"*" wrote: (clip) If you place it over a side-to-side taper - such as a
drill press chuck -
the taper spreads the tips apart - possibly.........TADA!......breaking
the
tool.

He probably would have broken a Snap-On separator mis-using it in such a
fashion.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The OP went out and bought a "name brand" separator and used it without
difficulty. Reread the original post.
The radial taper will apply spreading force to the fork ONLY it it is wider
than the gap. Do you suppose that HF makes a separator with a narrower gap
than the name brand? More likely, true to its reputation, HF imports a
Chinese separator made of inferior material. Probably with lead in the
paint. Don't let the baby gnaw on any HF tools.