On Sun, 10 Nov 2013 12:25:05 -0800, mike wrote:

Lowes has a sale on Kobalt tools.
For $6 you can get a screwdriver kit that
has torx bits down to size 4. And they're smaller shank,
so the bit holder has smaller diameter and will fit down
the deep hole in the plastic of some devices to access the
screw head.
No brainer...except.
Are they any good.
The bits are shiny silver. My experience has been that the
shiny silver bits are much softer than the dull black ones.

They're guaranteed for life, but that's no help if you've
just stripped the head of that #4 Torx screw holding together
the $300 gizmo you're trying to repair.

So, is there any correlation between shiny silver surface and
softness for screwdriver bits? In the store, how do you tell
what's tough and what's not?

Once you've seen enough cheap Chiwanese crapmetals, you'll begin to
discern real, usable tools from crap pretty easily. Alternatively,
take one of their sets over to their vise sections and mount your own
screws. Try to break one right there in the store. They might not
like it much, but it's preferable to buying crap and then having to
take it back for a refund.

--
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult,
whereas I am merely in disguise.
-- Margaret Atwood