Kind of a snug 9/16 or loose 19/32 (find one of those!). I do nearly all the wrenching on my motorcycles and bicycles, and most of my tools are metric. I do have a basic 3/8" drive socket set and wrenches, left over from keeping my old rusty cars limping along in my younger days. Now I have an iPhone for that: "Hello, Customer Service? My car broke, come tow it."
Hi Chris,
This guy in my neighborhood came to me needing a 1 7/16 socket...never talked to this guy before, but what the hey....So my question was do you need a 12 point or a 6 point. He was dumbfounded. Got a six pack of Pacifico out of that deal to loan him my socket. ½ drive, so he had to barrow a ratchet and breaker bar too.Metrics are fine. you WILL need odd sizes, as in 9 mm, 11 mm, 15 mm, 19mm, etc..
I appreciate seeing specialty tools... very neat.Hi Phil
I too have multiple sets of SAE and Metric tools in both 6 and 12 point. I even have spline sockets that often will work on SAE and Metric. Seems we needed them on certail aircraft I worked on early in my career. I started out in the aircraft world back in 1966 and we typically used 12 point SAE tooling. Heck, I even owned British Whitworth tooling for my Triumph motorcycle.
Here's a wrench you probably don't own in your collection. Its a "palnut" wrench. Radial engines often used nuts that were not self locking due to thermal issues as I recall. Cylinder hold down nuts were just a plain nut thread. A palnut is a thin stamped steel nut that threaded on top of the cylinder hold down nut as the locking mechanism, i.e. jam nut. The nuts were thin and it was very difficult to use a regular wrench to torque the palnut and the wrench would slip off and then grap the hold down nut. The palnut wrench as shown in the photograph has a feature that prevents the wrench from slipping down. The short length came in handy as the hold down nuts were in tight locations and often you installed and tightened the palnut by feel.
When I migrated into the engineering world supporting commercial jets, I kept these special wrenches. They came in multiple sizes to fit the palnut. I would show them to the AME's who had never worked on a radial engine and bet them they didn't know what the wrench was called or used for. Never lost a wager........
I realize this has nothing to do with the original posting. Reading your posting reply inspired me -
Cheers
Roy Peterson
Retired
Know what you mean. My country had an incomplete conversion to metric decades ago. Leaving bit of a dogs breakfast now. ?
Hi Roy,Hi Phil
I too have multiple sets of SAE and Metric tools in both 6 and 12 point. I even have spline sockets that often will work on SAE and Metric. Seems we needed them on certail aircraft I worked on early in my career. I started out in the aircraft world back in 1966 and we typically used 12 point SAE tooling. Heck, I even owned British Whitworth tooling for my Triumph motorcycle.
Here's a wrench you probably don't own in your collection. Its a "palnut" wrench. Radial engines often used nuts that were not self locking due to thermal issues as I recall. Cylinder hold down nuts were just a plain nut thread. A palnut is a thin stamped steel nut that threaded on top of the cylinder hold down nut as the locking mechanism, i.e. jam nut. The nuts were thin and it was very difficult to use a regular wrench to torque the palnut and the wrench would slip off and then grap the hold down nut. The palnut wrench as shown in the photograph has a feature that prevents the wrench from slipping down. The short length came in handy as the hold down nuts were in tight locations and often you installed and tightened the palnut by feel.
When I migrated into the engineering world supporting commercial jets, I kept these special wrenches. They came in multiple sizes to fit the palnut. I would show them to the AME's who had never worked on a radial engine and bet them they didn't know what the wrench was called or used for. Never lost a wager........
I realize this has nothing to do with the original posting. Reading your posting reply inspired me -
Cheers
Roy Peterson
Retired
Old saying:Hi Roy,
I have a set of these Palnut wrenches too, bu are mostly unused. I also have wentworth wrenches but these havefallen into disuse. Do use the BA2 to tighten up the bell on my 1680 bird case grandfather clock movement clock from Lewes England.
Hi Chris,
Yours too. When it comes to tools, I always tell people, "If I don't have it......you don't need it".
I was in junior high when the switch happened, so I was taught both. If I remember correctly (which I usually don't), metric should have been the only system by time I graduated. Roughly 45yrs later and about the only things that aren't still advertised in both Imperial and Metric is our mileage signs and fuel.
Strange... we burn gallons of gasoline in our 2.3 liter engines, and buy 12 ounce cans of soda, but 1-& 2-liter bottles; they're in the cooler next to the pints, quarts, and gallons of milk!Yours too. When it comes to tools, I always tell people, "If I don't have it......you don't need it".
I was in junior high when the switch happened, so I was taught both. If I remember correctly (which I usually don't), metric should have been the only system by time I graduated. Roughly 45yrs later and about the only things that aren't still advertised in both Imperial and Metric is our mileage signs and fuel.
That sounds like an old George Carlin routine. We park in the driveway but drive on the parkway.?
