Does anyone else still use a Speed Wrench Driver?

[Muley Gil]

I used to have a 1/2" speed wrench but don't know what happened to it.

I do have a brace and bit that belonged to my granddaddy. I used it a couple of years ago to install a new pasture gate. Also have a few hand cranked drills.

 

[oldman10mm]

Occasionally the 3/8 & 1/2 and the 'thumbwheel' ratchets.

 

[kev74]

I still use mine. Seems like I'm not doing as much mechanic work anymore though.

 

[2152hq]

While they weren't Speed-Handle tools, Bit Braces were used a lot at MArlin in the early 70's (North Haven Plant). A hold over from the NewHaven plant .
Assemblers and other workers used them constantly for things like the tang screw on the lever actions during assembly. Butt stock thru bolts on the few guns that had them.
Also in the wood room for assembling the pre-shaped stock to an un-polished frame but #'d frame before 'burning in' the final inletting. Then turn right around and dismount the assembly with the same tool.
Lots of other repetitive assembly/disassembly work on the guns.
Even the butt plate screws.

The screw driver bits were often still the old ones that had been made from worn files that were also from the mfg'g process.
We used a lot of 6" and very narrow pillar files and the worn ones were turned into screw driver and other tools within the factory.
The square, tapered tang on the files made them easy to fit to a common bit-brace. The 'blade' ground and shaped too whatever need. They had been drawn back just a little to take away some of the brittle nature of the file they were made from. They make excellent screwdriver bits

The bits & brace were a dedicated tool on the benches, so there were sometimes several out on an assemblers bench with different size & shape blades.
It was at about the end of that era of using those tools and methods I suspect (early 70's). But those people that used them were fast and never worried about leaving a mark on finished parts with them.

Just down the road in N.Haven was O.F.Mossberg. Another old line Co that moved to North Haven from New Haven about the same time.
What a difference...A walk through their assembly and mfg area sounded more like a tire & muffler shop with all the air assit tools going.
We at Pedersen used Mossberg's indoor range for testing, so a walk thru the factory once in a while was a change of pace.

The Mod 500 shotgun assembly area sounded just like a tire shop. An entire bench line did nothing but put the butt stocks & plates/pads on the assembled guns. The air wrenches w/ torque adj on them sounded like snow-tire season at Mighty Muffler Shop.

I use a bit brace once in a while.
Breaking free a stuck butt stock thru bolt. I can never understand why some people tighten them like they do..
The Yankee Screw driver , like never.
A clever invention, but they always seem to jump the screw slot and leave a stab mark on what ever I was trying to do. Not enough practice on installing screen doors I quess.

A hand cranked drill I still use occasionaly. One from one of my GFathers,,maybe GGFathers. I don't really know. They never said.
I did just use it a couple days ago to spin polish the chamber on a Remington Keene rifle.
I rust blued the bbl and wanted to clean out the chamber before putting it back onto the frame.
Came in handy for that. The B&D 3/8 was out in the garage.
The cranker was under the bench and handy.
A rifle from 1882 or '83 and drill from probably the same time.

 

[arjay]

Boy that takes me back. I remember a carpenter who used Yankees and an electrician who used speed drivers.I only had to shave twice a week back then.
I have a brace,a yankee, a mahogany level with a broken vial ,an ancient router and a folding rule that belonged to my dad.He wore everything else out lol

 

[JohnHL]

I do not own a complete set but I do have a few individual T handles. I usually use them in the 1/4", 5/16" & 3/8" sizes only.

I have Mac 1/4" drive and IR 3/8" drive air wrenches too however I almost never use then because of the noise. Need to preserve all the hearing I have left! For big HD jobs I have a Snap-On 1/2" that I use more than the small ones.

I also have air in my shop and have 1/4" and 3/8" air ratchets, 1/2" and 3/8" impacts (pistol and butterfly in the 3/8").

I used the air tools more when I was working.

I still occasionally use a 1/2" electric (corded) impact I've had since the 1970s.
Had to replace the internal hammer and anvil once many years ago.

I've managed to resist the siren song of battery powered tools, with the exception of an ancient B&D cordless drill with the batteries inside.

One of my cringeworthy favorites is to watch someone with a battery powered driver run down a sheet metal screw in to some thin sheet and then give the trigger one more squeeze and strip out that single thread.

Oh well...

John

 

[AJ]

Like a lot of other people the only time I've used one was in the Navy. USS Saratoga, CV-60, 1972, Tonkin Gulf. I used it to lower and raise the center avionics compartment on an RA5C.

I was using speed handles back then on A-6's. At the time you were on Sara. I was in-country there. I spent two years on U.S.S. Saratoga (CV-60) from 82-84. Did not use a speed handle then as I was a Flight Deck Coordinator for the squadron. Ate in the Chief's Mess, can see why a lot of them were a tad on the chunky side.

 

[Wingmaster]

I used to build Detroit Diesel engines for a living. I used one a lot then. If you used an air impact wrench on head bolts and had one with a little oil in the bottom of the bolt hole it would blow the bottom of the hole out ruining the block.

I still build engines occasionally but now it's small block Chevrolets. I still use a speed handle to run most of the bolts in.

 

[jdh]

I still use a speed handle to run most of the bolts in.

Any thing that will need to be torqued to a certain spec gets run in with the speed wrench. An impact just to unpredictable.

I'll never get rid of mine.

 

[madmikeb]

I've only got one in 3/8 drive, I've had it for years and it gets used a lot. I will use impacts for teardown on occasion but not for reassembly.

 

[Engineer1911]

I got tired just reading this thread. I have 3 speed handles, 2 in-line ratchets (1/4 & 3/8), way too many extensions and 3 sizes of ratchets. I installed my first set of kitchen cabinets in 1979 using a bottle jack (wall units), speed handle and Yankee screwdriver. Air Force aircraft on B-52, KC-135, FB-111A and F-4 aircraft.

Some place is my grandfather's jack plane, block plane, Diston hand saws, Wiss aviation snips, Wiss straight tin shears, framing squares, combination squares, no list for 50 years of reloading tools. My wife has a Craftsman roll-away and top chest in the house, I have 2 Craftsman in the garage, and a Kennedy rollaway for reloading tools plus 2 24" toolboxes under the bench for die sets. There is a box in the garage with triangles, 12" triangular scales, mechanical pencils, 1 Frederick Post and 2 Dietzgen drafting sets.

My Grandfather got through life on 10" Channel locks, 2 yellow handled screw drivers and a 10" Crescent wrench. I am stopping, this tool list is scary.

 

[AJ]

We used the Speed Handles mostly with a #2 Apex Tip to remove the screws in high stress panels on the aircraft. I still use one every once in a while for stubborn screws. I also use it with a specialized wingnut tip for putting on hurricane shutters

 

[ColoCoug]

I have one of those speed wrenches as per the OP's post. I don't use it often, but it does come in very handy in cases where there is a long bolt, room to use it and I need the "feel" of the bolt. I don't use VSR drills on many fasteners other than screws.

 

[Rubone]

I use them. When I was a young guy working in a Harley-Davidson shop on commission I used them a lot. I knew just what sockets and various driver bits I needed for each job and laid them all out before I started. 2 or 3 ratchets with bits, two or three speedwrenches, assorted box and open end wrenches, screwdrivers, tee handle Allen wrenches, etc. As I progressed through a job i could just grab the tool I needed never having to change sockets or bits, just move through the job. I made good money in those days and always beat the flat rate. Speedwrenches were a big part of that efficiency.

 

[BarryinIN]

The Speed Handle like cherrypointmarine posted is used a lot in the airlines. No electric tools allowed in a lot of places, and if there is no easy access to air (likely), it’s the fastest thing available.

Incidentally, this is one a very few tools where Craftsman was preferred over Snap-On. The Craftsman Speed Handle used to have a big flat knob handle on the end, where Snap-On had a skinny handle. The Craftsman handle let you lay against it to keep from slipping out of a difficult screw.

Although, we could make a nice flat knob out of epoxy or resin.

Maybe the part I miss the least about wrenching on airplanes of any size is busting screws loose.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

YES........I still use "em"..........We call "em" speed handles.

 

[Lance Boyle]

MOD'S: Please move this into Lounge - posted here in error, sorry.

For some who don't know the name of it, the driver for sockets with the "C" shape bent into it is called a Speed Wrench. The Military still uses them in the field I believe.

It is for most modern purposes considered to be obsolete and I believe the only reason the US Military still uses them because they never need to rely on any power from either an outlet or a battery and they never fail. They are quit handy for multiple, repeated and tedious fastener driving tasks.

I have used them on occasion when I have dozens or hundreds of fasteners to install and a battery, 120V powered driver or air tool is not really convenient. I used to use one for lowering and raising the 50-60 special brass "retaining bolts" that my old pool's Loop-Loc cover hooked onto. I'd use three extensions so that I did not have to bend at all and the overall length was about 4.5 feet. Worked very well and was much better than using an electric or battery operated drill or ratchet and having to bend down 50-60 times.

I have been repairing, adjusting garage doors for neighbor's lately and have also converted a bunch of them from the original steel rollers to nylon rollers - quiets the door down incredibly well! Anyway, the garage doors have 1/4" self tapping sheet metal screws with a hex head. The speed wrench makes quick work of removing and replacing the almost 200 of them on a high and wide double garage door. It also allows me to tighten them to the proper torque without stripping them in the doors sheet metal. Yes - I can use a battery operated drill with a clutch to do that as well, but I find the speed wrench convenient, lightweight, easy to angle and much better for proper tightening all with one tool. Plus when it falls on the floor (as it always manages to) I never worry if it is going to break and no worries about replacing the batteries.

I also use one when installing dozens of screws or bolts or nuts on equipment, motorcycles and anywhere that there are plenty of fasteners and over torquing with a power tool can be a risk. I even have three special screwdrivers made by Klein Tools that are basically a speed wrench in the form of a screwdriver. They are GREAT when installing or taking apart multiple electrical outlets and plates.

I'd bet very few here actually still use this tool and while many might have one in the bottom of their tool box, I am curious if people still use them. I do realize they are somewhat antiquated (for the most part) but you can pick up even a high end Snap-On brand from eBay for under $20 now! New, they would probably be close to $200.

BTW, I have to laugh when I use mine and a neighbor or homeowner asks me what the tool is....

Ha! We did not have them in the Billie bags in the. M106 Mortar Carriers so I brought one from home, along with a 1/2” socket wrench. In the Billie bags we only had a breaker bar and the needed sockets. As the driver I had to remove the round armor plate cover to check the final drive fluids. It took way too long that way in an every day check. Granted if it was warm out and I wasn’t bundled up I could squeeze a bare arm in from the main front hatch and get the cap and dipstick off with my finger tips. Otherwise it was taking off four 3/4” ish sized bolts to get the cover off. The speed wrench made quick work of it.

At home I still have that wrench, speed something or other from Montgomery Wards old tool division iirc. Still had the red spray paint I put on my personally owned tools to differentiate mine from the National Gaurd’s.

 

[WR Moore]

Still have Grandad's-and it may be far older-braces (the tool) and bit collection. When the ground dries out I'm gonna use them to drill holes for gate hinges in new fence posts. IIRC, there's screw driver bits around too. The adjustable diameter boring tools are really neat. Used one to drill holes in our stable wall for the electrical service connection.

 

[rustythread]

MOD'S: Please move this into Lounge - posted here in error, sorry.

For some who don't know the name of it, the driver for sockets with the "C" shape bent into it is called a Speed Wrench. The Military still uses them in the field I believe.

It is for most modern purposes considered to be obsolete and I believe the only reason the US Military still uses them because they never need to rely on any power from either an outlet or a battery and they never fail. They are quit handy for multiple, repeated and tedious fastener driving tasks.

I have used them on occasion when I have dozens or hundreds of fasteners to install and a battery, 120V powered driver or air tool is not really convenient. I used to use one for lowering and raising the 50-60 special brass "retaining bolts" that my old pool's Loop-Loc cover hooked onto. I'd use three extensions so that I did not have to bend at all and the overall length was about 4.5 feet. Worked very well and was much better than using an electric or battery operated drill or ratchet and having to bend down 50-60 times.

I have been repairing, adjusting garage doors for neighbor's lately and have also converted a bunch of them from the original steel rollers to nylon rollers - quiets the door down incredibly well! Anyway, the garage doors have 1/4" self tapping sheet metal screws with a hex head. The speed wrench makes quick work of removing and replacing the almost 200 of them on a high and wide double garage door. It also allows me to tighten them to the proper torque without stripping them in the doors sheet metal. Yes - I can use a battery operated drill with a clutch to do that as well, but I find the speed wrench convenient, lightweight, easy to angle and much better for proper tightening all with one tool. Plus when it falls on the floor (as it always manages to) I never worry if it is going to break and no worries about replacing the batteries.

I also use one when installing dozens of screws or bolts or nuts on equipment, motorcycles and anywhere that there are plenty of fasteners and over torquing with a power tool can be a risk. I even have three special screwdrivers made by Klein Tools that are basically a speed wrench in the form of a screwdriver. They are GREAT when installing or taking apart multiple electrical outlets and plates.

I'd bet very few here actually still use this tool and while many might have one in the bottom of their tool box, I am curious if people still use them. I do realize they are somewhat antiquated (for the most part) but you can pick up even a high end Snap-On brand from eBay for under $20 now! New, they would probably be close to $200.

BTW, I have to laugh when I use mine and a neighbor or homeowner asks me what the tool is....

I have several half-inchers on the pegboard behind my 1910 drill press , as well as a Yankee screwdriver and a Yankee hand drill. I don't use them often, but there are times when they are best for some job. I'm old and slow, and have tools to match.

The drill press is converted from overhead shaft belt drive to electric drive, and set up for very low rpm and a lot of torque. The down feed is balanced so I can set up a job and walk away, and the belt tensioner allows belt slippage if there is a jam. It weighs half a ton but is a pleasure to use.

 

[Billylee]

I still use mine to snug up the lug nuts prior to using the torque wrench when rotating my tires. Part of a Snap-on starter set I got at Fox Valley Tech in 1968.