Bicycle Mechanics - Allen Wrench surgery

If you wrench lots of bikes, like yours and all your friends, the ends of the Allen wrenchs get worn and rounded, which then leads to striped Allen bolts. Take a few moments and grind off the last few mm to revive the tool, or just buy another wrench. Much better than trashing all the bolts on your bikes.

Post this here: http://67.201.16.77/showthread.php?t=316561&page=6

This is particularly good advice with the smaller wrenches, 5 mm and below, as they wear quickly and the bolt heads aren't that strong anyway.

One caveat, if you grind the ends or use a Dremel to cut a small section off, work slowly and dip the wrench in water frequently to avoid overheating and softening the steel.

dudes-- I only cut my tools in an emergency--- what's all the sweat about a .50 cent tool?!
I don't touch my pini with my trash tools!

dudes-- I only cut my tools in an emergency--- what's all the sweat about a .50 cent tool?!
Some of those $.50 tools are attached to $$ combination tool sets and if you can save them, the rest of the combination is still good.

dudes-- I only cut my tools in an emergency--- what's all the sweat about a .50 cent tool?!
I don't touch my pini with my trash tools!

Anyone who's ever worked in a machine shop knows that machinists touch up allen wrenches as a matter of course. All you need is a decent bench grinder and some water to quench your target tool and keep it cool. If you put too much pressure on the tool and overheat it the tempering will be taken out and it will not stay sharp for long. Just go ..... a little touch on the grinder, a dip in the water, a little touch on the grinder, a dip in the water. Rinse and repeat.

A sharp allen wrench will often get the job done on a beat up hex socket, and, it will not lead to rounding out sockets. Keep those allen wrenches sharp!

allen wrenches should be quality hardened and precise ( big words eh?) most vintage allen bolts are worn out-- whether the tip is sharp or not-- the bolt needs to be clean and deep--- fixing cheap allen keys is a waste of time- exposing them to rust and temperment etc.... I want perfect tools for my perfect bike---
I got my trash set 9.99 and I got my good set snap-ons and Mac.....so--- I want my pro bike built with pro parts by a monkey like me!

Even the good ones wear if you're using them a lot. I've had to grind down my share over the years. Not so much the 3 to 4 and up but the small ones for sure.

This thread is a good reminder that a tool is only as good as the person using it.