Been looking to find a quality Torx 50 male bit, and decided on Snap On for the extra £10 it costs over the other ‘quality’ offerings, Facom etc. I found 2 pieces sold by Snap On and emailed them to ask the difference...and I reckon it must make a massive difference when removing high-torqued bolts, as I well know. Here’s the reply from Snap On for the two Torx bits shown below: “the difference is the gold ones are tapered and the silver ones are parallel. There’s no way of knowing which one you need until you try them. They will both do the job but one will fit more snug.” You definitely want the snug kind for head bolts!
The Snap On guy for my area is dropping by with both for me to try! I’m not sure if it will be a perfect science on this occasion (unless I can get my new head bolts ordered ahead of time) because the Torx bolts are loose (chewed) at best.
I've got a Sealey set of these and they are rubbish, they may as well be made out of cheese. I also have some Blue-Point (lower end Snap-On) ones which are much better quality which I haven't had any issues with. I didn't realise there were tapered and parallel - thanks for posting.
Another forum pointed me to WERA Torx fittings. I guess they are precision cut and hardened to limit any "play". I offer it as another option. https://www.kctoolco.com/wera-003833-1-2-drive-zyklop-torx-bit-socket-with-holding-function-t30/
Many thanks, MET...very much appreciate you sharing this. I’m going to stick with Snap On now, though...I see it as an extra luxury that there’s a local rep who can offer me a face to face service. The benefit of being able to try both bits, as in the above example, is worth the extra £10 to me. Wishing you a happy new year.
I had snap-on..but these tools are much show with chrome and glimmer for fantasy-price. Highest quality is Stahlwille...next is Hazet , Proxxon and Gedore... Wera and Heyco. If you want good quality from france...Facom KS-Tools is China.
On your recommendation above, I just wandered over to the KCTools site (the Stahlwille rep for the USA) and bought a 1/4” drive Stahlwille socket set. Seemed like good value for top shelf tools. I’m looking forward to trying them out!
