I just twisted a torx bit into a spiral trying to remove a rusted screw, then used a Dremel to cut a slot across the top and took it out with a flat screwdriver. The screwdriver didn't bend at all.
None of the bits I ever saw are made of hardened steel like a single-piece screwdriver. Does anybody make harder bits?
Where did you get the poor things?
The cheap box of bits I got from Horrible Freight, I'd be rather more concerned that they're going to snap into pieces if I force them hard.
I've bent and twisted dozens of screwdrivers, though.
Tim
-- Seven Transistor Labs, LLC Electrical Engineering Consultation and Contract Design
Put some Viagra tablets in the container where you keep your bits. They will get hard! :)
Snap-On and Proto both make good torx bits. $12 per bit. They don't bend, they just suddenly break.
Proto and Mac do, I think PB Baumann does also. They aren't cheap, but they work. We use the Proto ones.
In addition you may want to invest in some Kroil or PB Blaster, and maybe a small torch....
--scott
-- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Don't forget they have a lifetime warranty on hand tools so get a better replacement.
Tim Williams wrote:
Try Milwaukee bits. There are a number of others that are designed for impact drivers but Milwaukee are the best, IMO.
Get good quality bits and your problem goes away. If you buy off Amazon or eBay then you get 3rd world quality, not 1st world.
Try some Hazet tools some time as an example of 1st world quality. Be sure you get them from a factory authorized distributor or you are likely to just buy counterfeit.
There is a reason why some brands of tools cost more than others...
John :-#)#
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John's Jukes Ltd.
Extra cost of marketing??
Lots of profits for brand owners?
-- Mike Perkins Video Solutions Ltd
Better quality.
Something that actually does what it promises?
Ever seen ads for Hazet, PB, or Proto? Those guys don't advertise much, because they don't really need to.
The people who put money into marketing are the mid-grade outfits like Snap-On and Mac, who make respectable but not marvelous tools and make up for that in advertising.
Maybe, but I suspect there's a lot more money selling millions of crappy tools than hundreds of really nice ones. Harbor Freight is making money hand over fist, and so are their suppliers. There's not a lot of money in selling $100 Swiss pattern files, because there are only a limited number of people who are going to buy them. Vaillorbe makes great tools, and they might have high margins too, but they aren't making huge profits.
--scott
-- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Like a man that started a food chain of stores in the town I live in. He sold brand name food, same as any other store. Then one day we marked everythign down. I was a stock boy then around 17 years old. His idea was to make 10 fast pennies instead of one slow dime. He would by a boxcar load of an item and put it in his warehouse. A number of years later the three big names like A&P, Kroger and Winn Dixie closed and moved out of town. Now there are several of his stores around in the near by are, and the only other food places are one of each, Walmart, Audies, and one other store.
Many of the Harbor Freight tools are good enough for a one or two time use. I have some, but would not buy them if I was using them to make a living.Most of my better tools are the Craftsman tools from years ago. The latter ones have not been as good of quality.
Round 1999-2000 Sears decided to ditch their OEM provider of Craftsman tools in favor of a cheaper supplier. They also introduced a new line of "Sears tools" that had mo\lifetime warranty.
Oh, and the original OEM? They now sell tools with a lifetime warranty through Home Depot. Their name? Husky.
And for the first six months, they also offered to honor the warranty on any Craftsman tools.
-- "I am a river to my people." Jeff-1.0
The voice of experience....
-- Shaun. "Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
+1 I had the exact same experience here too; supposedly a premium brand tool in this country 'n' all. Mind you, to be fair, I also had a Snap-On [TM] straight screwdriver bit snap off first time I used it (back in '78) maybe they've improved since.
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