Snap-On, Hazet, Stahlwille, etc OE Wrenches Compared

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Read this very interesting 8 year old, 339 posts, thread at garagejournal. A machinist in Greece saw that their 13mm open end wrenches were getting damaged after only a short time in service tightening hardened (51HRC) hex bolts on a lathe head. This motivated him to start measuring Rockwell hardness at the open end of many wrenches, and also measured plating thickness.


What surprised a lot of people was how soft the Hazet 600N wrench was, compared to the Stahwille and Snap-On

In his machine shop, for their particular use on the lathe, the Hazet open end surface was the least durable of the three. It did get chewed up earlier by the hardened bolts than the other two wrenches. After 5 months of use in the shop, by different employees, the Stahlwhille had noticeable damage. For the Hazet it was 2.5 months. The Snap-On was only tested for 2 months IIRC, and it held up well.

When working on automobiles in a shop, will the Stahlwille and Snap-On wrenches out last the Hazet? I have no idea!


Brand--------------------------HRC---------------- Chrome coating (μm)
Proxxon-------------------------45--------------------
Acesa----------------------------32--------------------
Gedore No7---------------------40---------------------
Garant---------------------------41--------------------
Matador 190---------------------41---------------------8.5
Garant---------------------------41--------------------~0
Stahlwille-----------------------47---------------------~0
Matador 190 old series---------38--------------------15
HR (India) Lidl------------------34--------------------10
Bost-----------------------------49 -----------08
Dowidat No6 12-13-------------38--------------------10
Gedore No6 14-17--------------52 --------------10
Unior----------------------------47.5-------------------15
IUS------------------------------47 --------------05
Izeltas---------------------------44----------------------~0
Cobalt Ratcheting Wrench------45----------------------~0
Hazet 600N Beam--------------35----------------------17
-------------open end------------- 34---------------------~0
Hazet 603-----------------------40----------------------~0
Facom 440----------------------44----------------------~0
Stanley 87-073------------------41----------------------?
Snap-On-------------------------45,5--------------------10
Husky combi---------------------43---------------------10
Husky ratcheting combi----------40--------------------10
Craftsman USA-------------------39,5-------------------0
Pittsburgh-------------------------35?---------------------5 to 10
Heyco 410 Maxline---------------44---------------------~0
Heyco 400------------------------28----------------------~0 (10μm on beam)
Gedore 1B------------------------42.5--------------------~0
Beta 55 13-17---------------------43--------------------------~0
 
I'm not too sure about that experiment. I have an assortment of hand tools which I used for decades. I have to say I never "wore out" a Hazet wrench. Hazet ratchets and screwdrivers are my favorite go to tools. I did purchase these in the 1980s so maybe quality slipped. I doubt it.
hazet wrench.jpg
hazet spark plug tool.jpg
 
I’ve got an old Hazet double open end wrench I got at an estate sale. I have never used it since I don’t use double open ends unless I have too. It seems pretty quality. I’m sure they don’t flex as much as my cheap no name set of wrenches do.
 
my thought if you made the wrenches really hard it could affect durability unless done carefully.
Therefore they are designed to their own proprietary specs.
 
Due to clearance issue, open end looked like the only option. Sometimes the nuts/bolts aren't sized right for the amount of usage or torque applied

Those that work with tools too often, find out which brands work and don't work.

Don't ask how many $3000 1" impact wrenches the clowns at work destroyed over the years.... you'd be lucky if they lasted a week.. .and were good for 30-40 rebuilds before hitting the metals recycling dumpsters.... This is considerably different usage than the 1/2" impact wrench that is several decades old in my toolbox at home. Anyone ever watch an impact wrench work continuously 24/7 vs a couple tire rotations a year?

This is when the toolmaker builds his own wrench out of unobtainium... I mean, its a machine shop and you'd think after box of wrenches, they'd whittle their own

And, wrong tool for the job doesn't help... .there are lathe/mill machinist wrenches for this usage
 

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my thought if you made the wrenches really hard it could affect durability unless done carefully.
Therefore they are designed to their own proprietary specs.

Harder would also likely result in being more brittle. So there’s some trade.

There’s something to be said about the right tool for the job. Didn’t read the liked OP, but I wonder if the lathe bolt originally came with its own tool. I mean, every angle grinder, saw and drill I have ever bought come with their own wrench or chuck tool of some kind. Perhaps the lathe did too.

Granted, typically folks don’t shop those specs when shopping tools.
 
From what I understand, he tested (1) single Hazet wrench and declared them "poor". Yes ? Test 3, 4, 5 and then the test has more value. That (1) wrench could be a fluke.
 
My Hazet and Stahlwille spanners are over 40 years old and have given no problems. Stahlwille are thinner, which is good in some uses, but hard on the hands and I have bowed one when applying serious extra leverage. Some of my Hazet 1/2 drive sockets look well used...2 ratchets and the powerbar are for home use only now.
 
It's either the bolt points get rounded or the wrench gets cut, but they they make better open end now that grab the flank not the point of the bolt. In this case the bolts should be the winners and maybe that's why they made them like that. Milwaukee Maxbite is a really fancy type of open end that drives on the flank not point. Most companies are advertising something now like this.
 
From what I understand, he tested (1) single Hazet wrench and declared them "poor". Yes ? Test 3, 4, 5 and then the test has more value. That (1) wrench could be a fluke.
Actually he tested 2 Hazet wrenches. The 600N is a long combination wrench and it tested at 35HRC. The 603 is a standard length combination wrench and it tested at 40HRC.

But with only a single sample of each wrench, the test results are "suggestive" rather than "definitive".
 
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