Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 7:06 am


All times are UTC - 5 hours





Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Lost my allen wrenches
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 10:35 am 
Offline
Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:34 am
Posts: 56
City: London
State: ON
Zip/Postal Code: N6C5Y2
Country: Canada
Focus: Repair
Status: Amateur
Hi Everyone,

My gig bag was stolen and it had most of my allen wrenches for adjustments. It's been so long but I acquired all these different sizes throughout the years that I'm looking for the quickest way to restock them.

I had ones for fender saddles, floyd roses, ibanez edge-pro, various truss rods for electric/acoustic, both standard and metric etc.

Also, what do you call the kind of truss wrench that fits OVER the truss rod nut, at the headstock, looks like a small socket with a handle? I have to find one of those for my Ibanez.

Off the top of my head if I bought some sets at the hardware store I'd be left with quite a few I wouldn't need. I still have lots of those.

Any advice on the best way to go about this?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:49 am 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
User avatar

Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 9:06 pm
Posts: 2739
Location: Magnolia DE
First name: Brian
Last Name: Howard
City: Magnolia
State: Delaware
Zip/Postal Code: 19962
Country: United States
Focus: Repair
Status: Professional
2.0, 2.5, 3.0 mm are the ones for a FR bridge and nut. 4mm fits many import truss rods. You will need SAE for the fenders if they are American, not in the shop so my wrenches are not in front of me.

My advice, buy a complete set of each metric and SAE and keep them together with your guitar gear and you'll always have the right one at hand. And buying a set will be cheaper I expect than buying 10 wrenches separately....

The kind of truss wrench that fits OVER the truss rod nut is called a truss rod wrench and is also available in different sizes and types to fit various guitars.... here is a good selection https://www.allparts.com/collections/luthier-tools?q=&hPP=28&idx=shopify_products&p=0&fR%5Bnamed_tags.type%5D%5B0%5D=Truss%20rod%20wrench&is_v=1

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/



These users thanked the author B. Howard for the post (total 2): FL6 (Mon Feb 18, 2019 12:13 pm) • Pmaj7 (Mon Feb 18, 2019 8:11 am)
Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 12:09 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:46 pm
Posts: 2124
First name: Freeman
Last Name: Keller
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
StewMac makes it really easy and they are actually reasonably priced

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... _Keys.html

The wrench stay together, you can read on the little holder which sizes they are (I have a page of notes in the back of a repair book that I keep on my work bench listing which size wrench fits each guitar. Buy a couple of extra 0.050 inch (they fit most Fender height screws)

I used to work in a machine shop where we bought individual wrenches in bulk. I found it real handy to put the right wrench with certain tools - for example my binding router bit uses a small allen bolt and I can never remember its size. Once I figured it out I just put the correct wrench with the bit and bearings.

DO NOT buy the folding pocket knife style wrenches - I had a guy bring a nice D28 to me that he had used one and it folded while he was turning it and put a pretty big ding in the sound hole.

For non allen truss rods I just keep a SAE nut driver set in my tool box. Those have a lot of other uses too.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 12:15 pm 
Offline
Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:34 am
Posts: 56
City: London
State: ON
Zip/Postal Code: N6C5Y2
Country: Canada
Focus: Repair
Status: Amateur
Freeman wrote:
StewMac makes it really easy and they are actually reasonably priced

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... _Keys.html

The wrench stay together, you can read on the little holder which sizes they are (I have a page of notes in the back of a repair book that I keep on my work bench listing which size wrench fits each guitar. Buy a couple of extra 0.050 inch (they fit most Fender height screws)

I used to work in a machine shop where we bought individual wrenches in bulk. I found it real handy to put the right wrench with certain tools - for example my binding router bit uses a small allen bolt and I can never remember its size. Once I figured it out I just put the correct wrench with the bit and bearings.

DO NOT buy the folding pocket knife style wrenches - I had a guy bring a nice D28 to me that he had used one and it folded while he was turning it and put a pretty big ding in the sound hole.

For non allen truss rods I just keep a SAE nut driver set in my tool box. Those have a lot of other uses too.


Thanks. I was wondrering about the stewmac sets. I'll give them a look.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:14 pm 
Offline
Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:46 pm
Posts: 2124
First name: Freeman
Last Name: Keller
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
FL6 wrote:
Thanks. I was wondrering about the stewmac sets. I'll give them a look.


Whatever you get, make sure they are long enough to reach from the sound hole to the head block on an acoustic. Many of the new double acting rods have the adjuster buried way up inside the block. The SM wrenches are long enough

I also have a set of SAE wrenches with a removable screwdriver like handle. I use one of them a lot for bolt on neck allen bolts. I also have a set of both metric and SAE that work with a 3/8 drive socket - they are really handy for working on cars and motor bikes. And a folding combination wrench that has a few metric allen, a philips and flat screw driver and a couple of other things that I carry on my bike. Fits most of the odd ball thingies that might need to be adjusted.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:23 pm 
Offline
Mahogany
Mahogany

Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:34 am
Posts: 56
City: London
State: ON
Zip/Postal Code: N6C5Y2
Country: Canada
Focus: Repair
Status: Amateur
Freeman wrote:
FL6 wrote:
Thanks. I was wondrering about the stewmac sets. I'll give them a look.


Whatever you get, make sure they are long enough to reach from the sound hole to the head block on an acoustic. Many of the new double acting rods have the adjuster buried way up inside the block. The SM wrenches are long enough

I also have a set of SAE wrenches with a removable screwdriver like handle. I use one of them a lot for bolt on neck allen bolts. I also have a set of both metric and SAE that work with a 3/8 drive socket - they are really handy for working on cars and motor bikes. And a folding combination wrench that has a few metric allen, a philips and flat screw driver and a couple of other things that I carry on my bike. Fits most of the odd ball thingies that might need to be adjusted.


Yes, I noticed over the years some are too short, so annoying.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 6 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com