I will add to this that the "name brand" tool was forged. Close inspection
of the HF tool showed it to be welded from two separate pieces of steel of
uncertain pedigree. The fracture was very jagged, not the clean fracture
you get from decent metal properly heat treated. And, as Leo pointed out,
the name brand tool seprated the parts very easily with no damage at all to
the tool.



"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"*" 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.






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