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Sockets are not made to exact size. They have some clearence. Otherwide they would be at least a thumb press fit making them difficult to work with.

I have a set of Crafsmen, Snap-On, SK Wayne, among others all in metric and english. I have never been able to use a 13mm on a 1/2" head. Too loose due to clearence. There is some cross between metric and english at about the 5/16" and somewhere about 20mm sizes but i don't remeber exactly.

Te other problem is when sockets get worn. I have sockets i still use here that date back into the 1930's. My nearly worn out 1/2 12 point Plumb socket will still not fit a 13mm unless i drive it on with a hammer.


For anyone using tools on at least a weekly basis just buy a set of metrics and english. Anymore over the last 15 years they are showing up at garage sales and i've probably dug at lest 300 sockets out of the dumpsters over the years MOST of them good quality brand names..

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Where on earth do you dumpster dive--and how many hours a week due you devote to it?

I used the term dumpster diving just figuratively. My point is that basic hand tools at garage sales, estate sales, in trash setting out by the road, public dumpster sites, forclosure processings, storeage unit abandonment sales etc is very common over the last 15 years.

Keith's point is spot-on.

A friend who lived in Chicago used to find a lot of great stuff left by the curb - right in front of his building - by idiots who overextended themselves, then lost their jobs (or worse), and couldn't take all that stuff along when they fled the area - everything to from fine china to a snowblower. Mind you, this was going on long before the Great Recession. I can only imagine what it's been like in years since.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of displaced workers who had been retrained, at taxpayer expense, as automotive technicians, but quickly became disillusioned with the field and then left it. Between that and the dealers that were forced to close when GM and Chrysler filed bankruptcy, there's a glut of good used tools and equipment out there for late model iron.

Of course, plenty of old timers have left their tools behind for the next generation of people who are smart enough to buy and use them.

For my hobby work, I have a good set of basic tools, but am fortunate to also have my dad's old tool box, though it predates the metric era. Over the years, I've picked up a several inexpensive sets of metric sockets and wrenchs under the Michigan Industrial Tools label. More recently, I've been shopping Harbor Freight - carefully.

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Here are some photos of the socket wrench inch to metric adapter. An adapter in a 7/8" socket will fit a 20 mm. Others in the set are:

15/16" - 19 mm
3/4" -17 mm
5/8" - 14 mm
9/16" - 13 mm
9/16" - 12 mm (a thicker insert than above)
1/2" - 11 mm
7/16" - 10 mm
3/8" - 9 mm

As you can see they are carried on a ring and have a spring wire tool to retrieve the insert from the socket. I suppose they would work in a 12-point socket and on box end wrenches too.

I don't recall using them, but have them in my travel tool bag now, just in case.

(o[]o)

Edit: The adapters fit all the way into the sockets, the photo shows one of the inserts only partially in for illustration purposes.

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