Tool Time
Tool Time
If you’ve ever installed chrome-plated, anodized or powder-coated nuts and bolts, you’re familiar with the most painful part of the process: tightening them. It can seem almost criminal to snug down those lustrous, unmarred fasteners with a sharp-edged wrench or socket that is sure to bugger the hex’s flats in some way. Mac Tools (www.mactools.com; 800/MAC-TOOLS) has the solution with its Protective Socket Sets that are specifically designed to overcome this problem. Each heat-treated, tool-steel socket incorporates a PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) polymer composite insert that’s tough enough to resist deformation (if the fastener is not tightened beyond each socket’s prescribed torque rating) but soft enough not to mar the surface of coated finishes on nuts and bolts. The insert also extends slightly above the socket’s steel outer shell so that no part of the shell can make contact with the fastener or the component it is securing. These sockets aren’t cheap: Mac asks $166 for the 9-piece SAE set and $229 for the 12-piece metric set. But if you’ve already spent a ton for plated or custom-finished fasteners, a couple of C-notes to keep their surfaces pristine is a worthwhile investment-especially if the first time you use them won’t be the last.
-Paul Dean
