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A Hexy Allen Kind Of Question.

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A close look at the rusty tips of my old drivers had me searching the web for some new ones, and man there is a bewildering number out there!

Enter you brilliant folk in the forums;

Anybody have any favourites, the Hudy & TRF seem to have an impressive price, but does this really amount to a better driver?

More importantly, anybody got a brand I should steer clear of?

Thanks all,

Cristian..

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The more expensive ones like Hudy and TRF are made of better materials and to finer specifications.

Less likely to round the hex driver, or turn it into a piece of licorice twist. Also less likely to damage the screw head itself.

Quality tools are worth it if you do a lot of wrenching. They last much longer than cheapies.

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Fastrax sets look pretty, but the business ends wear very fast. Core-RC sets also look pretty, but are pifflingly small, and also suffer from the tips being made of cheese.

TBH the most useful hex driver set I have was dirt cheap - a 1/4" drive t-bar with a magnetic 1/4" socket & sundry bits, but for individual drivers I think it's better to pick a decent brand & just buy the sizes you need.

"Wera" drivers are pretty cheap, a bit on the plasticky side - but the tips are properly heat treated :D

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i have a set of stainless steel ho-bao drivers, they have alloy handles and the stainless driver tips are replaceable - should that be required. they are also individually colour coded (anodized) handles, which does help...

i find them really good, they are very strong, have not deformed at all, and are very torque twist resistant. the TRF drivers do look awesome, but they do cost a lot.

try to spend as much as you are able, and avoid anything that is not stainless. normal steel is nowhere near strong enough for a good tool.

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I've just bought a few EDS wrenches - very well made, one handle fits several different wrench shafts and they cap the end of the handle

They're the equivalent of $15(Aus) here

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yep EDS is pretty good for the price, they sell for about A$20 @ LHS here ... but their tips still round off after a while

Hudy imho is still the ultimate, their springsteel tips seem to stay sharp for much longer than everything else even Bondhus (another good nonRC tool brand)

popped into LHS last week and wow there's a new rack of Hudy goodies there, new range of alloy drivers marked at $20 :D dunno if they're wrongly tagged

there's also the ProfiTool range from Hudy with plastic handles, same tips. Grabbed some replacements last mth for $15-16 o/s.

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A close look at the rusty tips of my old drivers had me searching the web for some new ones, and man there is a bewildering number out there!

Enter you brilliant folk in the forums;

Anybody have any favourites, the Hudy & TRF seem to have an impressive price, but does this really amount to abetted driver?

More importantly, anybody got a brand I should steer clear of?

Thanks all,

Cristian..

I've had a lot of mid-price to pricey RC tools over the years.

The only ones that have caused me a problem have been some of the small hexes (1.5mm and smaller), which have been quite fragile (had a Team Magic tool break), and even those that aren't fragile wear quite quickly.

Trackside, the only ones I've seen that I've thought are a bit rough are the very cheap Chinese made ones - the type you see at £5 for a set, with plain anodised handles.

I've got TOP, SH, Associated (pre-Thunder Tiger ones are nicer!), 3Racing and Wiha (proper tool brand) stuff in my toolbox.

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I currently have a set of Hudy hex drivers. They are good, but very pricy. For value I recommend checking out AE Factory Hex driver and Nut driver sets. I had a couple of these drivers when I started out and I still use them despite the fact I have my Hudy. I guess it's more sentitmental but I've never stripped any hex screws or broke the driver head with the AE drivers.

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I'm looking to get a set of metric drivers, and wondered if these ball ones actually work, or if they just mess up the hex head screws?

The ball drivers work well on the larger screws, but the smaller ones aren't so great and practically useless in countersunk screws (where the hex socket is usually quite shallow)

For under 2mm, I'd go for good quality 'RC' wrenches' and save the Bondhus keys for the big stuff.

It's also not unusual for Bondhus balls to snap off in pinion grubs too, and getting the snapped-off tip out is pretty much impossible

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i had a set of bondhus and they were rubbish, ok in the beginging but they wore out fast.

i'm very happy with my associated hex drivers, top notch IMHO.

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Thanks for the advice guys. I'll search around some more. Never thought about the smaller ones and countersunk screws. Good point!

Cheers,

Skottoman

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Thanks for the advice guys. I'll search around some more. Never thought about the smaller ones and countersunk screws. Good point!

Cheers,

Skottoman

check used forums, you can find a nice set for a fraction of a price ;)

If money was no object and if you are buying new and all your cars are all metric then I would consider:

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.p...Basic-Set-9-pcs

else you can't go wrong with Team AE tools

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.p...-Hex-Driver-Set

+

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.p...-Nut-Driver-Set

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Are the Tamiya ones really good?

As a Tamiya nut I feel I should have a Tamiya wrench. ;)

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popped into LHS last week and wow there's a new rack of Hudy goodies there, new range of alloy drivers marked at $20 ;) dunno if they're wrongly tagged

Willy, $20 Hudy sounds tempting. You mind me asking which is your LHS?

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OK, who's more bored than me? ;)

Here's a 2.5mm Bondhus end - note the 'ball' means the tip doesn't have a square end, so very little of the tip ever touches the head.

In larger screws with deep sockets, this isn't that big a problem, but in shallow screws the spherical end encourages the ball to 'cam out'

Ideally though, you use the balled end to get the screw close to tight, then nip it up with the short end, but with straight 'drivers' there is no short end to nip up, so all the force goes thru the ball.

tip01.jpg

My newest 1.5mm L wrench

Note how the end has a slight taper on it already and the end's burred - both meaning it won't engage the socket perfectly

(bear in mind the flats are only 0.87mm wide)

tip02.jpg

tip03.jpg

Brand new EDS 1.5mm hex driver

This had no trouble loosening a screw the L wrench above span in (countersunk M2 screw!)

tip04.jpg

tip05.jpg

And here's an M2 c'sunk screw.

With the flats being 0.87mm wide, they're not very deep before the radius kicks in, so there's maybe 0.6 or 0.5mm of engagement?

When you look at the burrs on the L wrench, even less

tip06.jpg

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Are the Tamiya ones really good?

As a Tamiya nut I feel I should have a Tamiya wrench. ;)

They felt good and light but for the same price, I rather get Hudy.

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Wow Twinset, that's very informative... Funny this thread came up just when I was looking to buy some real hex drivers.

(Assembling a "prized" TRF201 with only the L hex wrenches is HORRIBLE on your fingers! Not to mention some screws are not accessible with L wrench only!!!) ;)

Will be buying some soon, still researching now that I'm more informed.

Cheers,

Skottoman

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Interesting thread ;)

As per others above I have used most of the above tools, including the previous type TRF blue set.

I found HUDY to be the best of all. The materials are excellent, they look good after years of use, and they would likely command the best resale.

I would love to say the TRF ones were the best, but the HUDY are better.

Also, I find this modern trend for thin round metal handles perplexing. They may take up slightly less space in a tool box/roll, but they are just not comfortable. And when used with force (usu non r/c related) they shred your skin.

The HUDY profiTool line with the big black rubberised plastic handles are by far the most comfortable an easiest to modulate force with. They fit in a hand/palm grip better.

They are my favourite tools.

Click for set PHOTO

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.p...ench-15-x-120mm

HTH

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Willy, $20 Hudy sounds tempting. You mind me asking which is your LHS?

Metro @ Box Hill is where i saw them at.

Hudy is also doing a some Anniversary Special Edition with 30% lighter handles.

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Also, I find this modern trend for thin round metal handles perplexing. They may take up slightly less space in a tool box/roll, but they are just not comfortable. And when used with force (usu non r/c related) they shred your skin.

The round metal handles are good for applying finer pressure compare to the fatter handle. The fatter handles are nice if you really need to tighten the sucker up. Also depends on your palm size.

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The HUDY profiTool line with the big black rubberised plastic handles are by far the most comfortable an easiest to modulate force with. They fit in a hand/palm grip better.

yours rubberised? ;) mine are all hard plastic, even the one i just bought week before

Profis are great value to get top tool tips, i carry them to track as their shape means they roll in circles rather than straightline off the pittable.

But the alloy handles with their diamond pattern grips better then hands are greasy, used them even when dripping in oil and not slipped.

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...I would love to say the TRF ones were the best, but the HUDY are better...

Maybe I should get a set of shelf queen TRF drivers and some HUDY ones for work then.

Now all that remains is to bring the hobby into the 21st century is to stop using those silly hex screws and switch to Torx.

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