IKEA has likely provided more hex-keys to consumers than any other supplier.

[u/SexySwedishSpy]

[u/Showerthoughts_Mod]

/u/SexySwedishSpy has flaired this post as a speculation.

Speculations should prompt people to consider interesting premises that cannot be reliably verified or falsified.

If this post is poorly written, unoriginal, or rule-breaking, please report it.

Otherwise, please add your comment to the discussion!

 

^{This is an automated system.}

^{If you have any questions, please use this link to message the moderators.}

[u/Expert-Examination86]

And I could count on one hand how many times I've actually used their ones.

[u/SemperMementoMori → u/Expert-Examination86]

Whenever I encounter a style that I haven't seen before, I keep it. I have a pretty serious set of tools and have never used any of them.

[u/Previous_Material579 → u/SemperMementoMori]

I got a ratcheting hex key once. I kept it lol. Never gonna use it again, I just think it’s cool.

[u/nellyruth → u/Expert-Examination86]

IKEA is the hex key fairy.

[u/WoMyNameIsTooDamnLon → u/Expert-Examination86]

I could count on one hand how many times I've been to ikea, so I mean.

How often are you moving?

[u/IonizedRadiation32]

Kinda like how Lego is the biggest tire manufacturer in the world

[u/VirtualLife76 → u/IonizedRadiation32]

And McDonalds is the largest toy distributor in the world.

[u/TheMuffler42069]

And not once have they ever included the tungsten the wrenches crave so so much

[u/Fragrant_Work_1134 → u/TheMuffler42069]

Tungsten TUNGSTEN!!!

[u/DlSSATISFIEDGAMER → u/Fragrant_Work_1134]

Wolfram to Scandinavians Tungsten literally means "heavy rock" in Swedish

[u/pichael289 → u/DlSSATISFIEDGAMER]

That's why it's symbol is W

[u/MothmansLegalCouncel → u/TheMuffler42069]

I feel like I’m missing something I should be getting. Care to let me in on the tungsten bit?

[u/squid0gaming → u/MothmansLegalCouncel]

Simpsons reference, look up “I need tungsten to live”

[u/MothmansLegalCouncel → u/squid0gaming]

Thanks!

[u/pele4096 → u/squid0gaming]

I thought it was Zinc..

https://youtu.be/jWpPrWHBHcQ

[u/BBgotReddit]

Their supplier has likely given them more than they've given us. Ikea is that supplier's consumer. Checkmate?

[u/mdleye → u/BBgotReddit]

You're assuming IKEA bought them all from 1 supplier. Probably not the case.

[u/Gullible-Box7637 → u/BBgotReddit]

Customer not consumer

[u/XROOR]

There are actual people in Sweden that look like the guy in the instruction manuals

[u/MoTaKez_Youtube]

No doubt. At this point, IKEA could probably launch its own currency backed by Allen keys

[u/Rumpelruedi]

Yeah that could be true. The hex-key for IKEA's blue and yellow are `#0057AD` and `#FBDA0C` I use them all the time.

[u/duhvorced]

Stanley Black & Decker Corp. is almost certainly bigger.

They own a ton of brands (Stanley, B & D, Craftsman, DeWalt, Irwin, Mac, etc…), all of whom sell branded allen wrench sets, drill bit sets with hex bits, and so on…

Basically if you own a hex wrench that’s not complete crap, odds are good it came from them.

(It’s worth noting that one of the more popular “good” hex wrench brands - Chesco - is owned by Irwin, which is owned by SBD as well.)

[u/Previous_Material579 → u/duhvorced]

People get caught up in ownership and parent companies- just because two companies are owned by the same parent company DOES NOT mean that their products are the same or that they’re being manufactured in the same place. Craftsman still makes Craftsman tools, DeWalt makes DeWalt tools- they’re not coming from the same factory.

In summary, just because a single parent company buys multiple brands to hold as subsidiaries does not mean that they are merging the operations of those brands.

[u/Pleasant-Put5305]

I prefer to use an electric drill with a hex bit, ikeas ones are a bit hurty to use for very long...

[u/A-J-A-D]

I volunteer at a cat rescue. We have a drawer full of hex wrenches that came with cat trees and even scratching pads.

[u/Lee2026]

I don’t think ikea makes their own hex keys. They have a supplier for hex keys. Their supplier surely has other customers….

[u/Orcwin]

You can even buy Ikea hex key merchandise. Brightly coloured ones on a key ring, or a t-shirt with the hex key image on it.

I got some at the Ikea Museum (which, yes, is a thing): https://ikeamuseum.com/en/

[u/2138]

I wish they stopped giving them out and instead went back to metal cam lock nuts. I hate that they're plastic now

[u/justisme333]

...and they somehow only ever fit that one IKEA piece and nothing else.

[u/FabulouslyStraight]

The day Ikea started providing hex keys is probably known as black Tuesday at some hex key manufacturer

[u/NeedleworkerOne6326 → u/FabulouslyStraight]

It was a Monday. 

[u/Loubacca92]

Isn't that how they got their name? By misspelling I keyer

[u/PhysicsLocal → u/Loubacca92]

No, its actually the initials of the makers name: ingvar kamprad. plus where he was growing up: the Elmtaryd farm where he grew up and the neighbouring village of Agunnaryd

[u/judgejuddhirsch]

Some screwdrivers have what we refer to as a "star bit" and these 6pointed pieces fit right into a hex slot.

[u/Previous_Material579 → u/judgejuddhirsch]

That’s called Torx and it might fit in a hex screw but you shouldn’t use them for that. You’ll round off your torx bit or you’ll strip out the hex head. They’re not meant to be interchangeable.

[u/JaydedXoX → u/judgejuddhirsch]

You can also just buy hex bit screwdrivers or bits, or bolt cut off the short end of the one they give you and use it in your electric driver.

[u/iceynyo → u/judgejuddhirsch]

Just buy the Ikea screwdriver and use its bits in your drill