Random thought

[johnridley]

Why are most socket sets on the market still 12 point? The ONLY valid reason to own 12 point sockets is that they'll work on 4-sided nuts, but you hardly see those anymore, and it's a PITA to figure out which size to use anyway. Other than that, they're just weaker (thinner walls).
Next time I buy a set, they'll be 6-sided.

Comments

Hmmmmmm

[techgrrl.livejournal.com]

You may be right, but I am not sure that the only reason is for 4 sided nuts. While I generally favor 6pt pretty strongly I can imagine needing a 12 pt socket to turn nuts in deep recesses with limited radial clearance, ie where you don't or can't use a ratchet and you have limited room to turn them. I've used them on spark plugs deeply recessed into an engine
where I needed a long bar, but had limited clearance to spin the socket.

That being said, I could be misremembering, and certainly I have not used one in decades, so I don't find my own argument all that compelling. But hey, it seemed wrong to let a nit go unpicked.

Cheers,

J.

Re: Hmmmmmm

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

The thing is, having 12 pointed sockets does not help you turn the ratchet. Once it's on, it's on. I suppose it's theoretically possible that you might have a situation where you have so little clearance that you can't get the ratchet to even grab forward one tooth, and that you might be able to pull the socket off, move it 1/12 of a turn, and then be able to move it 1/2 of a ratchet tooth, etc. In practice that never happens.
Also, most ratchets these days have pretty fine teeth, and they make them with super fine teeth for this situation.

If I get into a situation where things are that tight, I use a combination of extensions and universal joints to get the ratchet out to where I can actually swing it. Either that or I'll use a pneumatic ratchet that I don't have to swing at all.

The only time this makes sense is for wrenches, not sockets. In those cases, yeah, I often have to flip the open end back and forth, grabbing a fraction of a turn each time, or put the box end on 1/12 turn at a time.
I've never seen a 12 pointed spark plug socket.