Type sockets

[johngolf]

Anybody remember Whitworth wrenches?

[bagster]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Anybody remember Whitworth wrenches?

Was that the one they used on trailer houses? I remember the sheet metal screws on mobile homes back years ago required a special socket. Seems like the name was something like Whitworth.

[StealthRabbit]

This is just a Hex Drive socket set (as per previous pic), rather than square drive.

Avails a few more options for drive tools and space / articulation
Probably a late 1950's version

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...t-sets.290004/

My dad was an Industro dealer, so I have a lot of their tools,
Watch the obits for my upcoming huge estate sale(s), someone will be very happy with the great finds and also the revenue

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Anybody remember Whitworth wrenches?

Befuddled me @ age 12 when I was disassembling a 1950's English Ford. (I still have the Whitworth head bolts, thinking I will eventually need them for something...)

What are Whitworth wrenches?
A Whitworth wrench is sized according to the diameter of the shank of the bolt, not the head. A 1/4 W (Whitworth) wrench is actually a bit larger than a 1/2″ American wrench—0.525″ to 0.500″. As if that wasn't enough, in 1924 it was decided that the heads of the Whitworth bolts were too large, so they were down-sized.Dec 13, 1988

https://mossmotoring.com/whitworth-system/

[howard555]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

This is just a Hex Drive socket set (as per previous pic), rather than square drive. Avails a few more options for drive tools and space / articulation
Probably a late 1950's version
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...t-sets.290004/
My dad was an Industro dealer, so I have a lot of their tools

That is what we have but our set is only 5 sockets (9/16 to 7/8) and no allen type wrench though I think the wrench is here somewhere.

Then we found this one which looks the same on the outside and is marked 1/2 inch.
But it's 12 points on both ends.

What do you make of that one? Thanks.

[sunsprit]

The pictured sockets are of the Allen-wrench style drive, could be made with a 6-point drive or from square shaped bar stock. Generally, these were very inexpensive sockets sold in compact sets with an Allen wrench to drive them rather than a square-drive ratchet. They do, however, require less clearance to use than a ratchet. The big drawback is that you must lift the socket off the fastener to advance the rotation.

Whitworth sized wrenches/sockets were a British Standard item, along with British Cycle Institute sized wrenches. The thread pitch/size/shape and fastener dimensions were their counterpart to Metric or USS and SAE standard threads and sizes, and the Whitworth wrenches are sized differently ... to include sizes not in inch dimensions, but in "BA" (for example, a "2BA" wrench or socket) found in the smaller sizes. Whitworth threads/sized fasteners were extensively used in British manufacturing up until the 1980's, and commonly found here in the USA on British cars and motorcycles. For the most part, I found the Whitworth thread shape & dimensions to be markedly weaker than comparable size/application Metric or USS/SAE designed fasteners. In due course, the Brit's have moved away from the Whitworth standard of fasteners.

As a tech working extensively on Brit motor vehicles in the 1960's-2000's, it was necessary to have Whitworth wrenches along with Metric and USA wrenches. Whitworth sized fasteners will not accept a Metric or American size wrench. It's not uncommon to see a lot of messed-up fasteners on older Brit vehicles where somebody tried to use the wrong wrenches on the fasteners ... and even a Crescent wrench on accessible fasteners oft-times just doesn't work very well.

[UpstateJohn]

I dont have any pics of it, but I have a set of those sockets along with 2 allen wrenches and a rachet. One allen os straight, the other bent.