Flexible screwdriver recommendations

[terry.shitcrumbs]

Hi All. I recently took on a task that required driving screws into wood, but with limited access. I had about 2 or 3 inches of room above the screw heads wit hin which a tool could be applied perpendicular to the wood surface. I woul d normally use my socket set, with a screw driving bit, but the 3/8 to 1/4 adapter that I need for this purpose is temporarily lost. In these situatio ns, without the right tool, the choice ends up being a) drive screw into wo od at a wonky angle, but with screwdriver properly in line or b) drive scre w into wood perpendicular to surface, but apply screwdriver to screw at a w onky angle. I went for option b, and managed to avoid mangling the screw he ad too badly. However, this situation occurs often enough for me to seek a proper solution ( even when I can find the required adapter, the socket set method is slow).

There seem to be quite a few flexible screwdrivers on the market and on the face of it, these seem to be just what I'm after. I can imagine, though, that many of these products would not stand up to high torque. Might anyone be able to recommend one that holds itself together when driving a really tight screw?

Other thoughts include right angle drill-drivers and adapters for standard drills: any good?

Cheers. Terry.

[Capitol]

Personally I find a set of these invaluable about every 5 years:-

[michael adams]

?1.85 + 25p First Class Post

or Post Free Click and Collect from Argos which seeing as it would fit through any letterbox would otherwise be pointless

michael adams

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Snag is you still need a method of keeping the bit square to the head. And if the screw is tight, you'd need a lot of force for this, as the turning force will also tend to skew the bit.

A small socket set is likely still the best bet.

[Mike Clarke]

+1 as regards invaluable but much more frequently than 5 years.

[RJH]

I've got a shed NiMH one of these:

Saved me hours over the years. More like 4" needed, though.

[harry]

h limited access. I had about 2 or 3 inches of room above the screw heads w ithin which a tool could be applied perpendicular to the wood surface. I wo uld normally use my socket set, with a screw driving bit, but the 3/8 to 1/

4 adapter that I need for this purpose is temporarily lost. In these situat ions, without the right tool, the choice ends up being a) drive screw into wood at a wonky angle, but with screwdriver properly in line or b) drive sc rew into wood perpendicular to surface, but apply screwdriver to screw at a wonky angle. I went for option b, and managed to avoid mangling the screw head too badly. However, this situation occurs often enough for me to seek a proper solution ( even when I can find the required adapter, the socket s et method is slow).

he face of it, these seem to be just what I'm after. I can imagine, though , that many of these products would not stand up to high torque. Might anyo ne be able to recommend one that holds itself together when driving a reall y tight screw?

d drills: any good?

Hex headed screws and universal joint as in some socket sets. I never found a "bendy" screwdriver that was any good. They just allow the screwdriver to skid off as insufficient pressure can be applied.