Bondhus.

About Bondhus

Bondhus Corporation was founded in 1964 by Ben Bondhus in Monticello, Minnesota. The company was built around a single, genuinely original idea: a ball-end hex key that lets a hex fastener be driven at angles of up to 25 degrees off-axis. The design, named the Balldriver, solved a real problem in assembly and maintenance work. Hex fasteners in recessed or awkward locations are common, and the need to be perfectly in line with the axis of the fastener makes some of them very time-consuming to reach with a standard L-key.

Ben Bondhus patented the Balldriver, and the company made it exclusively for many years before the patent expired and the design was widely copied. Today most ball-end hex keys on the market are interpretations of the Bondhus design, but Bondhus remains the original, and by the judgement of professional tool users it is still the most accurate. The ball geometry on a Bondhus key, and the precision of the hex profile on the shank, are measurably better than most imitators, and the difference is plain when the key is used at an angle under load.

The range has grown well beyond the original Balldriver to cover T-handle hex drivers, P-handle sets, combination fold-up L-key sets, screwdriver-handled hex drivers and Torx equivalents. Manufacturing remains in Minnesota, and the quality control that comes with that commitment to domestic manufacture shows in the consistency of the product.

Products We Can Supply from Bondhus

Balldriver L-keys and sets. The original ball-end hex key in individual sizes and fold-up sets, covering metric sizes from 0.9 mm to 10 mm and imperial from 0.028″ to 3/8″. Available in standard chrome finish and in Protanium high-torque steel where the extra torque capacity of the harder alloy is needed. The fold-up sets are compact and practical for field service toolkits.

T-handle hex drivers. T-handle Balldriver drivers for jobs that need more torque than an L-key gives, or for repetitive driving where the T-handle ergonomics reduce hand fatigue. The T-handle lets you apply rotational drive and push pressure at the same time, which helps when starting fasteners in threaded holes. Available in metric and imperial sizes.

GorillaGrip and screwdriver-handle hex drivers. Hexagonal ball-end drivers in a screwdriver-style handle for single-hand driving, with more torque than an L-key and better balance than a T-handle for high-cycle work. The GorillaGrip handle gives good grip in both dry and oily conditions.

Torx and Torx Plus drivers. T-handle and L-key Torx drivers for the increasingly common Torx fastener standard used in automotive, electronics and precision engineering. Applying the ball-end principle to Torx drivers gives the same angled-access advantage as the hex Balldriver range.

Industries

Bondhus hex keys and drivers are used wherever hex cap screws and socket head cap screws are found: mechanical engineering and assembly, automotive manufacturing and servicing, machine maintenance and plant engineering, electronics and instrumentation, bicycle and motorcycle maintenance, aerospace, furniture and equipment assembly, and general engineering workshops. Any engineer who regularly works with socket head cap screws will get real use out of a set of ball-end hex keys.