Socket sets - black chrome vs bright.

WarrenL

WarrenL

Active Member
I need a new 3/8 socket set, and on the weekend I found one that ticks all my personal boxes, but it is a black chrome finish. I have no experience of this finish - how does it compare to the traditional bright finish in terms of durability?
 
Perhaps that's the secret to whatever durability they may possess - you can never find them so they never get used. But you didn't really answer my totally serious question, Willy.
 
WarrenL said:
But you didn't really answer my totally serious question, Willy.
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I know, sorry about that. Hopefully someone else will be able to. (My black impact sockets seem fine, but don't that much use.)
 
I've never used black chrome Warren, so I couldn't comment definitively on its durability but I'd say its unlikely to be any better or worse than bright chrome.

I'd say as well though, IMHO, durability rather depends on who's made the kit rather than the cosmetic finish. Go for a decent make and you're unlikely to be disappointed.

Willy Eckerslyke said:
My black impact sockets seem fine, but don't that much use.
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Horses for courses, but I'll use my (chemically blacked) impact sockets for non-impact jobs when I feel I need a hex socket rather than bi-hex.
 
are the black chrome a matt or shiny finish? if matt won't they be easier to pick up with greasy/oily fingers?
 
The one I'm looking at is a Stanley set, so it should be OK. Can't remember if they're shiny or matt, but they are 6-point sockets. I prefer those - the number of times I've had 12-point sockets slip on tough nuts is beyond count. In fact, I had to go buy a 6-point 9/16 socket for my 1/2" set just so I could get all the bellhousing bolts off the other day. Things were starting to go bad, and a 6-point socket grips MUCH better.
 
Sorry to say that Stanley as a brand name lost its credibility many years ago Warren.

Graeme
 
I can't speak for other manufacturers, but the Snap-On stuff is shiny chrome for general use
and the black stuff for impact guns and power tools use.
I would have no problems buying them, though for home use on my own cars, as long as they
met the standard criteria of looks/quality/price etc.
 
You're right Graeme LIke Haynes manuals, Stanley tools ain't what they used to be. But for the sort of use they get put to at my house, the Stanley stuff is fine. I can neither afford nor justify Snap On. And if you saw the POS 3/8" set I currently have...

Conversely, my 1/2" is a Durabilt, bought nearly 20 years ago and in excellent condition. It has been a very good socket set. I think it cost me about $400, and I have never been able to fault it, other than that it contains 12 point sockets, and knowing what I know now, I'd only buy a 6 point set.
 
Bought the Stanley set on the weekend after reading mostly good reviews on Amazon. The case is pretty crappy, but the set seems nice, and there is a certain novelty value in the black chrome. It'll certainly do the trick for me.
 
Post a pic of your new socket set please Warren? :D I do like to see shiny new socket sets (I know, I need to get a life).

I tried Googling about to see if there was any pros and cons on black chrome but didn't find much. Though did find this site with some good info on Chrome Plating. There's even a podcast you can download about black chrome. http://www.finishing.com/faqs/chrome.html

On subject of impact socket sets. I am thinking just because a socket is black (e.g. black chrome), doesn't mean it's an impact socket. Impact sockets will be made of softer more elastic metal (e.g. chromoly bdenum). Using normal chrome or black chrome sockets on an impact driver isn't a good idea as they are likely to crack or split.
 
JVY said:
On subject of impact socket sets. I am thinking just because a socket is black (e.g. black chrome), doesn't mean it's an impact socket. Impact sockets will be made of softer more elastic metal (e.g. chromoly bdenum). Using normal chrome or black chrome sockets on an impact driver isn't a good idea as they are likely to crack or split.
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Quite so, sir. Snap-On do it to differentiate within their range of products.
 
I went to a local car boot yesterday, near Burgh castle in Norfolk. I bought a couple of Elora 'master' socket sets in 1/2 inch drive from two stalls.One looks to be have hardly been used and the other was in pretty good condition. List price on the modern version of these is about £500 or so. These cost under twenty quid for the two. I'll keep one set for my own use and maybe sell the other.
I was pretty pleased,I really like the older Elora stuff.
 
hairyrover said:
List price on the modern version of these is about £500 or so. These cost under twenty quid for the two.
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How much were the Rolexes?

(Sorry, but I won't be the only one thinking along those lines. :oops: )
 
:LOL: You are a cynical lot. Sometimes you do just get folk flogging stuff at car boots and they really don't know the value. I mean, when I try to explain to SWMBO that a Snap-on spanner set costs a few hundred quid, I just get that, "you're havin' laugh look". :LOL:
 
JVY said:
Post a pic of your new socket set please Warren? :D I do like to see shiny new socket sets (I know, I need to get a life).
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Umm, I've used them a bit now so they're not quite as shiny as they were! But I can certainly post a pic, will do so next time I get out to the garage with the camera. Apart from the crappy case I'm pleased with the set. The jury is out on its ultimate durability, but it seems well made and the ratchets are very nice to use. I'm pleased to have a proper 1/4" ratchet for the first time, rather than using an adapter to mate a 3/8" drive with 1/4" sockets. The 6-point sockets are a major point in this set's favour. I've come to distrust 12-point sockets after a number of bad experiences over the years. I know the modern day Stanley is not Koken or Snap On, but at the price I paid, and for the sort of use I will subject the set to, it appears to be a good buy.
 
I'm with you on the 6-point sockets Warren. TBH, I can't really understand the point of non-hex sockets. I realise you can maybe more easily/quickly locate the socket on a nut or bolt head with the 12-point. However, they will just tend to round off the corners. So, given the choice, I would always go for the hex sockets. I like the hex sockets that have the slightly convex "flats", that way the socket is always driving on the flats of the of the nut or bolt head.
 
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