Imperial Spanner and Socket advice for a metric person

I'v solved the problem of sorting metric and UNF/UNC, I use two different brands of spanners, Can't remember the name of the metric ones, they are German, the AF ones are Sidchrome, the Aussies will know that one "You canna hand a man a grander spanner". My metric sockets are in a mixed set of 3/8" drive from China, cost less than $NZ20 20 years ago. The AF socket sets 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive are all S.K. Wayne, and cost well over 100 NZ pounds 50 years ago when I started my apprenticeship as an aircraft mechanic.

Ian S C

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And now we've 'gone metric' ... It's a hell of a mess, plus a few !!

MichaelG.

Not seen that but I had a number of pre-war Morris cars that had metric threads (well French Automobile Thread to be precise) and Whitworth hexagon sizes.

Like others I have an Elora socket set from the 1960s. I thought it was expensive at £9-19-6d but after 50 years of use it is still good.

Russell.

I've been buying spanners etc. for 60 years now, and as you will find , you always need a different one. If used a lot they do wear out, recently replaced 11mm, 13mm and 5/8" A/F, so must have been used a bit !

Ah, but if you had bought a 1974 Triumph Bonneville twin instead of the Trident, you would have found the chassis and cycle parts were AF, but the engine was still all BSF just like in the good old days.

To the OP: if you plan to work on British motorcycles made before about 1970, you will need BSF/BSW spanners and sockets. These also fit the many CEI "cycle thread" fasteners used on such machines as well. These were mostly 26 or 20 TPI and look much like BSF/W -- but hey they don't fit together!!!

Post 1970 you will need those spanners plus AF spanners as there was a period of, ahem, standardization when they used a bit of both then finally went to all (well, mostly) AF. Then they stopped using anything at all.

One way around it is if you can find an AF socket set that goes up in 1/32" increments. The oddball 32nd AF sizes fit Whitworth and BSF. I have an old Sidchrome set from when I was an apprentice in the '70s but have not seen one in recent years.

If working on Harleys, Indians etc made in the US of A, they are all AF exclusively. But the aftermarket accessories and replacement parts for them often use metric.

A good place to pick up AF and BS spanners and sockets is garage sales and boot sales. Getting good condition used older British or US made tools is way cheap and the quality is still better than most cheap Chinese stuff. i quite often buy them by the box full for a few dollars. Bit of wire brushing and WD40 and good as new. Surprising what you can accumulate in a short time this way. I basically set up my workshop from scratch in 18 months of garage sales scrounging.

If I have a job where I may have problems I try to use these guys, a stanley ratchet wrench

Each one covers everything in it's mm range 8-14mm, 13-19mm and 17-24mm for example

3 spanners cover 8-24mm in Metric, imperial, planet zog, whatever

Only the bigger 17-24mm one seems to still be easily available now though

(edit: They actually do down to about 6mm and up to 26mm)

They're getting a bit expensive now too, mine were less than a tenner each

Edit 2: Amazon still have them at a reasonable price

Edited By Ady1 on 15/02/2015 11:42:32

Edited By Ady1 on 15/02/2015 11:44:06

It's worth pointing out that A/F stands for Across Flats. It is just that and can be measured in inches or millimeters, It has nothing to do with the actual thread.

My toolbox has plenty of spanners of the old British brands like King Dick, and I've been disappointed by various budget spanners and socket sets.

What I have found as good as the old ones are any of the better Clarke 'professional' ones which have a lifetime guarantee - sockets, spanners and socket wrenches, and the Halfords socket sets aren't bad either.

Neil