New socket sets exclude some sizes.

[m_fumich]

Why are some sizes left out of metric socket sets? I was just looking at a set online and it did not include the 15 or 18 mm. I’ve used both those sizes often and the closest SAE sizes won’t work. I can do without the 11 except for the odd occasion I need a 7/16. Most of the things I work on are metric. I’d like a FULL metric set from 8-19mm and throw in a 9/16 and 11/16 to cover the SAE sizes the metric sockets can’t handle.

Anyone got an explanation?

[m_fumich]

I just saw a socket set that excluded the 12mm but had everything else between 10mm and 19mm. WHY?


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[bonneyman]

I tend to see metric DOE's and DBE's skipping sizes more than I do sockets. Though I have seen socket sets of late that are missing like the 11 and 16, sometimes the 18.

Maybe cost cutting, maybe company research says those missing sizes aren't much used, IDK.

[GNAP]

15 and 18 mm are not DIN or ISO metric standards, they are American metric standards, they are used by GM, Ford and Chrysler, they headed the bolts by the US standard, head is 1.5 times the shank diameter, so 10mm shank, 15 mm head, 12 mm shank, 18 mm head. The Europeans don’t use those sizes so they do not include them.

[goodfellow]

Older metric sockets sets only focused on the most common US and European metric fastener sizes (the US manufactured metric equipment for specific export markets even before the war).  Common sizes in those days were 11mm, 13mm, 15mm, 16mm, 17mm and 19mm. It wasn't until Japanese and Taiwanese cars/equipment made its way into the US in the 1960s/70s that the 10mm, 12mm, and I think 14mm became standardized in socket sets. IIRC 18mm wasn't used on European and Japanese cars back in the day, (it was either 17mm or 19mm), but when the US automakers were slowly going metric, 18mm was quickly adopted as one of their standard sizes.

[m_fumich]

So why are NEW sets excluding sizes. All the reasons you guys mentioned were situations that applied 30 and 40 years ago and current needs would suggest no size be excluded.


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[goodfellow]

So why are NEW sets excluding sizes. All the reasons you guys mentioned were situations that applied 30 and 40 years ago and current needs would suggest no size be excluded.


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No idea why they are excluded now -- other than cost savings by eliminating the less popular sizes.

[m_fumich]

I guess that’s a matter of perspective. The sizes they’re excluding are sizes I use often. I was fortunate to find a set today with no gaps.


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[hofferwood]

Here ya go, quality stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-8-Inch-Socket-6-Point-16-Inch/dp/B00RCYX4WI/ref=pd_bxgy_469_2/137-1753901-4005136?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00RCYX4WI&pd_rd_r=5668a549-645f-11e9-851c-1df216413549&pd_rd_w=ytC3l&pd_rd_wg=62ka0&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=QV80EHCWFDZZTPJYQTTM&psc=1&refRID=QV80EHCWFDZZTPJYQTTM

[m_fumich]

Here ya go, quality stuff.

Too many sockets I have no use for (the SAE stuff) for the same price I can get Tekton deep and shallow impact sockets in 3/8 drive up to 19mm. That’s what I’ll get.

In the mean time, I bought some from HF just to get me by.



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[pep]

We are getting jacked around by tool manufactures. Complete set is a not-so, can it get any better ?

Pep

[skfarmer]

Why are some sizes left out of metric socket sets? I was just looking at a set online and it did not include the 15 or 18 mm. I’ve used both those sizes often and the closest SAE sizes won’t work. I can do without the 11 except for the odd occasion I need a 7/16. Most of the things I work on are metric. I’d like a FULL metric set from 8-19mm and throw in a 9/16 and 11/16 to cover the SAE sizes the metric sockets can’t handle.

Anyone got an explanation?

Here ya go, quality stuff.

Too many sockets I have no use for (the SAE stuff) for the same price I can get Tekton deep and shallow impact sockets in 3/8 drive up to 19mm. That’s what I’ll get.

In the mean time, I bought some from HF just to get me by.



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i am confused. you want a chrome socket set that contains all of the metric sizes but want an incomplete sae  set. seems like you are setting yourself up for the same problem in the future. then you switch to wanting impact sockets and have no sae sizes.

i find that  the bare minimum is 3/8 - 3/4 and 10-19 in shallow and anything less is not worth the savings of only being able to get rid of a few sizes. maybe when you throw in the deeps it gets a little bulky and heavy but only if you keep it in a huge blow molded case.

[m_fumich]

I want a complete metric set. If I need any SAE sockets, metric sockets will handle most of them. Between 1/4” SAE up to 19mm, there are only 3 SAE sizes metric won’t work for: 1/4, 9/16, and 11/16. My complaint is that I have trouble finding complete socket sets. I can buy individual SAE sockets all day long. If I buy a socket set with a socket missing, I can buy that one socket but there won’t be a place for it in the tray.


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[skfarmer]

will they work? well i guess so but if  you don't have spots for extra metric sizes then you don't  have spots for extra sae either.

my experience has led me to the opinion that the correct size works better than close enough. especially when working with older damaged or hard to access fasteners. you can and will do what you want but if it was me, i would have one of those complete sets on order.  then you "know" that you should have any size you need on hand rather than trying to source to source a single later on.

what are you going to save? 10 dollars? 15? i know time isn't worth much to some people but it seems like at some point in time you will need one of those sockets in sae because the metric isn't "close enough" for that job. piss on it and get the full set. sooner or later you will thank me for the good advice.

[pep]

 skfarmer does in fact offer good advice.

I am another that have complete sae & foreign tool sets.. Saves the fasteners..and all that goes with that.

[bonneyman]

m_, maybe you could try and find one of those dual-use brands of sockets?
I have an almost complete set of the Metrinch sockets. They're not Snap-On quality but for carrying out into the yard to work on the lawn mower or hauling up on the roof to pull a cooler motor they're fine.

[m_fumich]

At this time I have no need for SAE sockets. But if I did, my father just gave me a bunch of old sockets, all Chinese, so that need is filled should it arise. But buying or even having a full SAE set does not resolve the issue of being able to find, at any given time, a metric set without missing sizes. I’d hazard to guess no one has ever said “I didn’t buy that socket set because it included the 15mm.” Anytime I’ve had need to buy a set of tool,  I’ve always opted for the complete set.

As for metric sockets fitting SAE hardware, I’ve seen sockets that were dual marked. If a company makes two identical sockets and marks one 19mm and the other 3/4”, how is either not the right tool for the other? There’s a .002 difference between the two actual sizes.

But this isn’t about what I choose to buy. It’s about what is available to buy.


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[hofferwood]

-
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254196686286?ul_noapp=true

[hofferwood]

-https://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-9pc-3-8-inch-Drive-6-point-Metric-Socket-Set-10mm-to-18mm-NEW-Tool-Lot/202116654341?hash=item2f0f176505:g:pQkAAOSwcdBWRA4s:sc:USPSFirstClass!48179!US!-1

I'm dun.

[skfarmer]

At this time I have no need for SAE sockets. But if I did, my father just gave me a bunch of old sockets, all Chinese, so that need is filled should it arise. But buying or even having a full SAE set does not resolve the issue of being able to find, at any given time, a metric set without missing sizes. I’d hazard to guess no one has ever said “I didn’t buy that socket set because it included the 15mm.” Anytime I’ve had need to buy a set of tool,  I’ve always opted for the complete set.

As for metric sockets fitting SAE hardware, I’ve seen sockets that were dual marked. If a company makes two identical sockets and marks one 19mm and the other 3/4”, how is either not the right tool for the other? There’s a .002 difference between the two actual sizes.

But this isn’t about what I choose to buy. It’s about what is available to buy.


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i am really at a loss. in some case .02 is a lot. the tekton set that hofferwood linked to on the first page has all of the metrics to 19 and sae sizes in standard and deep for 45 bucks.  the only time my decision is based on  what is available is when i have to have it right now. if you had needed it right now you wouldn't be asking here. you would already have it..

i think  i am "dun" like hofferwood said.

[m_fumich]

That was .002 not .02. A difference of .02 would be sufficient to have separate sockets. There’s only a .0113 difference between 14mm and 9/16 which is enough to have both sizes. There’s only a .005 difference between 16mm and 5/8 which makes them interchangeable. But none of that is relevant to my original question. Why are some sizes left out of socket sets offered? There was once justification for some sizes being left out but now every metric size from 8-18mm is in common use with 11mm being the possible exception from my experience. If you feel that SAE are not interchangeable with metric, then why are 12, 15, and 18mm commonly left out of socket sets?


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[Matt_T]

then why are 12, 15, and 18mm commonly left out of socket sets?

Probably depends on what market, AKA country,  the set is originally packaged for. A lot of places are going to be mainly dealing with DIN and/or JIS. Or at least were historically. I hear the introduction of ISO is screwing that up.

North America is probably the only market where mechanics are having to deal with all the metric standards plus the geniuses in deetroit filling in the gaps.

[m_fumich]

If you’re suggesting the socket sets I’m seeing with gaps in the sizes are sets packaged for distribution to other countries as well as the US, I would say that’s plausible. But I must wonder what countries Harbor Freight is distributing their Pittsburgh line of tools to other than the US market.


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