It's time I purchased a nice set of screwdrivers for the ol' workbench. I frequently see large collections of 'em at Costco, but I'm wondering whether I should go someplace like Sears or Home Depot and pick up a quality set of a well-known brand? Is a screwdriver a screwdriver, or are there superior products to be had?
-Fleemo
Snap-On is the only way to go for phillips screwdrivers. Everything else is a chisel or paint stirrer. Otherwise I'm a big fan of Craftsman tools.
-rev
snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote:
I'm no expert but better screwdrivers, like used in gunsmithing, have beveled heads, unlike tapered heads in common screwdrivers. You don't need a whole set of beveled ones, but it is nice to have a few around.
Frank
A bit of advice! Never buy a cheap inferior tool of any kind, unless you are only going to use it once. Jack
Exception: If you have a tool abuser in the house, leave the cheap ones where they're easy to find. Keep the good stuff in a locked tool box.
Get a quality, well known brand. A cheap screwdriver is just as bad as any other cheap tool. I like my Klein screwdrivers FWIW although Craftsman, Snap-On (if you like spending lots of money for a slightly better product) etc. are good.
nate
Most brands of tools have a few grades. Craftsman, Stanley, probably many others, make a higher end as well as some crappy ones. Most of us need 4 screwdrivers for 90% of what you do. A #1 and #2 Phillips, a 1/8 and 1/4" flat blade. Torx is becoming popular, especially with automotive. T-12 and T-15 seem to be the most used. The other 10% are the very small sizes. The #0 Phillips is often used for electronics and such.
Two things to look at. First, the handle. Better drives have a nice hefty handle with a contour that is easily gripped. Cheap ones are smaller diameter, hard to grip, and can actually hurt your hand it you do a lot of turning with a lot of pressure.
Next is the tip. I know a few brands will heat treat the tip and they are precise in the size and grind. Cheap ones are not, will bend, break, ruin screws.
Good tools make a job go faster, easier, less prone to damage. Cheap tools can cause nightmares when they strip out screws.
Once you get the screwdrivers, look at a couple of wrenches, sockets, etc. Quality just feels good in the hand.
I just bought a Stanley multi bit screwdriver at Home Depot. The screwdriver has bits in the handle. It also has a magnetic tip which is a must for me. For heavy jobs this would not be the best selection, but for every day jobs it is perfect. This would be more of a kitchen drawer tool than a shop tool but I consider it a very useful tool. The bits also fit the magnetic extension I have for my battery drill.
Here is the same one at Amazon
If you were the type of tool user who would see a difference between a decent screwdriver and a really good screwdriver you wouldn't be asking here, you'd be out buying the Klein, Snap-On, etc. screwdrivers.
Since you are asking, you will most likely be well served by the $30 or so Craftsman screwdriver set at Sears. With the lifetime warranty any you manage to mangle will be replaced. I use mostly Craftsman screwdrivers myself, can be pretty hard on them and still rarely need to have one replaced.
Pete C.
Don't forget a #1 and #2, red and green handles are the most common in Robertson or square drive used in furniture and electrical work. Sometimes you need smaller, yellow and the smallest, orange handle. Black handle is the largest.
The other 10% are the very small sizes.
i have always enjoyed sears craftsman. a screwdriver is not a screwdriver especially when it is used as a mini-crowbar by your helpers. for the beginners, buy a variety of tools at walmart. for the children and for spares an assorted set of home tools in the $25 price range is a good starting point. or the same money buys you a sears craftsman screwdriver set such as at
snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote:
Screwdrivers vary in two places: The handle and the tip (well, that's pretty much it).
The manufacturer can stamp out a screwdriver from pot metal, or go to exacting lengths in fashioning the tip.
A quality tip will be made of the right kind of metal to hold an exacting temper such that it won't bend, dull, or warp under tension while at the same time not be so brittle as to crack or break. For Phillips, sufficient iron content to hold a magnetic charge is a plus. The quality screwdriver will have a precision shape to properly engage the screw.
In actual use, you'll appreciate a quality screwdriver perhaps 20% of the time; that is, a piece of junk will suffice for most jobs.
If you have a high frustration threshold, buy the junk. If you simply cannot tolerate exasperation or botched projects, go for the quality.
You're getting good advice here, but I'd like to add another consideration; comfort. Whatever you buy, make sure they feel comfortable in your hand.
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Years ago I would have chosen Sears Craftsman, but times have changes and now we have K-mart Sears and their hand tools are no longer what they once were.
Snap-on would be my choice today.
The Lowes Kobalt tools are made by Snap-on. Are they the same quality as the regular Snap-on, or a made-to-spec inferior imitation? Any actual experience other than general store opinion?
Bob
Wow! That was quite a response. :)
Thank you all for taking the time to chime in. I truly appreciate it.
-Fleemo
The Kobalt tools are gaureented for life and I have several of the phillips head screw drivers that are quite good screw drivers IMHO.
Rich
Have a look at Lowe's Kobalt line. Good looking, feels right in the hand, and guaranteed forever. Looks the same as the Autozone line which is also guaranteed forever. Used to like Craftsman but they haven't improved the design in 30 years and there are new technologies such as soft-grip handles. Also liked Rigid but they stopped making screwdrivers a year or so ago.
I used to dislike all this "bit" stuff. I wanted a whole driver attached to, one piece with, the bit.
But lately, the solution to my big bugaboo, phillips head screws, seems to be high quality bits, which seem harder than almost any screwdriver (well, Stanley and one other famous brand I can't think of.)
Actually I have been using a 1 or 2 inch thing that is phillips on one end and flat on the other, for use in a drill, and for a handle I've been using a big ratchet ball that they used to sell at JCW for a dollar. It's 2 or 3 inches in diameter and the extra diameter makes for great leverage. It came with bits too but I don't know where they are and I'm sure they are cheap.
If I ruin a flat blade screwdriver it just makes me proud of my strengtth, and I can regrind it, and then not use it for such hard jobs.
I used to blame myself when I ruined a phillips, that I didn't hold it in well enough, but I know now it's not me. When I do (because I still have cheap ones, or find cheap ones, all I can do is grind it into a scratch awl or a hole maker, and I have too many of them by now.
So just by a small and a larger good quality Phillips and you can imo use whatever you want for the other stuff.
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