On Dec 3, 7:08*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
For many decades, I have never had an allen wrench break. Bend, yes, but
never snap.

But yesterday, in trying to remove a reluctant wood(!) screw, I had an 1/8th
inch allen wrench snap, and I wasn't even using a "cheater." Poked a hole in
my finger, it did.

The particular allen wrench, from a company who shall remain nameless (Task
Force - Lowes house brand), just smooth broke!

I went out to the truck and retrieved my traveling allen wrench set (I think
the set cost about three bucks from Harbor Freight) and removed the target
screw with no problem.

Analysis:
The problem wrench was part of an eight-wrench set configured in sort of a
Swiss Army Knife rendition. You "open" the desired wrench and twist away.
The long end of each wrench is formed into a loop so that it can be attached
to a small shaft on the "knife."

I suspect that the annealing process necessary to form the loop made the
steel more brittle than an allen wrench should be, and that's the reason the
wrench failed.

Whatever the cause, I plan to see whether Lowe's has a lifetime guarantee on
hand tools - like Harbor Freight - or whether in that regard their tools are
likewise inferior.

If Harbor Freight has a lifetime guarantee on their hand tools,
they must be getting a hell of a lot of them back. Not saying
HF tools are all crap, or that they are not a decent choice for
some of the tools you only use once a year, etc. But many of their
tools are cheaply made and won't last. Worst I saw
was a set of slip ring pliers I bought. The tips, instead of
expanding the rings, just bent. HF took them back, but that
was when I had just bought them and had the receipt.

Does HF have a lifetime guarantee?

And IMO, just about anything you buy at Lowes or HD is
a step up in quality from HF. I buy select items at HF,
but not something that I use frequently, expect to last
from considerable use, etc.