How I Quit Worrying And Learned to Love Allen Keys (Over Phillips Heads, No Less)

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 03/24/2014 at 10:45 • Filed to: what I learned about F'ing Car Projects, Allen Keys, Phillips Heads, Screwdrivers, Allen Wrenches

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Ask some people about household projects (particularly the IKEA type) and they're likely to tell you that Allen keys are the bane of their existence. They look funny, they come in different sizes that are annoying to keep track of, and the typical bent wrench design lends itself to inefficient ergonomics compared to your bog-standard Phillips head screwdriver. Granted, for most household jobs (especially when simply trying to assemble pre-fabbed furniture) Allen keys aren't the best way to go. Being able to quickly screw something in overtakes any torque or fastening advantage. When it comes to more serious projects (like, say, rebuilding a 250cc motorcycle) Allen keys start to really come into their own. Let's brake it down:

Allen Keys Have a Terrific Torque Advantage

Specifically, a mechanical advantage. You remember that concept in high school physics right? In a dirty summation, it's a principle that allows tools, even simple lumps of metal like Allen keys, to multiply the effectiveness of the force exerted by the human body. In effect, the Allen key becomes a second-class lever, with the resistance force near the fulcrum (the screw). Second-class levers have a mechanical advantage grater than one, which makes them ideal for removing stubborn screws.

This isn't an ideal situation when you're putting together an entertainment center with low resistance, but it allows you to multiply your muscle power when screws get stuck when you're trying to remove your carburetor bowl.

Allen Keys Can Reach Anywhere

Another inherent advantage of the bent wrench design is that they can reach into extremely tight spaces without effecting how the mechanical advantage is applies. Try tightening or loosening a screw at an angle and see what I mean. Tight confines doesn't have a practical effect on Allen keys except for reducing the arc you have available for actual wrenching (and ramming your knuckles into cylinder cooling fins).

Allen Keys Are Strip-Resistant

The genesis of the Phillips head came from wanting a screwdriver that wouldn't end up stripping the screws. The pointed design of the Phillips head means that the screwdriver would automatically disengage when too much torque was applied. I've found that, in practice, this often meant stripping the screwdriver instead of the screw. Fun.

Allen heads, on the other hand, are usually deep enough and through distributing the torque through a wider surface contact area thanks to the hex design, become very strip-resistant. Excessive torque is transferred more thoroughly through the screw (as ideal) rather than in trying to bend and strip metal.

So what does this all mean? It means that hex heads are actually ideal for the type of heavy-duty fastening jobs typically found on bikes, cars and trucks.

spanfucker retire bitch > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 10:48

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Allen Keys Are Strip-Resistant

Pfft. You haven't lived until you've stripped an Allen screw.

McMike > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 10:50

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People that complain about IKEA furniture are trying to use the IKEA tools.

Let me explain.

The first thing I do when trying to put together IKEA furniture is take a fastener out to the garage and match it up with a driver bit .

Find bit

Grab drill/driver

Discard IKEA tool.

Turn your living room floor into a pit stop.

I have also grown to like torx.

RacecaR > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 10:51

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I need this in my life. I am forever trying to find the right allen wrench.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 10:52

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I have nice allen wrenches so its no big deal to use them. Came in my Craftsman set.

Mattbob > spanfucker retire bitch 03/24/2014 at 10:53

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You also haven't cussed until you've stripped an Allen screw.

brandondrums > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 10:53

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Here's a fun story. Subaru uses basically 10mm Allen Key bolts for their Cam Gears on turbo engines.

THEY SUCK. They should have gone with a 12 point 14mm bolt, just like the head bolts. When the torque spec is well over 100ft-lbs you need to have the leverage of turning the bolt from an EXTERIOR surface. Allen bolts are better than flat head or phillips which use interior surfaces to turn the bolt but are still inferior to traditional hex or 12-point fasteners.

crowmolly > McMike 03/24/2014 at 10:56

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You forgot "set driver torque limit". LOL.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 10:57

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Always remember to wrap the phone cord around you before you call IKEA for help.

Stupidru > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 11:01

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I prefer to use the allen sockets. They make working on a bicycle so much easier

McMike > crowmolly 03/24/2014 at 11:08

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Yeah. I guess setting the clutch would be step 6.

(which would make step 5 "drive first fastener too deep, back it out a little, and hope the wife didn't notice.)

crowmolly > McMike 03/24/2014 at 11:24

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Then it would be step 7! Step 6 is "fill the hole with wood glue and pray to every God under the sun that it holds."

Frank Grimes > crowmolly 03/24/2014 at 11:40

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Is that what that is for on a dril? To prevent stripping? I never could figure it out of course I mostly just drill holes.

crowmolly > Frank Grimes 03/24/2014 at 11:42

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Have a look at this, it explains it better than I can:

http://diy.blogoverflow.com/2012/04/clutch…

Oddly enough, this is towards the end:

Another great place the clutch works for you is when driving in hex bolts into knockdown furniture. Typically a hex-head wrench is supplied with the furniture, but if one has a power tool, spinning that around by hand just gets tiresome after the tenth or fifteenth bolt. Luckily, since you have learned about the clutch, all you need to get is a hex-head bit for your drill, bring down the clutch to almost its lowest setting, and let 'er rip! You'll drive that bolt completely home and when it is full into the hole, the motor clutch will just disengage and you won't damage the bolt, the piece of furniture, or anything else!

Übel > McMike 03/24/2014 at 11:59

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I love torx so much. I have literally never had trouble with torx screws.

Übel > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 12:05

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Man, fuck Phillips screws. The crank case cover on my Trail 70 was held on with Phillips head bolts and after 40 years of dirt, grime, and corrosion, half of them were frozen in there. If they had used normal bolts or Allen key) it would've been a breeze to get them out, but no, they had to be goddamn Phillips heads and half of them were stripped beyond removal. I spent 3 hours with an angle grinder getting those goddamn heads off. The only upside was that the holes in the cover weren't threaded, only the ones in the case, so I didn't have to re tap them or anything.

BoulderZ > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/24/2014 at 12:50

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I always liked allen bolts. I put myself through grad school partially by working as the Service Manager (head mechanic and sometimes handy customer abuse target) at a bike shop. Bicycles, non-department-store ones, anyway, have made significant use of allen bolts for decades. My experience has lead me to believe that those who complain about hex keys, assembling IKEA furniture, etc. probably shouldn't be picking up any tools, hex key or otherwise. I'll second the comments about part of the problem being the cheap hex keys included with products for assembly. They go straight to my scrap metal recycling bin. I just use a folding set, sockets, or Bondhus-style (ball-driver, t-handle) set. Good tools make good results possible. Bad tools guarantee bad results.

Echo51 > Mattbob 03/25/2014 at 10:19

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You haven't put torque into it unless you've sheared a 1/2th inch extension clean off. 32mm front driveshaft nuts ftw.

Echo51 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 03/25/2014 at 10:19

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I ordered Allen screws instead of the phillips i had holding my subwoofer in earliere. i was always picking pieces of screw out of the bit whenever i screwed it in/out

Mattbob > Echo51 03/25/2014 at 11:40

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but how long was the pipe you had over the breaker bar?

Echo51 > Mattbob 03/25/2014 at 14:31

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1.5 foot breaker bar with 3 feet of pipe? My dad has a thing for overtightening everything and only using torque for the supa important stuff like crankshaft and cams...