SOCKETS

GROUP 2
BS AMT 1-C
BR-ENGINEERING
 SOCKETS
• A socket is a tool that attaches to a socket wrench, ratchet spanner, torque wrench or every
other turning device with a view to tighten or loosen a fastener along with a nut or a bolt via
turning it. made from  high-quality materials, such as forged metals, for strength and
durability, these equipment are designed to face up to excessive torque as they help to loosen
or fasten nuts, bolts and different fasteners.

• Sockets are equipment that commonly have a square-shaped hole in a single end for a drive
handle, and the other end with a six or twelve-point opening designed to fit different sized
nuts. These are available in each standard and metric sizes and may be used with a extensive
variety of handles and extensions.

• Socket sets are available in a wide variety of drive sizes. but, in aviation maintenance the 1/4
inch square drive and the three/eight inch square drive are used the most.
TYPES OF SOCKETS
STANDARD SOCKETS
• Standard sockets are available in all of the popular drive sizes and with either four-, six-,
eight-, or twelve-point openings. These sockets are also deep

• enough to fit over a bolt head or a nut if too much shank does not protrude.

• The six- and twelve-point sockets are used in aviation, whereas the four- and eight-point
sockets are available to turn square head pipe plugs.
 DEEP SOCKETS
• There are several applications where a bolt extends through a nut too far for a standard socket to grip the
nut. In these cases deep sockets are available to allow the socket to grip the nut and still allow room for the
bolt end.
• Far less common is the deep socket wrench. This type of socket wrench has a much more specialized use.
You’d need it where the bolt is recessed, and a normal, standard socket wrench wouldn’t reach it. The
clamp bolts on an automotive exhaust are typical of the bolted joints where you’d need to use a deep
socket wrench. You’ll find that the sockets, both deep and standard, have either six points or 12 points,
although you can also buy eight point sockets which work well with square bolts.
• A deep socket will generally be around one inch long. This will allow you to use a socket wrench in
inaccessible places, especially if you have an extension on the driver.
 FLEX SOCKETS
• When additional clearance is needed between the socket drive and the socket, a flex socket is used. Flex
sockets have a pivot point between the drive handle end of the socket and the nut end. These sockets are
made with both six- and twelve-point openings and are available in the drive sizes most used in aviation
maintenance.

• Pivot the head to access fasteners from an angle. The hex shape provides the best possible grip on hex
fasteners and prevents rounding.
 CROWSFOOT SOCKET
• A crowfoot wrench fits onto the side of the nut or bolt rather than over the top like a standard socket set.
This allows the crowfoot wrench to work in areas where there is insufficient space above the bolt to fit the
standard socket. The ratcheting action of the socket handle is locked in the direction the wrench is turned
to provide the leverage needed to turn the bolt or nut.
• Nuts are sometimes placed in locations on aircraft where neither a box-end, nor open-end wrench, or
standard socket wrench can be used. The crowsfoot socket is designed to reach these nuts and is available
with open, box, and flare-nut ends. Furthermore, crowsfoot sockets are available in several drive sizes
including 1/4 and 3/8 inch.
• This is often used with an extension, these sockets turn fasteners and fittings in obstructed areas that a
regular socket can't reach. They are also known as crowfoot wrenches.
 HANDLES AND ADAPTERS
• The chief advantage for using socket wrenches over any type of nut-turning device is the wide variety of
handles and adapters available. Some accessories include ratchets, breaker bars, speed handles, extensions,
universal joints, and adapters. For example, when a socket is snapped onto a ratchet handle, minimum
handle movement is required to turn a nut or bolt.
• Ratchets are available with long or short handles, and with either solid or flexible heads. When selecting a
ratchet, choose one that has a small handle movement between the positions at which the pawl grips the
drive gear.
• A ratchet is a handle that snaps into one end of a socket by means of a square-drive connector. The other
end of the socket fits over a fastener. A mechanism in the ratchet allows the handle to engage and tighten
the fastener when you swing it in a clockwise direction and turn freely when you swing it
counterclockwise. A switch on the ratchet reverses the action to loosen the fastener.
• If a socket drive does not have any ratcheting ability, several ratchet adapters are available to convert the
ratchet into a reversible ratcheting wrench.
 BREAKER BAR
• When a nut is extremely hard to break loose, and more force is required than a ratchet handle is built to
take, a socket is placed on a breaker bar and the required amount of force applied. When more force is
required than can be applied with a breaker bar, use a socket and handle of the next larger drive size. It is
not recommended that you use a piece of pipe over the handle of a breaker bar to increase the leverage.
• In general, the term breaker bar refers to a length of pipe or metal used for leverage. A breaker bar can be
anything from a simple length of metal pipe to an extra-long manufactured ratchet driver, the latter being a
much safer and effective method. It serves a variety of purposes, but the most common function is freeing--
or "breaking"-- stuck bolts using extra leverage and torque to turn the threaded bolt.
• The fundamental of a breaker bar is quite simple! It is used to break loose extremely tight fasteners and,
the items are capable of doing this because of the exceptionally long lengths of the item. Also, called
power bars, the long non-ratcheting bar produces enough force and torque compared to conventional
socket wrenches.
 SPEED HANDLE
• A speed handle resembles a bow-type brace and has a socket or a screwdriver bit snapped onto its end.
Screws or nuts are turned much faster with a speed handle than they are with a conventional screwdriver or
ratchet wrench.
• A speed wrench is used to remove fasteners at a quicker pace than a traditional wrench, which requires the
user to remove and reposition the tool after extending it through its range of motion. They’re also handy to
use with fasteners requiring a lot of turning, like wheel nuts. Users just grip the end and spin the large, “C”
shaped handle as quick as they can.
• Speed wrenches are great because they help to make repetitive jobs like removing the wheel from your car
faster and easier. For the purposes of this best speed wrench list, each tool listed features a drive tang size
of 3/8-inches. Each wrench is also at least 15-inches long overall, and features some type of handle at the
end which cuts back on hand fatigue. Finally, each wrench has a polished surface to make cleanup easier
should something spill on the tool, and resists corrosion.
 STRAIGHT BAR-TYPE
EXTENSION
• Straight bar-type extensions are used to put sockets further away from the wrench handle. These extensions
are made of forged steel alloys and are available in lengths from less than two inches up to two or three
feet long.
• A ratchet extension is a fitted bar that allows you to extend the reach of a socket when using a ratchet
wrench.
• The wrench holds onto the extension. Most brands are universal at this point and can be used in
combination with each other. This means that your Snap-On ratchet wrench can if you talk nicely to it, be
used with a Craftsman six-inch extension between the wrench and a correctly sized socket of any brand.
The four-sided attachment point includes a spring loaded ball on the male end that holds the socket or
extension firmly in place while you're working but allows it to be removed easily when you're ready to
change tools or sizes. 
 UNIVERSAL JOINTS
• A universal joint is a connection between two objects, typically shafts, that allows relative rotation in two
axes. It is made up of two revolute joints with perpendicular and intersecting axes.
• Universal joints have a square opening on one end that fits onto a socket drive or extension and a male
socket drive on the other end. The universal joint is used to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts that cannot be
accessed with a straight extension.
• Universal joint is a mechanism for variable angle power transmission, used to change the path of the
driveline, that's an automotive drive system “Joint” parts. The universal joint combined with drive shaft is
called universal joint drive. On automobiles with front-engine rear-wheel drive, a universal joint drive is
installed between the transmission output shaft and the final Transaxle enter shaft; on vehicles with the
front-engine front-wheel drive, the propeller shaft. is ignored and the customary joint is installed among
the the front CV Axle and the wheels, both using and steering.
 ADAPTERS
• Drive sockets and adapters include individual products and packaged sets of removable wrench and
interchangeable bit screwdriver attachments. They are designed to accommodate a variety of nut, bolt, and
screw sizes, as well as tool-access restrictions.
• In addition to product type, bit and socket style, the material finish, product specifications, features, and
application are important to consider
• Adapters are available to allow different size sockets and drives to fit together. For example, an adapter
allows a 1/4 inch drive socket to fit onto a 3/8 inch drive handle or vice-versa. Adapters are also available
between 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch drive components. When using an adapter to put a smaller socket on a larger
drive, use good judgment because the additional leverage obtained on the drive can break the adapter or the
socket. There might also be enough added force to strip the threads of a fastener.
 REFERENCES
• https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/hand-tools/spanners-sockets-wrenches/socket-sets/
• https://www.doityourself.com/stry/electric-impact-wrench-vs-air-impact-wrench
• https://www.mcmaster.com/flex-head-wrenches/
• https://www.ehow.com/info_8431572_crowfoot-tool-used.html
• https://www.mcmaster.com/crowfoot-sockets/
• https://www.lowes.com/n/buying-guide/socket-and-ratchet-guide#:~:text=A%20handle
%20%E2%80%94%20the%20ratchet%20%E2%80%94%20snaps%20into,but%20turn%20freely
%20when%20you%20swing%20it%20counterclockwise.
• https://www.wise-geek.com/what-is-a-breaker-bar.htm
• https://torquewrenchcenter.com/breaker-bar-vs-torque-wrench/
• https://www.latimes.com/bestcovery/best-speed-wrench
• https://www.liveabout.com/auto-repair-tools-ratchet-extensions-281837
• https://www.goforbrakes.com/detailed-automobile-universal-joint-introduction/
• https://fastenerengineering.com/what-is-a-universal-joint/
• https://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/manufacturing_process_equipment/industrial_assembly/drive_soc
kets_adapters
•
THAT’S ALL FOR
TODAY! THANK YOU
FOR LISTENING!

GROUP 2
BS AMT 1-C
BR-ENGINEERING