LOX screws are so strip-proof, you’d practically have to take a drill bit to ‘em to ruin ‘em.  The same goes for spline bolts — good luck stripping them — plus many spline wrenches are “backwards compatible” with hex, twelve-point, female Torx, and square-heads, and they’re more effective at turning 50% rounded fasteners.  Now the Wright Spline takes another step.

According to the Wright website, “Most wrenching problems occur in removing fasteners, because the removal torque is frequently twice or more the installation torque,” so they took that into account when designing the Wright Splines.  Go figure;  a tool manufacturer looks at when we all have the most trouble — removing bolts — and figures out how to handle it.

Here’s the problem with loving the technology so much:  It looks like technology has gotten ahead of industry, because I can’t find them for sale anywhere.  As if I really need them…

Wright Spline [Wright Tool]

We saw one of these the other day while out picking up some light bulbs oogling tools.  It’s a regular wrench in most respects, except that it has teeth on the open end.  Ok, more like baby teeth.  Ok, really they look more like nubs. 

They’re called Wright Grip, and the manufacturer says that the teeth deliver more torque while “increasing tool life and strength.”  Wright has incorporated the “Grip” design into all their open ended wrenches, which they say provides 50% more strength and “longer service life” than traditional open-end wrenches with no increase in the tool’s outside dimensions of the wrench head.

It looks like it might grip well, though the teeth might shred the fastener if you’re not careful.  Still, any extra gripping power is welcome.  And as we all know: With great power comes great responsibility.

The cost is a bit on the high side at $100 for a set of four or six wrenches.

Wright Grip [Wright Tools]

Related:

• Armstrong’s Ratcheting Open-End Wrenches
• Stanley Proto’s Jumbo Ratcheting Wrenches