Why do they make 12 point sockets and wrenches?

[poconojoe]

I know it's best to use a 6 point socket or wrench on hex nuts or hex bolts. They give you the best fit so as to avoid slippage and rounding out of the bolt head or nut.
So, why even make 12 point sockets and wrenches? Are there nuts and bolts with 12 sides? Not that I know of.

 

[matt167]

Head bolts are often 12pt and many other fasteners.. 12pt otherwise fits over the hex easier, which works if it's a low torque application.

12pt will also grab a square head unlike a 6pt. I tend to only buy 6pt, but have 12pt as well because they have uses

 

[poconojoe]

Head bolts are often 12pt and many other fasteners.. 12pt otherwise fits over the hex easier, which works if it's a low torque application.

12pt will also grab a square head unlike a 6pt. I tend to only buy 6pt, but have 12pt as well because they have uses

Thanks for the response!
Yes, I always go for the 6 point for tighter fit.
I have never seen 12 point bolts/nuts. Is there really such a thing?
I've seen plenty of torx, but that's a different animal...I think.

 

[racerone]

Many fasteners made with high tensile steel ( 180,000 PSI ) are in fact using 12 point heads.-----Since the early 1960's Johnson / Evinrude connecting rod bolts.--Many newer Mercury connecting rods are also 12 point heads.--Some Honda outboard flywheel bolts are also 12 point heads.

 

[poconojoe]

Many fasteners made with high tensile steel ( 180,000 PSI ) are in fact using 12 point heads.-----Johnson / Evinrude / Mercury connecting rod bolts.----Some Honda outboard flywheel bolts are also 12 point heads.

Ok, got it!
Never stop learning!
Thanks!

 

[PITBoat]

I know it's best to use a 6 point socket or wrench on hex nuts or hex bolts. They give you the best fit so as to avoid slippage and rounding out of the bolt head or nut.
So, why even make 12 point sockets and wrenches? Are there nuts and bolts with 12 sides? Not that I know of.

More versatile in places with little room to move the wrench. Like when you're using a breaker bar and have to take a hex socket off and turn it 90 degrees to get it to go onto the bolt/nut or to wind up where you can actually get some torque on it, because the range of available motion is small.

 

[Scott Danforth]

'nuff said

 

[poconojoe]

'nuff said

Thanks for that picture!
I'm just flabbergasted that with all my wrench turning over the years, I've never come across 12 point hardware.
Well, I've never owned an outboard. Maybe then I would have seen them.

 

[alldodge]

If your ever in a tight area trying to remove a bolt/nut and can only move the wrench barely one point. Or even worst slightly less then one point

 

[racerone]

Visit u-tube and you will find multiple examples in automotive engines.----They use 12 point fasteners.

 

[BWR1953]

My 1985 Mercury 50HP outboard has a 12-point bolt on the lower unit. I had to buy a socket to get it off.

 

[dwco5051]

Fuel pump bolts, 1961 Pontiac Tempest. Broke down in the middle of Oklahoma in 1965. Imagine changing a fuel pump with vise grips on a Sunday evening when you had to be back in Pennsylvania Monday morning for work. On the Turner turnpike a quarter of a mile away from an interchange that had a parts store that was closing in an hour. Got it done and even got the old one returned for the core charge. Makes me wish I was twenty five again.