On Sun, 2 Feb 2014 08:05:25 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Why is it so difficult to find 4"-6" screwdriver bit **sets** with Phillips and slotted tips as in the subject? I'm talking bits like these;

VERY good question. I found a 6" square drive and 6" #2 phillips bit
at Homey's Despot a couple years ago. They're also available at Lee
Valley up in Canuckistan. I order only when they have free shipping
(twice a year) any more. We used to enjoy a money valuation
difference of about 30% with Canada, but it's reversed now. sigh
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...=1,43411,43417

Note to self: I should order half a dozen the next time I see the sale
on. They're well-made bits.


http://www.amazon.com/PHILLIPS-SCREW...pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/PHILLIPS-SCREW...bxgy_hi_text_y

I'm not talking power bits with hex shafts all the way through like these (they suck);

http://www.amazon.com/PHILLIPS-SCREW...bxgy_hi_text_z

I have no problem with those at all. Why do you? Oh, one exception.
When I need a small bit to disassemble an electronics box made of
plastic, the hex is too large to fit. Bit extensions don't work for
the same reason. I need a smaller-diametered round shaft instead.
Luckily, almost every phillips screw out there is #2. The smaller-
sized boxes with smaller heads are the few exceptions.

I occasionally use a 1/4" hex-square drive adapter and 1/4" extensions
with 1/4" socket and hex bits when needed, too. It's especially handy
with the 18" MAC extension I bought a few decades ago. A small
rare-earth magnet inside the socket keeps the bit from falling out.


Heck, I'm almost to the point of buying several normal screwdrivers and cutting off the handles in my lathe. They'll at least work in a driver/drill cordless tool with jawed chuck, albeit with possible slipping.

I hear ya. In that case, put it in the mill and mill 3 flats so it
can be chucked properly.


Ever since battery powered screwdrivers, with their sloppy hex "chucks", made their debut in the 80's, it's like suddenly our screw driving needs no longer require shafts as long as what we're used to with manual screwdrivers.

Yeah, that's a ****er, isn't it? I need longer shafts to get into
small places the power driver won't fit into, and extensions add that
much more play and I lose tips in inaccessible places if I try.

--
I have the consolation of having added nothing to my private fortune during
my public service, and of retiring with hands clean as they are empty.
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Count Diodati, 1807

Too bad -none- of the current CONgresscritters are willing to do that. -LJ