On Sunday, November 10, 2013 2:34:44 PM UTC-8, Larry Jaques wrote:
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

This is the first post I've even seen from Larry Jackass that is actually good advice. However, it's good to remember that even a stopped clock is correct twice a day.