Interesting idea, but I think it would suffer from being too weak structurally to be of much use. Each consecutive size would have to slide in and out and that design would cause trouble with maintaining rigidity.
However, if you would find one let me know. I would likely buy it too.
This is a solved issue. Use a bit set to have the different heads you need to fit on one driver. You can get ones that store the bits inside the driver.
Any telescopic mechanism is going to have a hollow centre and be weaker and prone to deforming. Larger hex keys are used to deliver more torque, making them hollows defeats the purpose of having a larger key, and small bolt and hex key should have been used to save weight and cost (or the same size to standardised the tooling).
Do you think the hollow core would make that much of a difference? The head of the key would still be solid and the depth required for each different size likely wouldn't account to much. There would probably maybe half an inch at the opposite end from the head. If someone used a t like design, with the top bit being where the grip and hollow portion are, I imagine that would likely cut down a bit on torque exposed directly to the hollow section.
Imagine bearing against a stack of papers. It's much more likely to deform than an equivalent size piece of wood.
Thinner parts make deformation and breaking more likely.
nothing fucks with tolerance like a twisting force, and that's the only force you're going to be applying to this thing.
Perhaps you could get a bit kit like this and replace the bits with hex bits. This one is made by Victorinox
I wonder if there is a 1/4" hex drive set where the bits work like those old pencils
lol you'd have to sort through all of them one at a time to find the right one every time
True. You'd be giving up a bit of convenience for a bit of compactness. It wouldn't be too bad with three separate tubes for Allen, Torx, and Phillips/flat/square
I have this nifty thing, but it isn't exactly pocket friendly. https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/a21b3474-8e3b-4eed-851d-cf96889384d1.webp
You mean like this - https://bikerumor.com/telehex-a-unique-universal-allen-key/
I had previously posted on Lemmy about 3d printing something similar for sizing, not for actual use.
Yeah that's what I stumbled across when looking for this online. It doesn't seem like they sell anything these days
I think this is a great idea! I guess strength might be the biggest issue? The metal would have to be layered really thin to fit all sizes, while being able to withstand strong rotational force. Although all the smaller sizes would fill the gap I'm not sure it would work. Making and testing this idea would be a good YouTube video, maybe send this as a suggestion to some engineering YouTubers?
Might be workable if you settle on combining only 2 to 3 keys (small, medium, large) per hex.
Or, learn metallurgy and material science to find some new polymer or alloy that would be strong enough.
But honestly, it sounds like a really expensive endeavor that even if you made it work, isn't practical enough to justify the cost.
Maybe something like the universal socket wrench style could influence a design that's workable as a multi-hex, and be made cheaply enough.
It’s hard to transmit torque through a telescoping mechanism.
Not sure but maybe expanding your search to include bit drivers/sockets in general could help. Might also look for telescoping ratchet.
Like a ratcheting socket with a kind of aperture function?
Nah, just one with a swappable bit holder. They do make some that kind of iris in on the nut but I've heard they're not that great.
Depending on what you're using it for, your best bet might be a compact set like this or this.
There are various types of universal "female" style wrenches, but nothing I've ever seen for the "male" type that requires different bits. A set with integrated bit storage is probably as small as you're going to get.
Telehex failed (I guess they've been trying to raise money on Kickstarter since at least 2015) because it offers no real advantage over a regular folding allen key with interchangeable heads. it's only good for 3, 4, 5 & 6mm heads, so you're paying an absurd amount of money for something that you could replace with one of these for a lot less money in the exact same form factor. plus, you're introducing multiple possible points of failure; there's no way a Telehex would survive as many uses as something significantly cheaper. same reason the universal socket didn't stick around
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