Multi screwdriver set: tips impossible to remove from tray - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 01:07:58 am
content: This is something I’ve seen before. A very generous friend has given me an 115-in-1 toolset, with so many useful security bits. Brill.What I can say is this - whoever designs these things must have fingers the width of cocktail sticks - the tips sit upright in their carrier tray… and do you think I can get my fingertips in the gaps to grab one? Haha!!Any suggestions, bar me growing magnetic fingertips? Thanks.

author: bob91343
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 01:31:55 am
content: Tweezers

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 01:35:18 am
content: magnet

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 01:44:02 am
content: Quote from: xrunner on November 27, 2021, 01:35:18 amGreat idea. Good tip 😁

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 01:55:23 am
content: What's the spacing?I've seen people try to pick a tip by putting their fingers between neighboring tips, instead of diagonally across the tip they want. I don't know why; picking them diagonally I get 47% more room for my sausage fingers.I'm gonna get flamed here, but one thing I personally might consider, is to 3D print a new bit container where the bits are either flat (with a finger-sized depression at one end, so they pop out by pushing it in at that end) or sit at an angle like stairs. Or grab a waste piece of wood/plastic, and drill interference fit holes at an angle but wider spacing. You'd need to do a few test holes with different bits to find the size that works.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 02:42:37 am
content: Are the tips rough enough for your fingernails to grip them?Quote from: xrunner on November 27, 2021, 01:35:18 amMore to it, the handle probably has a magnet that can be used to retrieve the bits.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 05:51:28 am
content: Another reason for a 3D printer. I have designed trays that suite my own preferences and printed them. This includes trays that have room for extra bits and trays which only hold the subset of bits I most often use. Both have their place. It only takes a few minutes to lay these things out and then send it off to the printer to entertain itself while you do other things.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 08:25:34 am
content: >Any suggestions, bar me growing magnetic fingertips? Thanks.Because when using screwdrivers, you don't have any other tools to hand, like long-nosed plies?Also as mentioned - diagonal grip.Are the bits loose in the holes? Like if you turned it over would they all fall out?You could use a bit of cardboard with a hole in it...As for a magnet - yes, get a really strong one. That way you can extract half of the bits all at once.Anyway, be glad you don't have one of these sets.Far worse. The firm plastic spine has detent ridges inside the holes, that key into the slots on the hex bases. Making them really, really difficult to extract. Easy to push back in by putting the end against a hard surface and applying force. But getting them out usually requires pliers.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 02:41:10 pm
content: QuoteHow about a bar of some kind (screwdriver blade, maybe) pushing up from the bottom?

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 04:52:39 pm
content: Find a drill bit that is just a wee bit larger than the opening already there - doesn't matter whether it's hex or not. Drill out each hole but not all the way through. All you want is to remove material on the edges inside the hole. Put a tape marker on the bit so you go down just the right amount.Just make it a project - have a Guinness and make a party out of it.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 05:43:24 pm
content: Better yet, buy quality tools.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 05:50:59 pm
content: Quote from: eti on November 27, 2021, 01:07:58 amThere's a reason your friend gave them to you. I'd ignore the problem until you need a specialty bit you have nowhere else. Then use some needle-nose pliers to grab what you need.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 07:03:34 pm
content: Soak the whole thing in chloroform or carbon tetrachloride. That will swell the plastic enough so the bits will fall out. The make a new holder out of a fine-grained wood like birch or maple.Alternatively, use a hydraulic press to push them out from the top or put them in the oven, 450°F for 1 hour, to melt the plastic . Then make a new holder.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 07:15:46 pm
content: This is clearly anX-Y problem. You have decided you won't grow magnetic fingertips.In reality, growing magnetic fingertips would be the best solution. Just do it.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 07:32:32 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on November 27, 2021, 07:03:34 pmBoth of those create extremely dangerous vapor hazards. Avoid them if you don't have relevant safety training with those chemicals. I'd never suggest using those to a novice, ever!

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 07:33:25 pm
content: The organizer is only plastic, so why not make a 1/4" hex broach by taking a FUBARed long hex bit, grinding off the b-gg-red end and upsetting it to thicken it slightly, then chamfer the edges of the end face to ease insertion and grind slanted cutting edges into each side of it near the tip with a very thin cutoff wheel, angling away from the tip to get around a 70 to 80 deg cutting edge, and use it to relieve the hole for any bit you need tools to extract.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2021, 07:45:26 pm
content: Quote from: Nusa on November 27, 2021, 07:32:32 pmNeither is flammable. Chloroform was used as an anesthetic. Clearly, anyone with eti's experience is competent to use either. Are you suggesting he doesn't know that all chemicals, including H2O, can be dangerous?

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2021, 12:40:49 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on November 27, 2021, 07:45:26 pmIgnoring your sarcasm about safety, they are poisons. If you can smell the vapors, you're already over occupational limits. If you spill a significant amount of liquid on yourself, aside from being caustic, it's an emergency...the strip off contaminated clothes on the spot and shower immediately kind. It can be fatal, or you can live with damage to liver and kidneys.There's a reason it's now considered a last-resort anesthetic in medicine. Too many problems, even in the hands of professionals.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2021, 01:05:58 pm
content: Quote from: Nusa on November 28, 2021, 12:40:49 pmBeing afraid of anything you can smell is not science. It is irrational. Smell is not considered in setting acceptable limits. In fact, many, many chemicals can be smelled at concentrations well below acceptable limits for occasional use and the converse is also true. Nitrogen can be toxic and is odorless.I stand by my suggestion. Virtually any aggressive organic solvent (e.g., paint remover, particularly ones with methylene chloride) will make such plastics swell enough to remove something stuck in them. Heat will often work too."There's a reason it's now considered a last-resort anesthetic in medicine. " It is known to be difficult to administer properly, but it is as safe as many other commonly used anesthetics when used properly, which is well above the threshold for smell.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2021, 02:46:21 pm
content: I never said you should be afraid of everything you can smell. I said you should be concerned if you can smell these chemicals. That is rational.Smell is not used in setting acceptable limits. But that doesn't mean you should ignore the senses everyone is born with, especially if that's the only tool you own that will do the job.The air we normally breathe is 78% nitrogen, 21% is oxygen. So not toxic, or we'd all be dead. The danger of nitrogen spills is the local displacement of oxygen in the air, which you need to survive.Scoff all you want, but the dangers are real and studied even before modern anesthetics: "In 1934, Killian gathered all the statistics compiled until then and found that the chances of suffering fatal complications under ether were between 1:14,000 and 1:28,000, whereas under chloroform the chances were between 1:3,000 and 1:6,000." So no, it's not as safe as the alternatives, not even the old alternative of ether.

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2021, 05:17:09 am
content: Could we please stop bickering over chemical safety? I think I've worked out how to remove my driver bits. Thanks.

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2021, 05:30:45 am
content: Quote from: Nusa on November 27, 2021, 05:50:59 pmGosh you're cynical. He gave them to me as he realised they're huge overkill for the odd thing or two he needs to unscrew. Also he's bought a mini electric screwdriver, so these were surplus to requirements. I've used them twice now for different jobs, and they work perfectly well.

author: strawberry
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2021, 12:22:17 pm
content: buy new bits you actually needmanufacturer didn't took in account plastics shrinking, on what else they are cutting corners

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2021, 02:18:54 pm
content: How often do you need any of those security bits? If used rarely pliers are fine. For driver bits I use frequently I took a thick piece of acrylic glass, drilled a bunch of holes and placed that on my workbench. Simple and effective.

author: 12much
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 29, 2021, 02:55:12 pm
content: Take or buy (if you don'T own them already) a drilbit extension, drill (if possible on a lathe for safety) a hole inside the hexagonial opening with a 5mm (0.197")drill until it fits over the mayority of your bits (aprox. 5-7mm (0.197"-0.276")is enough I guess) give it a bright color and place to keep on hand between your bits. You can get them out off their tiny place anytime with no effort. Make use of cutting oil and sharp drill, the bitholder is hradened and most of the time magnitized.

author: strawberry
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2021, 09:18:33 pm
content: gasoline + matches = tips out of the tray