I already owned one or two deep offset wrenches before I purchased my Craftsman 5-piece inch and metric wrench sets back in February of 2010. I thought that the wrenches would see a lot of use, but I was wrong. Since then at least half of my ten deep offset wrenches have done nothing but take up space in my toolbox.
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Yesterday was the first time in memory that I reached for my 17mm/19mm deep offset double box wrench.
I had purchased a tool cabinet, and while assembling it I realized that the casters were not threaded and did not have attachment plates. The casters were to be attached using short M16 bolts.
There have been other times when fastener assembly or removal tasks when nothing but a deep offset box wrench would fit, but none in recent memory. Many of the times in recent months when I have used my deep offset wrenches, a regular combination wrench or socket would have fit just as well.
In theory, if I didn’t have a 17mm deep offset box end wrench available, I could have removed the caster wheel and possibly used a 17mm socket with a long extension to get the job done.
Even so, thank you, my deep offset wrenches, you have once again earned your place in my toolbox.
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skfarmer
seems like a perfect place to use a dog bone style wrench or am i wrong?
Stuart
A deep offset wrench is the only tool that I could have used to access these fasteners.
A dog bone style wrench would have been completely ineffective here. There’s not even enough room for a shallow socket and wobble extension, let alone a dog bone wrench.
skfarmer
i went fishing and caught one…………:)
Stuart
I couldn’t tell if you were serious or joking, and figured a neutral response was called for in case others took your comment at face value.
Matthew Fant
SO, the nut and bolt that holds the wheel on, couldn’t be loosened, removed and then use a ratchet for the recessed bolt?
Stuart
Even with the caster wheels removed, there isn’t any dog bone wrench that could have fit.
Jason
Deep offset wrenches and universal flex sockets are the two tools that I own that when you need them, it’s because nothing else will really fit. I don’t use mine often, but when I do, I’m glad I have them. In my toolbox, they don’t take up space, they merely have their spot and they patiently wait for tasks that can’t be handled by my other tools.
DanG
I’ve been trying to find a good set of those offset wrench in Metric for quite some time. They seem to be quite pricy. I needed them to remove the transaxle pan on my Camry. Your article goes to show that everything is valuable in your toolbox. Sometimes it takes years to find that out.
Stuart
I waited for a good sale on Craftsman’s then-USA-made wrenches before buying sets. The popular opinion is that these were manufactured using the same equipment as Armstrong deep offset wrenches.
The only wrenches I regret buying are my Gearwrench ratcheting X-Beam wrenches. I have reversible and flex-end ratcheting wrenches, as well as non-ratcheting combination wrenches, and find the X-Beams to be redundant.
Toolfreak
The non-ratcheting X-beams are better than the reversible ratcheting, since the whole idea of the design to is to get more leverage because you can really crank on the wrench without pain since it’s not a thin edge cutting into your fingers or palm. I like the ratcheting flex X-beams as well, since they allow great access and leverage.
The ratcheting flex X-beams are sort of redundant if you have the regular ratcheting flex wrenches, but they are still nice to have. The non-ratcheting X-beams are invaluable for jobs where only a wrench will fit but you need more leverage than you can get even with a long-pattern wrench – and you either don’t have the room to use a cheater pipe, or you don’t want to cut up a wrench to be able to use one.
Cecil Ray
JEGS automotive has the offset metric 5-piece set for a real reasonable price, ordered a set yesterday.
John Blair
Well, if you want to give away the X-Beam wrenches, sounds like another excellent opportunity for a giveaway / tax write off.
Stuart
Perhaps eventually. Maybe in the spring, when I plan to start selling some of my less used personal tools, I’ll give away some less used ToolGuyd tools as well.
DaddyO
Never get rid of hand tools! The minute you get rid of them, you will need them. Lesson I had to learn a few times!
fred
Sometimes the right tool for the job is the only tool.
Looking at the picture – maybe you could have removed the wheel – then used a socket – but the deep offset wrench made it much more convenient.
Stuart
I just peeked at the documentation again, and they pictorially suggest that a deep offset wrench be used for the casters. I still wonder why they couldn’t just have provided threaded casters. Oh well.
Nicholas
They are good for bumpers on older cars and trucks, but short of that I have not used mine for any other reason.
Jerry
I use mine fairly often. The deeper offset saves knuckles, and at least mine seem to be a little longer, to give more leverage on rusty bolts. They are a great for certain construction work, where one person tightens nuts with an impact, and another holds rather bolt head. A standard combination wrench will pinch your fingers if it rotates while you are holding it.
george
had a set of hazet ones for a loooong time. used maybe several times but paid for themselves in saving a lot of work otherwise.
although without them you could have just taken the wheels off.
Noah
Only deep offset I’ve had use for is a 15/16″ for bolts on staging truss.
SteveR
Another tool like that is the crowfoot wrench (the kind that looks like you cut the open end off a combination wrench). I bought a set of Craftsman SAE three years ago just to install a new kitchen faucet set, and haven’t used them since. At the time, however, it fit where I couldn’t place my basin wrench because its head was too large. I used a 3/8-drive ratchet, a long extension and a 7/8″ crowfoot wrench to remove a stuck nut which had stopped me cold.
DaddyO
I find enjoyment for most wrenches I have purchased over the years. It is usually the gimicky tools that don’t get used as much as I originally thought, either because the tool does not do the job promised or is just too cheap in quality to use as forethought on purchase. And then again, it depends on what you use your tools for as to the amount of usage time. Offset wrench sets are great for mechanics because the small head, with offset angles fit in tight spaces and two different sizes per wrench. I will usually grab one instead of a combination wrench while working on a car but that is my personal choice. I have two sets, one being the Craftsman regular finish offset wrench set and a set of the chrome offset wrenches. Wrenches I usually don’t ever reach for is the adjustable wrenches that I own.
Dave
By golly, that looks like a Festool Sysport. I went to my local Sears to pick up the very same 17mm wrench to put the casters on mine and wouldn’t you know it, they were out of the individual wrench, but did have it in the multi-piece kit. I decided to forego the $50 kit and ended up taking the wheels off each caster and using a deep socket to put them on, then putting the wheels back in. Took me a couple minutes extra per corner.
RKA
I think you’re right (sysport)! I guess we’ll find out soon enough!
Stuart
Yes, it’s a Festool Sysport. Was difficult to budget for, but I am already considering either another full-size Sysport or maybe 2 half-size ones.
RKA
Nice! I didn’t even know they had a half height one until you mentioned it! I’ve been contemplating building my own, just can’t settle on a design that can be dual purpose in my space.
Dave
Just as a heads up, the Sysport 500 (the reduced height one) is considered a “limited availability” item. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I take it that they created a production run and once they’re gone, they don’t plan to regularly produce them. In other words, if you decide you want one, don’t wait too long.
Stuart
That might not be accurate. The new SysPort 500 (model 491921) seems to be a regular stock item now.
I believe it was previously introduced as a limited availability item, and was re-introduced in 2013 as a perpetual product.
Stuart
That’s why I opted for the SysPort 1000. I had previously built a non-drawered 5-shelf unit, but the hassle and cost to build a single mobile unit with repositionable drawers would have been too much for me to immediately work on and I needed something ASAP.
Dave
Shane Holland (Festool Employee) over on the FOG forum said this back on October 13th: “SysPort 500, SysLite 4-Pack, Centrotec Set (all three versions) and ZOBOs are all limited availability.
Carvex Cordless, SYS-MFT, SYS-Storage, SYS-MIDI will be regular “catalog” items.”
Stuart
Thanks for the clarification! There’s no mention via Festool’s site or most dealers that the 500 is a limited time product.
Toolfreak
The Craftsman deep-offset wrenches are great – at least the USA-made one were. The made-in-China ones have thicker ends, so they don’t fit in tight spots the USA ones will, plus the China ones seem to have a handle shape that is thicker in the middle but very thin on the edges, making it seem almost designed to give you terrible pain with anything more than light torque.
As mentioned, there are ways around using them, like removing the bolt and wheel to use a socket instead, but these are time-saving access tools. Sometimes having a deep offset wrench is the difference between getting to a bolt without removing anything else, or having to take something entirely apart just to get a regular wrench or socket on it.
Electricguy
It doesn’t make sense to purchase a whole set of tools just in case one day it may be convenient to use them. Even contractors will make do with what they have until the job task, or time constraints necessitate the need for them. For a DIYer, taking the wheel off would be preferable to buying a new set of expensive tools to take up space and collect dust most of the year.
Stuart
I completely agree with this.
But with wrench and socket sets there is an economics crossover point.
I would say I use 4 of my 10 deep offset wrenches fairly regularly, and maybe 6 of them occasionally. The 4 wrenches I use regularly would have totalled about $48-54 individually. When I bought the sets, they were on sale for $39 for BOTH.
A few years ago, I needed two more 7/16″ and 1/2″ wrenches. At the time, a Craftsman 9-piece raised panel wrench set hardly cost more than just 2 wrenches. I bought the set, and have definitely gotten my money’s worth from it.
If I didn’t have my deep offset wrenches, yes I would have removed the caster wheels and a regular socket would have probably worked. A regular combination wrench probably wouldn’t have worked so well. I wouldn’t have run out to buy a 17mm deep offset wrench, but having it on-hand saved me a bit of time.
Would I have purchased the 17mm/19mm wrench separately just to have? No way. But it was more economical for me to buy the set than just the wrenches I knew I needed or could use.
Toolfreak
Quality tools like these are also a good investment, not just as the right tools for the job to have on hand when you need them, but financially.
The USA-made Craftsman deep offset wrenches, especially in a complete set, are now collector’s items, and worth way, way over what you paid. If someone ever decided they didn’t need those tools in their box anymore, they would be able to sell them to not only recoup their costs plus interest, but plenty of profit left over to buy more tools with.
While it may seem to most that having a box filled with specialty tools you only use every so often is a waste, I suspect these people haven’t been in a pinch where only that one tool will work – and they don’t have it. There’s a lot to be said for the difference between being helpless and stuck without the right tool – and even worse when the stores are closed and you won’t be able to get it until at least the next day, or maybe even days from then since you might have to buy it online and have it shipped. It’s even worse than that if you had seen the tools on sale for a fantastic price earlier but didn’t buy them thinking you wouldn’t need them.
So, as the saying goes, better to have the tools and not need them, than need the tools and not have them.
RKA
That’s pretty much the way I feel about it. Stuart’s example isn’t the best simply because the workaround would have added a minute or two. Also I don’t consider these deep offsets so esoteric that I would call them a specialty tool. I seem to find a use for one at least once a year. Last one was holding a nut or bolt while I loosened or torqued the accessible side. Without it, I would have added another 1-1.5 hrs to the job removing and re-installing other suspension bits or more time lost running to the store to look for the appropriate tool. I’ll happily eat the cost of acquisition to have these deep offsets on hand if and when I need them. The alternative to having a good selection of tools on hand to deal with whatever I stumble across is hiring the job out. Over time, that tends to cost more than my indulgence in tools.
Stuart
It perhaps wasn’t the best example, but there are times when obstructions cannot be removed. I *have* used some of my deep offset wrenches on fasteners where nothing else would have worked.
In this case, I was just elated that my 17/19 wrench was finally able to see some action.
Anthony
I was just considering selling my metric,s.a.e craftsman pros today,but your article is making me think again…maybe ill just keep them….i think ive only used them once or twice
Matthew Fant
You are correct, Stewart, a dog bone would be out in this situation. They’re useless in most situations. However I was referring to taking the bolt and nut out, which formed the axle. Then removing the wheel, and using a standard socket with an extension, and a ratchet. An offset wrench is another way to go though. I hope I cleared myself up. I think I confused you because I commented in the post about a dogbone wrench.
james ragsdale
try to warranty some of your craftsman tools. they make rules up as they go. some items you have to have the complete set to warranty. some stores have a limit on how many a day. sometimes has to be broke a certain way. sold as lifetime warranty but if discontinued “to bad so sad”. try to warranty a craftsman tape measure or a lifetime warranty sump pump. good luck
SteveR
james–I came across this and thought I’d comment. If you tried to get a warranty placement at a store, the dept. manager probably has final say on what they will and won’t take back (replace). If you had obviously abused a tool [“sometimes has to be broke(n) a certain way”] by using a cheater pipe which bent the heck out of it, I can understand why the store declined. Some people buy Craftsman tools and intend to do just that with them, so they have the right to “just say no” . You still have the option of contacting Sears to get a second opinion and, if you’re lucky, they may replace it as a goodwill gesture.
I suspect one of the reasons they warranty them for life is that if you need a replacement, you might also buy a new refrigerator, get your car fixed or buy your son a birthday gift while you’re in the store. Stores view these “unforeseen” sales as added profit, which more than offsets the cost of replacing a 9/16″ wrench.
Brian14
One of these saved the day today when doing a water pump job on a pickup truck.