I found an interesting booth at the AWFS woodworking show in Vegas this year.
Eight tools is a Japanese company that specializes in hex keys and hex sockets. I immediately noticed their ball ends were different. They call them taper ends instead of ball ends. They are definitely not a standard ball end hex key.
The salesman steered me to the website after I had already bought a set of SAE hex keys off Ebay. Cheaper on the website.
https://tbgarizona.com/
The interesting difference is that a standard ball end pulls out of the hole at the greatest angle they work at. The Eight brand taper end grips inside the fastener tighter. I did not expect that.
Bondhus has been very good for me for decades.
Bondhus next to Eight
Full angle. The Eight grips harder at full angle. Very interesting design. The Eight set actually comes with pipes to put on the short end.
I dug my favorite metric Wera Hex Plus set out of my travel toolbox and looked at the difference.
View attachment 456013
It seems that the taper results in much more contact inside the socket. I'm extremely impressed with the design so I thought I would share a really neat product.
I ordered a metric set off the website today after testing the new set I bought on Ebay.
Eight tools is a Japanese company that specializes in hex keys and hex sockets. I immediately noticed their ball ends were different. They call them taper ends instead of ball ends. They are definitely not a standard ball end hex key.
The salesman steered me to the website after I had already bought a set of SAE hex keys off Ebay. Cheaper on the website.
https://tbgarizona.com/
The interesting difference is that a standard ball end pulls out of the hole at the greatest angle they work at. The Eight brand taper end grips inside the fastener tighter. I did not expect that.
Bondhus has been very good for me for decades.
Bondhus next to Eight
Full angle. The Eight grips harder at full angle. Very interesting design. The Eight set actually comes with pipes to put on the short end.
I dug my favorite metric Wera Hex Plus set out of my travel toolbox and looked at the difference.
View attachment 456013
It seems that the taper results in much more contact inside the socket. I'm extremely impressed with the design so I thought I would share a really neat product.
I ordered a metric set off the website today after testing the new set I bought on Ebay.