Collection: Hand Tools

Hand tools in an industrial workshop are judged on a single lasting criterion: how the tip and the edge hold up after hundreds of tightenings. The rest is comfort.

Catalogue references

• KS Tools: display of 10 sets of 9 hex keys, box of microfibre gloves.
• Alpha Coupe: set of 7 cobalt taps and 7 Gold&Black drills.
• 3M: Stikit sanding block.

See also our keys, our tapping sets, our sanding blocks and our tools.

Hex key: the detail that rounds off screws

A hex key comes with a straight end and a ball end. The ball end lets you engage the screw up to twenty-five degrees off axis, which helps in a recessed housing. But contact with the socket is much weaker, and it is the main cause of rounded sockets.

Good practice: approach with the ball end, tighten to torque with the straight end. And never mix metric and imperial, as a 5 mm key fits into a 3/16 socket without being right.

Tapping: the pilot hole

The pilot hole is not drilled at the nominal screw diameter but at that diameter minus the pitch. For an M8 with a 1.25 pitch, it is 6.75 mm, so 6.8 mm in practice. Too small, the tap breaks in the hole; too large, the thread strips on tightening.

Technique matters as much: one turn forward, half a turn back to break the chip, and cutting fluid is essential on stainless steel.

Why cobalt

High-speed steel with added cobalt keeps its hardness at higher temperatures. On a tap, whose edge works in confined friction and dissipates heat poorly, this hot hardness translates directly into service life on stainless and alloy steels.