Thanks to all who replied! Comments follow . . .
At 10:01 PM Wednesday 7/1/2009, Nick Arnett wrote:
On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 7:50 PM, Ronn! Blankenship
<[email protected]> wrote:
I have a new lawn mower. According to the instructions I need to
change the oil before using the mower again (the instructions say to
change the oil after the first 5 hours of operation, which is about
how long it ran mowing the whole yard twice, which is what I've done
with it up to now). The drain plug is in the form of a screw with a
square-shaped recess in the outer end. I know that the tool used on
such a screw with a hexagonal recess is sometimes referred to as an
"Allen" wrench. Does anyone know what the proper name is for a tool
that fits a screw or bolt with a square-shaped recess in the head,
so I know what to look/ask for?
A square drive.
Thanks!
You should be able to find one that fits a socket wrench.
Have /those/ in all three sizes. And sockets to fit in SAE and
metric. (Well, I don't think I have a set of metric sockets for the
1/2" drive: up 'til now the need has never arisen.) As well as
lotsa other such stuff. [Tool]boxes and boxes of stuff. Of course,
nothing in all of that to fit this plug . . .
Ideally, your owners manual will tell you what size to
get. Otherwise, you'll have to measure, which is tricky... and
it'll help if you know if it's metric or SAE.
Nope. Best eyeball guess is that it is either 9mm, 10mm, 5/16", or
3/8". Some other bolts on the mower were 3/8", so maybe that means
everything will be SAE rather than metric. Or maybe not.
At 10:02 PM Wednesday 7/1/2009, John Williams wrote:
On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 7:50 PM, Ronn!
Blankenship<[email protected]> wrote:
> Does anyone know what the
> proper name is for a tool that fits a screw or bolt with a square-shaped
> recess in the head, so I know what to look/ask for?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screwdriver
Yes, I've heard that name somewhere, somewhen, and indeed have a set
of bits (part of a larger set of bits for a power or manual
screwdriver, but they are not named on the case) that I think
includes all of the sizes in the table in that article. The recess
in the plug in question is about twice the size of the largest of
those, though.
At 10:05 PM Wednesday 7/1/2009, David Hobby wrote:
Ronn! Blankenship wrote:
I have a new lawn mower. According to the instructions I need to
change the oil before using the mower again (the instructions say
to change the oil after the first 5 hours of operation, which is
about how long it ran mowing the whole yard twice, which is what
I've done with it up to now). The drain plug is in the form of a
screw with a square-shaped recess in the outer end. I know that
the tool used on such a screw with a hexagonal recess is sometimes
referred to as an "Allen" wrench. Does anyone know what the proper
name is for a tool that fits a screw or bolt with a square-shaped
recess in the head, so I know what to look/ask for?
...
Ronn--
Not me. I tend to confidently go into the store
and say that I "need something like a hex key but
for a square hole". My sense is that the terminology
is not very standardized, anyway.
With luck the retired trucker next door will have a set of them (he
still has the garage and tools to work on his pickups and RV) or else
the guy down the street that works on stuff will and I can borrow it
at least long enough to find out which size is required. While
waiting for the opportunity to catch one of them I thought I'd ask
around to see if I could find out what the were called so as not to
have to ask one of them for a "thingy" of some sort (and then when I
know the size I can also go to the store and ask for the right thing
in the right size rather than having to buy a whole set myself, which
could get expensive, esp. for someone on disability.* The mower? It
was a gift . . .).
*The new one doesn't take quite as long to use as the old one before
it finally died completely. Sometimes it would take two or three
sessions to complete the yard. And that doesn't count the
resting time between sessions, which in many cases can be two or
three days. One of the biggest improvements is that when the new one
stops (out of gas, choked on the really thick grass in the front
yard, or just had to stop to move a tree limb which had fallen in the
way since the last time, or whatever) it starts right up. With the
old one, after it stopped I'd frequently pull it two or three times
without success and on top of having mowed whatever I had so far that
would be it for me . . .
It could be that the driver for a socket set,
I thought of that, but wanted to get the right thing instead. Not as
much hurry right now, since we haven't had any rain for several days
and so it is not growing tropical rain forest fast like it was before . . .
or the
right sized flat-bladed screwdriver would to the job...
Might be pushing it. (Craftsman might indeed replace the screwdriver
if it broke even when misusing it but probably not the mower, esp.
since it is not one of theirs.) And the advantage of having the
proper "thingy" to attach to the handle of a socket set is that I
would neither have to raise the mower so far above the ground to do
it nor have my hand and the entire tool in line when the plug finally
opens and the dirty oil starts pouring out into whatever container I
put under there to catch it . . .
. . . ronn! :)
I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon.
I never dreamed that I would see the last.
--Dr. Jerry Pournelle
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