ALLEN HEX KEY ( Series 2 ) www.fatherland.com.sg

A hex key or Allen key is a simple tool used to drive bolts and screws with hexagonal sockets in their heads.

The tool is usually formed of a single piece of hexagonal rod of hard steel, with blunt ends that are meant to fit snugly into the screw’s socket, bent in an “L” shape with unequal arms. The tool is usually held and twisted by the long arm, creating a large torque at the tip of the short arm. Reversing the tool lets the long arm reach screws in hard-to-reach places.

Each key is meant to be used with screws of a specific socket size, with rather tight tolerances; so the tool is commonly sold in kits that include half a dozen or more keys of different sizes. Usually the length of the key increases with the size of the socket, but not necessarily in direct proportion.

Variants of the tool have the short end inserted in a transverse handle, which may contain multiple keys that can be folded into the handle when not in use.

A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for screwing such as installing and unscrewing and removing screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver has been replaced in many workplaces and homes with a more modern and versatile tool, a power drill, as they are quicker, easier, and also can drill holes. The shaft is usually made of tough steel to resist bending or twisting. The tip may be hardened to resist wear, treated with a dark tip coating for improved visual contrast between tip and screw—or ridged or treated for additional ‘grip’. Handles are typically wood, metal, or plastic and usually hexagonal, square, or oval in cross-section to improve grip and prevent the tool from rolling when set down. Some manual screwdrivers have interchangeable tips that fit into a socket on the end of the shaft and are held in mechanically or magnetically. These often have a hollow handle that contains various types and sizes of tips, and a reversible ratchet action that allows multiple full turns without repositioning the tip or the user’s hand.