Which Brand Slips 1st & Why? Snap-On, Wright, SK, Tekton, Craftsman & More

[Music] welcome back to the torque test channel on our last visit to hand tools we tested 12 point versus six point and spline box ends on wrenches to try and determine which design has the advantage of slipping the lease there which i think we did but many of you and us included wanted to see just how well the other end of the wrench the open end performed between brands since that end appeared to perform less than half as well in our testing so any advantage between options out there would probably go a long way for you so today we're testing 16 different examples in 14 different brands from 454 dollars a set to 19 measuring peak torque before slipping on soft steel fasteners comparing their results to their open end thickness for some better context on our rank list seeing if a 5 8 wrench can be used in place of a 16 millimeter or vice versa myth busting the popular valve grinding compound hack to see if that works measuring each wrench's open end for precision and finally hardness testing with some illuminating stuff there as well now there's no way to cover all the brands out there in one episode so let us know which ones we should include if we do more of these sure wish icon with this fdx select design had made wrenches for sale individually while testing to failure might be dramatic and not impossible to experience on the open-end side of wrenches it's maybe not quite as useful to what brand will work best for you because when space only allows for the open end on a bolt head we're usually way more worried about it slipping than breaking in half for instance which means grade 8 bolts and coupling nuts make a return to the channel this shiny grade 2 hardware is about as soft as you'll come across on fasteners so it represents about as worst case scenario as we can reliably make repeatable for each wrench we'll be using 16 millimeter wrenches to match this hex size and be extracting data from the point just before they slip on these new unmolested coupling nuts in the form of bolt tension psi each new test will be getting a new bolt nut and washer three tests per wrench the median result will be shown on screen in case you're curious the multiplier here is going to be 12.7 to one or basically divide the value you see on screen by 12.7 for pounds or five point seven seven four kilograms if you feel so inclined we have a lot of wrenches to get to though so let's jump in in order of price that we're going to be going we have the olympia while at the bolt supply store getting hardware for this testing i saw this single 16 millimeter wrench hanging up on the wall for a dollar 89 which was cheaper than the cheapest we had for testing its clearance on a bolt when zeroed for 16 millimeters is 0.11 millimeters over which is actually very good as you'll be seeing though as you probably noticed this wrench is not exactly pretty in the fit and finish department a rough drop forging from india that is ultimately able to muster as you're going to see here 930 psi before slipping and rounding the nut we'll have to see how good that is versus the others and all the wrenches from today's their 12 point box ends were able to max out and start to squish the non rounded 16 millimeter coupling nuts from today so it's not very interesting to be comparing them in that regard next up is the cheapest full set that included 16 millimeters on amazon the jet tech 25 dollars for a set of 11 pieces or 2.27 cents a piece these are made in china and for precision of its clearance it's 0.25 millimeters over way over that previous olympia we're going to be testing all these with the 15 degree sort of offset on these combination wrenches out towards the camera on each test and measuring just before the wrench slips as additional bolt tension created from it marring the nut wouldn't help you very much so this one sees 1014 psi a nice increase over the olympia for not a ton more money wait hold up does wrench side matter on open ends even if you do end up needing to flip it over back and forth in my experience it always seemed to we tested eight times with a maco silver eagle set that's no longer for sale so we didn't include it in this testing series we also sort of tried standing on both the push and pull sides of this we kept getting the same results and we thought maybe the extender needed to be more in alignment with the wrench so we tried our other extender still the same deal seems odd to me might be specific to our setup but anyways back to the show now let's see how a name brand you've probably heard of does crescent crescent as a brand didn't do too amazingly in our flare nut wrench testing but you'd have to admit it finally looks the part at least and this is 28 dollars for a 10 piece set or 2.80 a wrench pretty affordable it's 0.23 millimeter clearance measurement isn't off to an awesome start and then testing the crescent brand combination wrench gets off to a good start but soon slips after generating just 911 psi the lowest so far something we've verified with two additional tests as usual next up in price is the craftsman and just like in our last wrench testing we'll be including both vintage usa raised panel and a modern craftsman offering this time one you can still find at lowe's and on amazon their current raised panel wrench set which is just 33 dollars or three dollars a wrench the china model is coming out the gate with a tighter clearance of 0.11 millimeters versus 0.14 but that old school usa raised panel we're testing here it's just a classic basically 90s americana if you ask me not that this history has helped it much in its flare not wrench testing video but here yeah it crushes it it makes it up way up past the other two into first place with 1319 psi which is quite good their current china example now though is no slouch in popularity it is in the top 50 best-selling wrench sets on all of amazon so i think that popularity with the craftsman brand continues on in some way and it seems like in this case for a very good reason too this 16 millimeter example is able to pile on the psi quite well for ultimately the current second position putting both craftsman wrenches at the top for now up next is senex with a surprisingly affordable 36 dollar set or three dollars and two cents a wrench though looking at the label this may be in part due to these being made in india most of the sonics we've had luck with like their great pinned universal has been made in taiwan and this is our first wrench today to feature a specialty open end as well this one with a v-groove at the base of the mouth which as a design just sort of makes sense when using on a hex but we'll get into that a bit later and its clearance is coming in at 0.2 millimeters one thing you have to remind yourself to do with this wrench is to seat the open end deep into the jaw all the way into the hex because it's easy for this one to slip and push itself out like it did for us but even when all the way into the throat this wrench did less than we were expecting 1030 psi nothing really to write home about next we have the tecton a fifty four dollar set and four dollars and fifty cents a piece but taiwan now which tecton is known for nowadays the wrench's clearance measures 0.21 millimeters and in testing the wrench felt very no-nonsense and gripped until it sort of just all of a sudden didn't and let go at 1273 very good enough for second place at the moment next up is capri that we purchased in both 16 millimeters and 5 8 to be able to show you that difference if there is one this taiwan made combination wrench can only be found in their 19-piece master set for 150 bucks total but that's still seven dollars and 89 cents a wrench which is a ways up from the 4.50 tecton 5 8 is one of those sizes that can be used in place of metric 16 millimeters here sort of like 19 millimeters and three quarter but not quite that close so we're curious to see if there is a performance difference the 16 millimeter clearance measures 0.26 millimeters the worst so far and the 5 8 0.19 or 0.06 millimeters less so let's see for ourselves despite being a bit oversized in measurement and feel the capri does grip some nice torque our gauge display times out here but we were able to still bring out that data for you makes it up to 1213. now here's the 5 8 inch capri wrench on a new nut remember we have 12 13 from the 16 millimeter to beat here 1209 i'd say that's pretty definitely a yes you can use them interchangeably and shows that at least on this brand wrench design is more important than dimensional tolerance as the olympia displayed as well though it can't hurt to do both well climbing up again in price from the capri we have the gearwrench now this one isn't really fair pricing wise not that we have been scoring them that way but we wanted to test one of gearwrench's ratcheting wrenches because you know it is gear wrench and thus far on the channel the brand has not done super hot on non-ratcheting stuff some of which is made in china and might just be rebadged crescent the same parent company so we want to see how their taiwan stuff the wrenches they're known for affairs this one measures .12 millimeters over already a very good start the open end looks pretty chunky but it inspires confidence it's a very solid purchase on the coupling nut and doesn't waver way up the ranking to first place tested so far with 1392 psi that thick open end is helping it of course not every bolt head is going to have enough meat on the top for you to take advantage of that thickness which is why in our rank chart we're also going to be listing psi of bolt tension per millimeter of open end thickness as seen here the gearwrench's 1392 is very impressive but also it's taking up 9.5 millimeters in thickness there which can sometimes be in the way of course but also while it's helping here to climb up the ranks on this long nut you're often not going to have over nine millimeters on a nut or the top of a bolt to play with which means so far the vintage craftsman and the tecton are these standouts in bolt tension versus that wrench thickness but we still have the right sk maco snap-on and snap-on fdx to tally so let's get into that so here's the right tools the right grip 2.0 combination wrench our first one that's made in the usa this is a satin chrome example but they make polished ones of these two the metric set goes for about 160 bucks or 14.55 cents a piece so quite a step up in price the clearance is nothing crazy at 0.17 millimeters but also another specialty open-end design they're right grip 2.0 which looks like an understated design complexity wise to me but is rumored to be the cat's pajamas so let's check it out this is a solid wrench once it's on a fastener it's pretty glued to it dimensionally it's nothing special i feel but nevertheless it feels akin to vice grips once it's turning something just no movement going on this thing blitzes the competition and well the coupling nut 2 which is the first thing to fail not the wrench the right grip is able to compress the nut in on itself and additional turns not increasing tension because it's caused the nut to fail at 1540 psi above 121 foot-pounds or so on an open-end 16 millimeter versus a grade two nut and at 8.05 millimeters it's not simply due to that wrench width either yeah it's it's good continuing on with the usa made wrenches we have sk their flare nut wrench did very well for us in our episodes so we felt it earned a shot here as well these are 18 and 30 cents a piece or 238 dollars for a 13 piece set like their flare nut wrench it also is a bit shorter than normal for some reason maybe it's just their style and speaking of dimensions this one is 0.15 millimeters over 16 millimeter pretty good but the sk represents our first legitimate shock of the day things start as usual but at 993 psi the wrench shoots off and rounds over the nut and now what you're looking here isn't its second test but we usually throw the wrench back on to just double check that we're not seeing a fluke but not bad luck here she's just done sub 1k psi but per usual we had at least one test with lower results than the one we're showing here of 993 just sort of weird stuff from a usa sk kind of a bummer but them's the data so let's move on to matco this i believe is from their top of the line wrench set currently which are all spline drive on the box end the macro measures 0.18 millimeters over and also has a specialty open jaw this time looking real fancy with lots of cuts and dimension changes not sure if it's a good thing considering these simple looking right grip did so well but let's see the maco set is a pricey one at 440 bucks for a 15 piece set or 26.93 a wrench but things are only going to get more pricey from here but it performs too making 1320 or enough for third place and the slimmest jaw into those top three places as well okay last up we have snap-on and both snap-on flank drive as well as snap-on flink drive plus or fdx to be honest this is most of the reason i wanted us to test combination wrenches at all to see that difference between the two here the fdx design in general seems more targeted to their sockets which fit and feel snugger on a bolt head but on wrenches like this one it's also bringing a specialty open-end design that looks like this with plenty of cuts and grooves to increase that grip though this fdx after some pretty minor use has started to flake off layers of chrome like a lot which is weird and not something we've seen often with snap-on stuff but no reason to hide it from you here so we're going to show it both wrenches measure 0.11 millimeters over or the lowest on the day when you figure out how to measure that fdx let's see the traditional flank drive snap on first this is a 43 dollar and 40 cent single wrench from a 434 10 piece set this one wrench costs more than the first four sets we've tested and no beating around the bush it didn't make it up far on the list 1125 psi when double checking to see if that's a fluke it's not able to build on that 1125 either and as usual we had at least one other lower run as well it just never made a splash it just sort of is what it is but that may just justify the existence of flink drive plus then because here's the fdx on that same now buggered up first nut that the snap-on couldn't move any further so yeah it's it's gonna be good and well it is the flank drive plus wrench is no money grab and unlike their sockets which just plain don't fit on some bolts in my experience because they're so tight this wrench fits on everything the regular one does but just grips better much better up to 1492 or second place just shy of maxing out this test setup before slipping at which point it could no longer improve now before we check out some valve grinding compound we've done enough now to head over to our ranking and see how these all do like our last flare nut wrench episode we're gonna be ranking these on a scale of one to ten not sequentially like in order because if two wrenches make the same beans they really should share the same score dimensionally clearance wise over 16 millimeters the snap-on gets both tens here which is oddly shared with the cheapo olympia up here then gearwrench then eights here and a seven here and so on up in size you'll have to pardon the ranking list scrolling on this one there's a lot of wrenches today then perhaps most importantly we have bolt tension the torque of these wrenches applied to these soft hex nuts before slipping and failing the olympia shares bottom honors with the crescent here then it's jet tech and sun x with two points as well as the sk2 that's crazy at the top end of things we have the snap-on who didn't take absolute top honors so gets a nine and the right who really gets a 10 but we normally give an extra point for maxing out the rig so it gets an 11 here our first one theoretically his true psi score could be 1600 1650 plus we don't know because it maxed out that nut then gearwrench mainly due to the width of the jaw but pretty good the maco and vintage craftsman next what a comeback for the vintage craftsman almost as surprising as the sk and snap on traditional down here which is surprising for different reasons when we're talking performance per millimeter of jaw width which if your bolt head is only let's say a realistic six to seven seven and a half millimeters thick you'll be wanting we have the fdx in first with 10 points here then the super impressive right then macko then tektun also quite impressive that tekton when it comes to hardness we're only going to touch on a few things we found interesting or odd wrench hardness per asme standard should be between 38 and 55 hrc which is a huge range harder doesn't often mean better so we don't rank with this info but we did see that the olympia gp was only 26.1 hrc which is basically meaning that it's not hardened at all this is a wrench that's going to wear out or just bend or stop gripping on you eventually the jet tech is a similar story but 36.8 hrc still out of and below what asme standard would call a wrench and probably not high enough quality of an alloy to reach higher hardness if treated for the rest of these pretty normal stuff except interesting that the two snap-on wrenches were exactly the same hardness and quite high too definitely from the same factory material there and the sk was the hardest of all the wrenches just like we saw on the flare nut episode that one had sheared off on us so let's see some total points averages shall we this is an average of their three scores the olympia gets a five the jet tech a 3.33 crescent 2.66 ouch craftsman china 6.33 usa craftsman a7 very nice sun x 3.66 quite a drop tecton 6.33 capri four and a third gearwrench seven right gets nine in a third sk just four and a third matco 7.33 and flank drive 6.66 the mark of the beast and flink drop extra 9.66 putting the snap-on fdx in first followed closely by right tools then matco all these are specialty jaws by the way then vintage craftsman gearwrench snap-on regular tecton china craftsman and so on for sort of bargain diy just adding stuff to your cart the china craftsman is a good buy i like the tekton quite a bit more but it costs more as well the gearwrench as a ratcheting wrench definitely can rely on that open end as well and it's better than we've seen from their standard wrenches so maybe stick to taiwan there but for like every weekend use or a professional making money with these things it seems like the top stuff up here stands out these right grip wrenches man 160 bucks usa lifetime warranty three times cheaper per piece than the snap-on if that doesn't look like a screaming deal to you i don't know what is now compared to the snap-on flank drive you're seeing here can be quite a difference with that right grip the high hardness of 53 to 54 of the snap-on comes into play a bit here with this fracture using a cheater bar not that you should expect that to happen very often but the 10-point softer right grip 2.0 even with the cheater bar grips and turns the same bolt even versus the fdx snap-on some advantages can be seen in other people's testing not just ours like mr subaru here on the 9 16 grade 8 bolt head with a right wrench is able to break that head off where the flank drive plus just sort of gets close but ultimately rounds that head over on a fresh bolt when comparing the glove marks these two wrenches make while a simplistic design the right grip leaves three marks and it's further up on the flats or sort of down into the middle of the flats versus on the hex of the snap-on fdx here which is sort of the idea of not rounding over the corners but there was another specialty open end that didn't appear to move the needle in our test the sunx the v groove drive end in the jaw as well but when looking at just how a wrench works mechanically from a physics standpoint i'm not so sure this does anything looking here at the right grip as the wrench is turned the top side comes under tension and the bottom side experiences the same sort of tension equal opposite forces and all they fight against each other to grip the specialty teeth helping to increase bite and friction on the flank of the hex to situate that tension away from the corners the fdx here sort of works in the same way but wrenches with a v groove while it seems intuitive that it would help like the sk x frame being shown here it may be touching two additional sides but they are experiencing zero tension because they have no opposing side to fight with and grip against now if you added two bits sort of on the corners here like a flare nut wrench that would put these under tension then which is why flare nut wrenches all have a v groove on the opposing side but instead theoretically let's just eliminate everything but the two sides here and remove the work that the top and bottom jar doing how much torque do you think you could apply in a wrench with just these two v-jaws nada in fact as soon as these two sides see any forces they will just work to push the hex bolt out slightly and away from the throat until they're not being used as there's nothing stopping that force on the opposing side here so does that mean the skx frame wrenches are bad no not at all but it might be more of an aesthetic or marketing choice rather than one driven by engineers and speaking of sk in a rare case at least for us their usa wrench didn't do all so hot in our testing multiple times over so let's try to employ an old timer trick or at least one the gray hair in your shop tells you works but you have no way to be sure and that's adding some abrasive valve grinding compound to your wrench to see if that grips soft stuff better increasing that friction coefficient and therefore maybe achieving more torque let's find out here's the same sk wrench that made it as high as 9.98 for us or 993 median as you saw we put some on the fastener and the wrench just sort of to be sure so it made it up to 1102 whereas we previously never crested a thousand a pretty cut and dry ten percent gain there we found that in some cases it's a eight to twelve percent increase and on some wrenches like the sun x and the snap-on it didn't do anything but on no wrenches that it hurt their numbers so valve grind compound away i say myth confirmed i appreciate you joining us on this one and our hand tool episodes in general suggest more wrenches below if you'd like to see more and thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: Torque Test Channel

Views: 225,851

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Id: DzY4jg7NmKw

Length: 23min 20sec (1400 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 10 2022