Stanley screwdrivers

[John Southern]

Folllowing advice from the group about the CK drivers i was using that snap off at the tip ive decided stanley may be the way forward. Question is are the Magnum drivers any better than CK screwdrivers ? I alredy had a few Stanley drivers but dropped one down a column the other week ! Ive also been eyeing up the WIHA drivers made exclusively for Screwfix. Standard drivers are ok for most off my work as its on new circuits not yet energized but when i have to work near Live terminals who makes the best VDE drivers ? Ive had Wera,Stanley,CK,Irazola and no name cheapos from Bodjit and Quiver.

Jon.

[BIGEYE]

Stanley drivers are crap. If you want good screwdrivers, buy Xcelite. They are made in USA. Alternatively, go for the mechanics set from RS Components, stock # 228-4143

[usenet]

Unless you're working on higher voltages than normal domestic mains (and/or 3ph, i.e. up to 415 volts) then any old plastic handle is going to insulate you very effectively from a live terminal.

[stefek.zaba]

As a matter of practical fact, you're right. But if any of the activity is covered by employer's liability, Electricity At Work Act, yada yada, then using or providing anything other than pukka VDE-style damage-visible finger-slip-protecting drivers when you "know or should reasonably have known" that live working was a possibility is likely to land the employer/specifier in deep doggy doo doo: and it's not as if VDE-rated drivers are massively expensive.

You have to wonder where Darwin comes in to it, mind: I seem to remember seeing a catalogue where "mechanics pattern" drivers (continous steel shaft extending right through the handle to a domed top suitable for hitting with a Birmingham Screwdriver) were explicitly labelled as "not suitable for live working". Well, fancy that....

Stefek