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Colour coding of spanners/sockets


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Slightly different/off topic, but I'm trying to identify various sizes of spanners and sockets by applying a colour band/dash of paint etc. There doesn't appear to be a commonly applied colour between different manufacturers or even the same manufacturer. I've got a set of 5 Wera joker spanners and they follow (metric) 8:pink, 10:yellow, 13:green, 17:red and 19:blue. I appreciate there few metric fittings on a TR6 but once established, it could be applied to AF. I'd thought of the resistor colour code as I'm from an electrical background, but again unsure how to apply it. It is:

 

0: Black

1: Brown

2: Red

3: Orange

4: Yellow

5: Green

6: Blue

7: Violet

8: Grey

9: White

 

So for a 8 mm bolt using a 13 mm spanner, do I code it Grey or Brown&Orange?

 

For a 5/16th it would get messy requiring three colours.

 

Does anyone have a "system" that is workable to cover 5 mm to 32 mm and the equivalent range in AF (or even Whitworth!).

 

Secondly, does anyone know how the thin coat of what appears to be laquer is sourced/applied on bought sets?

 

Regards

 

Bill

 

 

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Inmh tool go, there are more than thirty spanners, a few of the same sizes.

And they are all marked with their size, Imperial or Metric.

Maybe half 'n' half, so fifteen colours for each system.

There are just seven easily distinguished co!ours.

So half of each range will be pale blue, deep blue, orangey red and scarlet, leaf green and dark green, useless!

Forget it. RTFS! Read the flipping spanner!

John

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Sounds a little bit OCD, Bill. :)

 

Maybe paint the few one needs regularly on a TR in various high vis colors and let the rest be? That, for a sidescreen car, realistically means only 7/16 and 1/2!

Edited by Don H.
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Because I've collected my spanners over the years they are by many different makers. I recognize the spanner for a particular size by sight. Personally I would find that easier than remembering a colour code.

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No matter how they're colour coded the 1/2"AFs will always be missing

:)

I've got'em, Peter! I must have four or five 1/2"s, not because I've bought extra ones - I must have knicked them.

 

But most useful. A socket and spanner in the same size isn't always the answer; same for two 9/16" spanners, essential when tackling prop shaft flange bolts.

 

I also have a collection of 'funnies', adapted spanners.

Two pairs of 8 and 10mm with the open ends cut off and welded back at an angle, to deal with the drop links from the throttle bar to the butterfly spindles, down in the well between the throttle bodies.

A shortened 9/16", with a length of copper tube on the handle to get at the front nut on the exhaust manifold, where the swing available wont take a full length. The tube makes it more comfortable to press down on.

An unmodified 1/2" Whitworth spanner, that is the same size as the crank pulley bolt and the right length to turn it when setting valve gaps.

Etc.

In fact, a thread of 'tools I have modified or made" might be of interest. Let's see!

John

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Just checked my Imperial spanners.

3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, empty space, 9/16, 5/8.........

 

Not sure where the missing one is, I presume some bu&&er has 'half-inched' it??!!?? :huh:

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'll get my coat.......

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colour-coding.... no use for colour-blind folk like me, the other ~92% of males and most of the ladies should be fine though

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Its anorak enough having one of those boards with the outlines drawn on - but colour coded ??? An old-school mechanic has the spanners all thrown together in an oily box (cough, cough). How else are you going to get to play hunt-the-Whitworth ?

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Hi Bill,

I like the idea of colour coding but likewise would find it impractical.

Too many spanner combinations and if the spanners were in a box rattling aroud then the paint would rub/c hip off.

 

However there are clips that can hold numerous spanners together.

 

But as RobH says playing hunt the spanner could be the next computer game craze.

 

Roger

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Ahh, but if you turn the adjustable over, you'll find a mm scale marked, no good for imperial sizes :rolleyes:

 

Regards (in jest, in case anyone thought I was being serious!)

 

Bill

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I've been thinking of doing the same thing, except that I was looking at just doing just two colours on alternate sizes in imperial and same on metric. e.g. red for 1/2 and yellow for 5/8 then blue for 10mm and green for 12mm. And same colours for sockets. Anything larger is infrequent enough that it's been put away, and my eyes are good enough to determine the unmarked ones. Now that the lemon of a Disco has been replaced by a Prado, I now can keep the metric just for the Prado and the imperials just for the TR6. The other question is what to do with my multiple sets of whitworths......

Edited by stallie
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Sounds a little bit OCD, Bill. :)

 

Maybe paint the few one needs regularly on a TR in various high vis colors and let the rest be? That, for a sidescreen car, realistically means only 7/16 and 1/2!

Don

Should that not be CDO :lol::lol::lol:

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