tools to hand.
I like Mac spanners sometimes, having used them but never actually owned any. The shank is shaped slightly different from conventional looking spanners, and imo offers an excellent grip. There are subtle differences too in the head angles of regular spanners between manufacturers. These differences can mean one manufacturers spanner giving access where another manufacturers can't. Of interest to 'special' applications are spanners specifically designed with non conventional head angles. Snap-on have a good range of spanners to accommodate different tasks. You need a Snap-on catalogue!
Snap-on also have what I consider a range topping best of the best when it comes to open ended spanners. Their trademarked "Flank Drive" is a series of grooves in the jaw of the spanner, designed to grip and place load on the head of the fastener in such a way that it will apply torque at the same time as offering non slip. By far the best open ended spanner available.
In the case of any Imperial size open or ring ended Snap-on spanner, unless you strike lucky these might well have to be special order from the US. As far as I'm aware Snap-on don't keep Imperial sizes on stock in the UK anymore. Best advice I'd give anyone - next time you see a Snap-on tool van, if you have the opportunity ask for a catalogue.
Snap-on might be expensive but I still find them hard to beat just about all of the time for all of the different tools. Yes Facom, Stahlwille, Beta etc make good hand tools, but they too are not cheap. In the end it comes down to personal choice but one thing is for certain, Snap-on are the dogs b
ks, and when and if they don't work for you most likely you're into something else because nothing else will work either other than lateral thinking. In other words bodging, lol!!Edited by Rocket Pepper on Monday 9th June 10:05
Eurotools 
mind you they look sh*t to start with so you would be mad to purchase the stuff anyway let alone use it
wot Rocket Pepper said 
Rocket Pepper said:
Snap-on also have what I consider a range topping best of the best when it comes to open ended spanners. Their trademarked "Flank Drive" is a series of grooves in the jaw of the spanner, designed to grip and place load on the head of the fastener in such a way that it will apply torque at the same time as offering non slip. By far the best open ended spanner available.
Another vote for the Snap-On Flank Drive spanners. These are the spanners I will use 99% of the time at work as they just never seem to slip off, open ended or ring ended. On the Snap-on warranty issue, as I mentioned above.
A few weeks back I showed the dealer my small set of long nose pliers where one of the tips had broke off. I don't know how long I've had these pliers, but it's a lot of years. At least 5, maybe 10, as I seem to remember replacing them under warranty once before. Whatever. So I've been waiting for a few weeks for a replacement pair this time around. Well yesterday, I walked on the Snap-on van and saw several hung up. I reminded the dealer, thinking he'd obviously forgot about my broken pair needing replacement. Not the case. I was told he was waiting for an ideal moment (whatever that is) to exchange my pair, as warranty won't cover them because of old age and regular use.
Like I said, it ain't like it use to be. Good dealers are the key. Some these days are more jobsworth.
A few weeks back I showed the dealer my small set of long nose pliers where one of the tips had broke off. I don't know how long I've had these pliers, but it's a lot of years. At least 5, maybe 10, as I seem to remember replacing them under warranty once before. Whatever. So I've been waiting for a few weeks for a replacement pair this time around. Well yesterday, I walked on the Snap-on van and saw several hung up. I reminded the dealer, thinking he'd obviously forgot about my broken pair needing replacement. Not the case. I was told he was waiting for an ideal moment (whatever that is) to exchange my pair, as warranty won't cover them because of old age and regular use.
Like I said, it ain't like it use to be. Good dealers are the key. Some these days are more jobsworth.
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