Actually, it's not quite that bad, the locknut (at least on the Dura-Ace model) is undercut in such a way that you only need about 2mm of washer to get the lower wrench to rotate between the adjustable cup and the locknut (so you can remove the lower wrench).
The other big reason that these Shimano tools don't ruin the headset's finish is that the special wrenches are made of aluminum. With all of that contact area, they needn't be made of anything very hard.
So, they also make for a lighter toolbox.
Scott Minneman San Francisco, CA, USA
-----Original Message----- From: Nor Meyer [mailto:norbikes@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2008 11:49 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Re: Shimano 600 EX headsets
Regarding the scalloped headset wrenches, I assume everyone knows that the adjustable cup & the lock nut must be separated by a keyed washer whose thickness exceeds that of the wrench applied to the adjustable cup. Otherwise you will not be able to remove the wrench from the adjustable cup---an embarassing discovery I made when first installing said headset with the dedicated wrenches. Yet another "great idea" that turned out to be not quite so.
Nor Meyer in Mt. Vernon, IA