Where can I buy a Hex Key Gauge?

Someone beat you to it... You can buy T handle allens with colored handles.
 
A 12 pound pile of hex keys tells me that they are all cheeps not worth spending your time or money.
Nothing worse than a buggered screw head from using the wrong size key or low quality key.
Maybe save the ones that are stamped for size because that's a sign of better quality.
I'd scrap all the others.
Good hex sets are relatively inexpensive. So are digital calibers that are reliable.
 
Every machinist chest I ever bought has had at least a dozen hex keys (allen wrenches). Now I've got 12 pounds of them (not kidding - I just threw them all on the postal scale.) all jumbled up into one big pile. Does anyone sell a hex key gauge -/QUOTE]

There are vernier calipers that have fractional inch readout. So, yes, you can (assuming you can tell the metric from the inch)
sort 'em quicklky. A white paint band around the metric ones is a timesaver.

More important, it's wise to keep one complete-ish labeled set of inch and one of metric, and, when you
need to dedicate a wrench to the accessory kit of an important widget, THAT's when you search the bucket.
That way, you only have to search the complete set (less than 12 pounds) to learn it's really a Bristol spline...

My overstock, actually, is in a bag, not a bucket: maybe I should upgrade...
 
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Hi Guys,

I must admit to a smile when I read this post ! I too have a bin with several hundred Allan keys in it, collected over the years. I took the time to sort out the quality ones and keep them in an old OXO tin (just for those who don't know, OXO is a brand of gravy browning here in the UK). The others I use when I need bits of metal for various jobs. This is when you realise how soft and rubbishy some of these things are.
 
I know OXO. The wife is a Brit and was dismayed to find that it wasn't easily available here in the US.

I had run into some rubbish Allen wrenches that came with unassembled office furniture. You had a hard time assembling one chair before the corners gave out or the wrench twisted. They appeared to have a decent amount of carbon based on a spark test so I tried hardening and tempering some. They actually work very well then.
 
Hi RJ,

I suspected as much when I explained what OXO was. :):):)

You know it never occurred to me to try hardening any, Though I have brazed the odd one into a piece of rod to make a "T" handled key. More often I've used them for packings. Thanks for that little nugget.
 
I have a 5 gallon bucket of them that I need to see what they are, off with the calipers for me!
 
Many tears ago I switched all my allen wrenches to Eklind fold up sets.
I think they are the best.

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These are absolute garbage if you do real work on real machines, when the tool crib gives me a set of those, they are returned in not such a nice fashion, get real ones and keep them with the holder.
 
Wow... You are the first person that I heard from that does not like them...
I have worked in textile factorys where they are needed for every job
and they last a long time...
 
I work in a machine shop, everything has allen heads, and not one of the machine repair techs have or use them. Production will because there is an issue with them losing them (FOD) but they dont work in tight areas, you cant put a lot of torque on them and a lot of times we need ball drivers. Every mill we have uses allen heads on the way covers, I would not use them when inside a hot humid machine, laying in coolant.
 
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