Wrench Sets

 

A wrench is a tightening tool used to provide torque to turn nuts, bolts or other fasteners that are hard to turn. A specialised wrench with a series of pins or tabs around its circumference is often called a spanner in the US. While in the UK a spanner is what the Americans call a wrench. A good quality spanner or wrench set is generally made of chrome-vanadium steel and is generally drop forged.

Socket Set Ratchet Mechanism

A socket set is a type of wrench with separate removable sockets that can be used with different sizes of fasteners, such as nuts and bolts. The ratchet mechanism used in these sets allows the continuous loosening or tightening of a nut or bolt thus saving time and energy. A conventional wrench requires the wrench to be removed and refitted after each turn.

Types of Wrench and Socket Sets

Wrench sets generally comprises of a number of various sized wrenches. A wrench or a spanner can be of an open-ended type, a ring type or a combination of the two. Flare-nut wrenches are used for tightening nuts and fittings on brass tubing. Adjustable wrenches can be altered to accommodate different sized applications. Pipe wrenches are larger and more robust adjustable wrenches mainly used in the plumbing industry. A crowfoot wrench is for use in places with space restrictions. Slugging or slogging wrenches are used for striking with hammers.

 

A socket set includes a wrench with a large number of combination bits and sockets of varied sizes. A socket set can be of 6-point, 8-point or 12-point configurations, suitable for varied types of bolts and nuts. A socket set can have shallow sockets or deep sockets depending on its usage. While a shallow socket set is used to access nuts in narrow spaces, a deep socket set is useful when the bolt extends upwards into the socket, like clamp bolts in automobiles.

 

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