long 1/4" hex shank screwdriver bit sets

I just use short bits with my 6" or 12" extension. Do you have a clearance problem?

If you do end up cutting off long screwdrivers, mill flats on the shafts to keep them from spinning in the chuck.

David

Yes, I have clearance problems quite often and have to resort to manual screwdrivers. Can get sets like below but who wants ten of the same size tip, furthermore, they look rusty and pitted but that may be due to the photograph;

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.

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

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.

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

Yeah, that's a pisser, 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.

Flash photography does that sometimes. I see nothing wrong with them.

That's a great price. Want to split a set? (Though extra shipping would add up...) I'm at zip 97526.

I agree with this. I still do everything by hand buy have a cordless impact driver which I will use with an extension and a hex bit, but it's clumsy due to the spinning hex shaft and the coupler. There's no nice way to steady and point (because of all the slop) a spinning hex bit or extension shaft.

I've bought those, from that vendor

9blattsbargains) and they weren't rusty. I bought both #0, #00 sizes from them.

20 ENKAY 3-1/2" PHILLIPS #0 SCREW DRIVER BITS ROUND SHAFT

20 ENKAY 3-1/2" PHILLIPS #00 SCREW DRIVER BITS ROUND SHAFT 10 ENKAY 6" PHILLIPS #0 SCREW DRIVER BITS 3120 MAGNETIC T...

I'd rather have ten of a size and not use them all, than not be able to find a single one. All I could find around here were #2, and ten were cheaper on Ebay than three were from a flea market dealer. No one had #0 or #00 locally.

I am currently waiting for some drill bits I bought from them a few days ago.

50 DEWALT INDUSTRIAL HSS DRILL BITS

5/64" USA

24 NEIKO TOOL USA TITANIUM INDUSTRIAL DRILL BITS 1/8"

Watch their auctions, rather than BIN, and they combine shipping to reduce your total costs. This is my third purchase from them. The last was

which was ten packages of nine assorted hex drive drivers.

I finally ordered this set off Ebay;

And am about to order the 6" equivalents as single items from McMasterCarr today.

What takes a #0 or 00 driver? I picked up the precision screwdriver set from HF and it has served me well. I just wish the driver shaft extension release worked better. It's hex and extends about 3", but is hard to retract.

Watch Harbor Freight ads. Packs of ten can go for $0.99-1.49 on sale, with no shipping. I also order 10-pks from Enco for pretty cheap.

Great deal, if you can use 30 nut drivers. I guess you could resell sets of nutdrivers and recoup your outlay pretty easily. I'm doing that with some jewelry. I bought components and made some bookmarks necklaces, and bracelets for Mom, my sister, and my niece. I ordered extra large quantities and am assembling and selling necklaces.

I prefer to use 2" screwdriver bits in my Makita impactor. 1% of the time, I need the 3-1/2" or 6" size.

0 & 00 are common in modern, miniature electronics. I have several digital cameras to see about modifying for a project, and they are full of 00 screws.

If you factor in the savings from combined shipping, they were a decent deal. The 1/8" drills are double ended, so that's 48 total. I've bought multiple packs of drills from HF, but the sizes I needed are rarely in stock when they have a sale.

I'll keep about half of them, and give the others to family & friends. They do wear out, on old hardware.

I need 6" quite often, and at times I have to braze a bit to a piece of

1'4" drill rod to reach even deeper into equipment to remove screws.

I bought some double-ended 1/8" drill bits for sheetmetal work, but most of the time, I need longer bits. Yeah, HF sells out quickly when the good sales hit. Ya gotta be quick!

I think I've worn out 2 nut drivers in my life so far. One split and the other rounded from using it on metric screws.

I still have a 28" long (+ handle) blade screwdriver from Matco stuck on the holster on my rolling toolbox. 12" is the longest phillips, but I've used my 36" 3/8" drive extension to make a longer one when I didn't want to get too close to the screw. It's fun using things like that around other people. They give you the strangest looks...

I bought them to take out rivets. HF is far enough away that it's not worth the drive for cheap things, by themselves.

I've worn enough of the out that I keep spares. They still work, but are too sloppy to hold a screw any angle other than straight up. The cost to run around to find a tool when it's needed is much higher than buying a few spares. Like when I bought 100 #2 phillips screwdrivers for $25. I still have almost half of them after giving away, losing and having them stolen from me. The cost to stop a job and go buy one would be as much as I spent and if it happens too often your customers begin to wonder if you know what you're doing.

Of course you blame it on your tools... :)

Here, either. Medford is the closest store, about 27 miles away.

Speaking of cheap things, I had a 5/16-18 bolt shear on me while installing a gate this morning. Cheaparse chiwanese butterbolts from Homey's Despot, damnit. I thought it was bottoming out and tightening when it just went away, leaving a 1/8" nub sticking out. I sawed that off after the cheap HF drill bit snapped during the drillout. (Is it Monday?) I went back and got zinc coated instead of galv, then tried them in my 5/16NC die for good measure. All were fine and all held the second time around. What a PITA! I was mounting the expanding gate on a 3/16 thick rectangular metal tube on a sides of a ground-level freight "dock" for a paint store.

We surely don't want them catching on, do we?

Doesn't everyone? ;)

I was at Menards in Chicago and they had 6" hex drivers in blister packs with the round shafts. It wasn't complete sets, but you could grab packs of #2 and flat drivers if you wanted. It was $5 or $6 per pack, and they seemed to be taiwanese-ish looking.

Menards really makes home depot look stupid in every possible way. The giant home depot not far from the menards was actually out of 90 degree 1" PVC elbows of all things, they also don't carry or don't know where they sell plastic razor blades for safely scraping stuff. The only birdfeeders HD had in stock were for hummingbirds, which you don't really see around these parts in the winter. Of course, menards had a complete selection of everything I wanted.

Over 10, for me. The time and cost of gasoline limits most visits to when I have to be in that area, or an expensive item is on sale for more than enough to offset the costs. Like a new table saw for half price. :)

It's about time you did something right. ;-)

Too many non productive hours will bankrupt you. :(

No, but most people do.

It looks like their nearest store is 800 miles from me so I doubt that I'll ever shop at any of their stores.

I've gotten blister packs of assorted long-shank hex drive screwdriver bits -- straight, Phillips, Torx, Robertson, Allen and even security versions of some of the above -- at stores which sell electronic parts and tools. And they have handled a *lot* of use and abuse.

The one I used was local, and not part of a chain, so naming it will not be much help to you unless you are in the Washington DC/Northern VA area. But the same sort should be found elsewhere. I'll bet that you can find Jensen Tools on the web, and they will likely have them -- but probably a bit more expensive than you expect.

Good Luck, DoN.

Barring a disaster, I shouldn't have to buy many more tools before I die. :)