Hex Key - Manufacturing Methods

Manufacturing Methods

• Hex socket screw heads are usually made by stamping the head with a die, plasticly deforming the metal. Other ways to generate the hex socket include linear broaching and rotary broaching. Broaching the heads with a linear broach is essentially the metalworking analog of mortising wood with a mortising machine; a hole is drilled and then the corners are broached out. This operation often leaves little telltale curled chips still attached at the bottom of the socket. These are negligible for most applications.
• Hex keys are made by imparting the hexagon cross-section to steel wire (for example, with a die), then bending and shearing.