Favourite hand tools

TK4

TK4

Well-known member
Just finished reading a thread on Hagerty's site about hand tools.
FWIW, I have a Vessel hand impact driver that I've owned since the 70's. It lives in the bottom of the tool box, but every once in a while...
I got given a Wurth 1/4 drive set about 7 years ago - came in a little red box. It gets a workout constantly.
Your picks ?
 
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Bought a set of these (1/4", 3/8", bit driver) on sale a few years ago, and they've become the tools that never leave the bench. For all but the biggest fasteners, I almost never actually use a ratchet now, just jump straight to torque wrench on final assembly. I absolutely love them, they're so speedy.
 
Matt Rain said:
SK 45183 3/8 flex head ratchet

Feels substantial enough to be a deadly weapon, but light-duty enough to work on the bike. No head flop and built like a tank.
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... not to be a tool snob... but being a tool snob: you REALLY want one of these
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You'll round off less bolts, it has even LESS head flop. Forces go through the centerline of the fastener, fits in more places.
Downside is they're about $250 USD. There is a SK one, but isn't as fine a ratchet... IIRC the snapon is 72 tooth, the SK 64.
 
bitzz said:
.. not to be a tool snob... but being a tool snob: you REALLY want one of these
FNF100.jpg

You'll round off less bolts, it has even LESS head flop. Forces go through the centerline of the fastener, fits in more places.
Downside is they're about $250 USD.
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Not to be a cheap bastard, but being a cheap bastard, one of these is PROBABLY also sufficient for most shadetree guys.

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Probably nearly as good, warrantied basically forever because Princess Auto, and upside is that it's $59 CanuckBucks. ;)
 
bitzz said:
... not to be a tool snob... but being a tool snob: you REALLY want one of these
FNF100.jpg

You'll round off less bolts, it has even LESS head flop. Forces go through the centerline of the fastener, fits in more places.
Downside is they're about $250 USD. There is a SK one, but isn't as fine a ratchet... IIRC the snapon is 72 tooth, the SK 64.
Click to expand...
I have a bunch of Snap-On, including a 100-tooth 3/8". Fine ratchets indeed. 👌This little guy is the one I use most around the house, THLD72:

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Dewalt driver. I spent 45yrs doing everything with screwdrivers and ratchets and then asked for one along with a new drill for Christmas when my 25yr old Craftsman finally died.
First use of the driver was installing a tv wall mount and after doing 3 of them with a ratchet my eyes were finally opened.
 
Not the most frequently used tools, but ones that I like having when I need them are Koken’s “wobble fix” extensions and their spark plug sockets that have brass spring clips. The extensions can convert between being fixed or allowing +/-15 degrees of rotation. With this rotation, I could angle the extension and socket under the tank to reach the plugs, then push down on the extension while it’s straight to use like a normal extension. I think I read somewhere that Snap-On makes some similar extensions.
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ljtenkor said:
Not the most frequently used tools, but ones that I like having when I need them are Koken’s “wobble fix” extensions and their spark plug sockets that have brass spring clips. The extensions can convert between being fixed or allowing +/-15 degrees of rotation. With this rotation, I could angle the extension and socket under the tank to reach the plugs, then push down on the extension while it’s straight to use like a normal extension. I think I read somewhere that Snap-On makes some similar extensions.
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I have craftsman extension like that. They work well.
 
Flex-head speeder handle.

And I married into a Vessel JIS impact driver. That is what I use to fix all the cammed out drives on the heads of screws all over Japanese bikes because of previous "mechanics" or owners.
 

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timtune said:
I finally broke down and bought a set of JIS screwdrivers. There IS a difference.
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What type/brand?
I bought a set a few years ago. 'managed to bugger one up, lose one and loaned one out that somehow never came back...


I have three multimeters in my tool chest, but I ALWAYS garb the same one...
My Carbtune throttle sync tool is pretty cool, but these days I see there is what seems to be a better/easier to use digital tool available for throttle body syncing,,,
 
Princess Auto has packs of Bosch P2S2 bits which work very well as a local substitute for JIS drivers. They don't cam out and strip cross/Phillips/JIS fasteners like regular Phillips bits. They're supposedly also designed to work with square/Robertson fasteners, but they're terrible at that.
 
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Gaoler said:
What type/brand?
I bought a set a few years ago. 'managed to bugger one up, lose one and loaned one out that somehow never came back...


I have three multimeters in my tool chest, but I ALWAYS garb the same one...
My Carbtune throttle sync tool is pretty cool, but these days I see there is what seems to be a better/easier to use digital tool available for throttle body syncing,,,
Click to expand...
I bought the Hozan 4 pack about 10 years ago and they’ve held up ok. I use the Vessel ball grip driver the most now, though. The Vessel Megadora ones always looked the nicest but are a bit spendy.
 
ljtenkor said:
The Vessel Megadora ones always looked the nicest but are a bit spendy.
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7 for $16 with free shipping from Ali.

 
My fave tool will be the extractor that gets the broken grease fitting out of my trailer hub.
 
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Lithium hand drill that uses the same battery as my chainsaw and weed eater... wicked. It has as much torque as my plug-in drill.
 
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GreyGhost said:
7 for $16 with free shipping from Ali.

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That’s a per driver price - there are 8 driver options, ranging from $17-23
 
Ash said:
They don't cam out and strip cross/Phillips/JIS fasteners like regular Phillips bits
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The entire world should use Robertson for everything.
 
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