Comments on: Gearless Right-Angle Socket Adapter

By: charlie

charlie — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:03:05 +0000

i had one worked great on a ratchet but please god dont pull a tim tayler and throw it on a impact gun .you better have your safety glasses it will come apart big time

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:28:01 +0000

I sell these and they work great, the mechanical loss is very minimal. Mike and Eliot did a good job describing them but you really gotta play with one to see how they work. I’d definitely recommend getting one if you ever drive a nut around a 90 degree bend. They turn much more smootly than a u-joint type driver.

By: Mike lee

Mike lee — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:29:47 +0000

There are lot of ratchets that do the same thing. I brought a sidewinder about 10 years ago. You just turn the top part of the handle and it will turn the socket. I paid about 30 dollars. The next one I brought was made by stanley. You just twist the handle and it turns the socket. I paid around 19 dollars. They do come in handy when you are working on cars.

By: fred

fred — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:57:51 +0000

The principle for this dates back to the ancient Greeks - perhaps Archimedes.
There are 6 L-Shaped pins. The center pin serves as the axis of rotation and does not move. The 5 outer pins move in and out (they do not rotate) along 2 spiral ramps housed at each end. As you turn the drive end (and hence its ramp the motion of the pins forcer the ramp at the other end to turn.

By: _Jon

_Jon — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:35:39 +0000

My concern is the size.
If I have that much room to put that in, why won’t the head of a normal drive wrench fit?
It would be a very rarely used item.
I’ve worked on a lot of cars and made quite a few specialty tools during a job.
I can only think of one situation where is useful - if the entrance to the vertical line allows for absolutely no swing of wrench. In which case, good luck getting the bolt / nut back in place for assembly.

By: How To Spot A Psychopath :: When a universal joint is just too PRACTICAL :: June :: 2008

Sat, 31 May 2008 16:39:52 +0000

[...] This Toolmonger post about a novel right-angle socket adapter led me to the interesting concept of Hobson’s Coupling, in which round rods bent to a right angle transfer torque around a ninety degree corner, because they’re all free to turn in their mounting holes on each leg of the coupling. [...]

By: Frank Townend

Frank Townend — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:51:16 +0000

I could find sellers, but not the manufacturer’s Website. My ‘guess’ is as A1cntrler’s in that it is cable driven with the innermost “L” a tube with a cable in it. The outermost “Ls” are for support.

By: Old Donn

Old Donn — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:04:06 +0000

Guess I don’t get out much, but I don’t see a practical application for this thing. It’s shape alone makes it awkward and seems to me, would limit access, not enhance it. Yet another gimmick that’s destined to wind up at the bottom of the toolbox with the Gator Grip and Metrinch set.

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 31 May 2008 05:15:34 +0000

Anybody ever used one? The mechanical loss involved must be huge. No grunting a fastener down with this puppy.

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 31 May 2008 03:20:39 +0000

This is almost the same thing, an elbow engine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZRKNlY7enM

By: clueless

clueless — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:25:23 +0000

Mike is correct, that is how it works.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:12:17 +0000

I think there are at least six “inner L’s” (hidden behind each other), but I otherwise agree with Jason. Each of the cylinders probably looks like cylinder of a revolver (you know, the gun). In each “chamber” of the cylinder, you have the end of one “L”. As you rotate one cylinder, the L’s slide in and out of it but also rotate around. It’d be cool to watch a video.

By: Eliot

Eliot — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:50:23 +0000

I’m guessing the outside housing and the large center shaft are stationary and the two small L’s rotate around the center to transfer the work.

By: A1cntrler

A1cntrler — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:41:32 +0000

The “Two inner L’s” you see in the picture are really a reflection I believe. I have no clue, unless it is cable driven?? If so, can’t last but so long…

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:41:21 +0000

I’ve never seen one of these before, but here’s my guess:
The outside does not move, just the inside. There are two inner “L”s shown in the picture. Though they look like different sizes, I imagine that they are not. The inner pieces at the ends, which spin, have holes these Ls sit in. They can freely spin in these holes and can also move in and out of them. So, as you spin one end, the inner L moves around the outer L, becoming the outer L. Again, this is all conjecture.