Imperial socket sets still being sold?!

I've got one small socket set - 1/4 and 3/8 drive - that has metric, AF and BA. Rather rare.

and old

I've got lots of stuff with imperial hardware, mostly AF & Whitworth.

NT

You're either a troll or determined to argue over your clueless assumptions. They amount to the same thing.

I mostly don't.

NT

Me too. Bought for me by my Dad, 40+ years ago. I *think* I have managed not to lose any of the sockets - amazing.

I saw the same item at a car boot sale a year or two ago - still kicking myself that I didn't buy it.

I have a feeling I bought mine in Eveshamn High Street - I wonder why I ws theer ;-)

Have you just worked that out?

Having whipped through this Trollish thread I have noted one thing.

Most people seem to class American Forces (AF) sizes as Imperial. Now there may be a hint in the name, but I didn't think that (officially) the USA was classed as an Imperial power. Certainly not by the UK in the

Imperial to me would be the various Whitworth threads and heads, including British Standard Fine (BSF).

I still have a few of these but haven't needed them recently.

Keep feeding the Trolls!

Cheers

Dave R

Surely it's good to have both to hand anyway? Who knows when you may come across an old item that you need to work on?

Maybe even when your hand-driver just won't move a smallish torx screw and you need a 1/4" socket to allow the use of a small bar to get a bit more torque? 6.35mm, just uncomfortably small for a 6.5mm socket , especially if a reasonable force or even shocking it is required.

I've certainly come across old, tight plumbing fittings that have been built around after, are too rounded for a crude plumbing spanner and the only way to undo them in the space has been to cut the pipe and use a socket. Yes, I know there are other tools to do that, but if you've already got an imperial socket set, you've got something that'll do the job without having to stop and go out to buy something else.

SteveW

I have had three electric mowers over the years. All okay, but a real effort if you let the grass get too long due to it raining at the wrong times and life pressures.

Last year I was given a no-longer required petrol mower. It was a revelation. I could do the whole of both lawns in a third of the time and with no effort.

SteveW

"Across Flats", dear.

Christ on a bike

three years ago, I bought a ride-on mower. That saves me about 1 1/2 hours and I'm less tired.

Seeing this thread is for silly questions, I've always wondered why so many common Whitworth spanners are a different size (apart from the named size, obviously) from common AF size spanners. Is this pure chance? Did the standards for Whitworth nuts across flats sizes differ in some systematic way from the common AF series in 16ths?

the Whitworth spanner sizes refer to the size of the bolt - not the across the flat of the head size.

That's why I said "not the named slze, obviously". What I am getting at is that several Whitwoth nuts in the series from about 1/8" to 5/8" don't seem to have a crossflats size that fits a common AF spanner. Surely I can't have dreamt this?

Why would they? They were designed as a unified range and the head sizes matched the calculations for the bolt sizes - Whitworth was not looking at making nice AF sizes, his bolts matched his calculations as to the size required for the thread and the tools were sized appropriately. They were never an AF bolt, but always based on the thread.

Threads were hand-cut until the invention of the screw-cutting lathe by Henry Maudsley (not the Psychiatrist!) That allowed standardised threads and interchangeable machine parts, but numerous standards appeared.

Some are better for bolting into more brittle materials, some are less prone to self-release under vibration and many more differences. Hence numerous standards, with different external diameters, root diameters, pitches and thread angles - even different shapes to thread tips or thread roots - and different mechanical properties. Each has advantages and disadvantages over others, so a number of standards survived.

Metric isn't all the same either, having at least Standard, Fine, Extra or Super Fine and JIS. The difference is that the metric system standardised heads as AF sizes.

SteveW

I seem to remember you are right. My first motorbike used Whitworth, then after that it was metric. But my dad had some AF spanners and I ended up buying some Whitworth ones.

I've known it for ages, most here have. It's why I rarely respond to him.

NT

I've not seen any marked CB :)

NT

Of course it is, they use inches, pounds, etc.

Why? I've yet to find any device, even 20 year old ones, that won't take a metric tool. Maybe you should stop importing crap from the yanks?