doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Screwdriver sets

Once again, I appeal to those with experience for some guidance. I'm looking for a screwdriver set for use on the American classics, and see them priced from $20-$200. I would appreciate any recommendations from those who have/do use them.

Norm, In my opinion the Wheeler set is ideal. The 89 pc. set has 52 hollow ground flat bits and has doubles in the smaller sizes, 4 phillips, 8 allen head and 3 torx. Good for shotguns, rifles and scopes. Brownells, Midway sell the same thing, go to ebay sometimes you can get a good deal.

Midway has a current sale going with the Wheeler sets about $10 off the regular price.

Jeff

What JDW said. There are some good options out there with bits. They will require some bucks, but be worth it. The wide selection will fit most everything. Push come to thsove, they can be reground to fit particualr applications.

At the the lower end are some of the wood handled sets with 6-12 fixed blades. In my experience they don't fit a thing and ultimately are too soft to regrind to a usable, durable tool.

If money is a concern, I buy Black and Decker driver bit sets at Wally World for about $7 and grind them to fit. There are about 40 bits and a magnetic holder. The quality of the steel is very good. I turn a handle for the magnetic holder that fits my hand.
bill

After buying inexpensive set which fits nothing, I now grind my own.
If you want a hardy laugh check some of the ones they offer at Lewis and Drake site. It's like wealthy bags do their own screws, NOT!

I had kept this from a few years back, a post about making your own, I believe the pertinent information is from tw. BTW, tw, if you see this can you explain the last bit about grinding to prevent "camming out"?

... not sure how to exactly go about the annealing and then hardening. Care to elaborate?
sure. however the REAL mechanics here are probably going to have apoplexy.
i start a pot of tea-water to boiling and stick the tips of some number of screwsticks in the flames of the kitchen gas stove. they get good&red about the time the water is hot. shove the screwdriver tip-down into a bucket of woodash or vermaculite and forget about them for a day or two. then i sort them by size without being particular about greasing or rust prevention.
when you need one, find the about-closest-fit one. brush&polish all the rust & crap off the tip and up the shaft a ways, then grind & file to your exact need. don't forget to radius-grind the blade 1⁄4" or so to make sure the flats are parallel.
play the blade and an inch or two of the shaft in a propane or mapp torch until red-red and quench in whatever liquid is handy.
to temper, turn off most of the light in your shop - dimmer is better than either light or dark. place the screwdriver *shaft* about an inch up from the blade in a steady propane/mapp flame. almost inststantly, bands of colors will start marching both ways away from the from the heat point. when the dividing line between blue & straw gets close to the tip, quench.
and you're good-to-go.
literally, from the time you finish grinding, filing and fitting, it takes longer to type this up than it does to harden & temper.
when you are finished with the screwdriver, put it in the basket: 'too be annealed'.
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Posts: 6 | From: texas | Registered: Dec 2004 | IP: Logged |
Chuck H
Sidelock
Member # 3831
Member Rated:
posted January 14, 2005 09:18 PM
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Lime will work if woodash or other is not available for annealing.
Only caution I'd say would be some of the really cheesy import (Chinese) screwdrivers may not have enough carbon to harden.
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Posts: 1847 | From: Torrance, CA | Registered: Feb 2004 | IP: Logged |
Recoil Rob
Sidelock
Member # 80
Rate Member posted January 14, 2005 11:32 PM
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Any problem with the blades loosening up in the plastic handles from the heat?
Thanks, Rob
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Posts: 837 | From: Vista, NY | Registered: Jan 2002 | IP: Logged |
tw
Boxlock
Member # 3297
posted January 15, 2005 11:51 AM
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FWIW, if there are no garage sales nearby just go to the closest pawn shop. I have bought them by the handfull for two bits($0.25) apiece for years. Have used similar method explained above, no tea pot for anealing/hardening, when necessary, but frequently use fine grit tool post wheel followed by a quick quench in oil.

For a parallel slot the screwdriver tip will not cam out if you radius the sides looking at the tip face on, so that the sides look like this ..( )
Kind regards, tw

I have tried the cheap sets, and have been very dissapointed..... Went to the Wheeler set, not the top line, but one, as I did not need some of the specialty tools included......I purchased the one just under that and have been very happy.

Hello Norm;
The Brownells THIN set will cover what the master set dosen't. Get them both --- Just one opinion, but don't cut corners here. Learned this the hard way of course, and should have known better as I have been buying Snap On at work for 30 some years. The BEST -- really is the cheapest in the long run.

Hey Norm,

I agree with Kraft..... I have been using the Brownells Magna-Tip Super Set for years. The set includes a wide variety of bits that fit virtually every screw slot I have encountered. For those odd slots, they sell blanks that you can custom grind. The only down-fall is that they are quite hard, and you will break one every once in awhile. The plus side is that every time I have called Brownells for replacements... they send them out no charge. Also, as Kraft says... the best are the cheapest in the long run.

Ron