Felo 500 and Wiha 302 Screwdrivers - Some hands-on observations

This isn't really an in-depth review - thus, I haven't put it in the product review section.

As you may know from some of my other messages, I recently decided to refresh my tool chest screwdriver selection. (I'm leaving my tool *bag* as is with an assortment of insulated Wiha.)

The short list of candidates was comprised of the Felo 500 series and the Wiha SoftFinish grip series. The may seem rather arbitrary - more about that later.

I ordered the Felo from Amazon and received them 2 days later thanks to Amazon Prime. I ordered the Wiha from www.wihatools.com and received them approximately a week later.





My initial observation was that the Felo felt *great* - nice and sticky with just enough give.

In constrast, the Wiha was grippy enough - at least the black part of the handle. However, the red part of the Wiha handle where it meets the blade is relatively slick - leaving your index finger and a bit of you middle finger feeling as if they have no grip and that most of the grip is in your palm.

So, I had just about decided that all my future drivers would be the Felo 500 series. Still, something bugged me about the handle of the Felo. After playing with the Felo for a bit I realized that my little finger was mostly hanging out in mid air. The pictures above are not quite to scale - the grip on the Felo is considerably shorter than on the Wiha.

What to do... I like the sticky grip of the Felo but also the palm filling size of the Wiha.

More in a moment.

That's easy... buy Facom!

Part 2:

A few days handling each had been somewhat inconclusive. However, at this point, I had not tested either in actual use.

To give them a better test, I drove screws into plywood that had been prepped with a pilot hole large enough to allow an easy run-in of the screw, but small enough that the screws could be heavily torqued before stripping.

This illustrates the dangers of buying tools based on how they feel in the store. For general use, the Wiha was the clear winner. Under heavy load, I found that I put enough of the grip in my palm that the slick red part didn't matter. Under low load, the slick red part was great as it spun easily between the index finger and thumb of my left hand while my right hand did the turning.

In fairness to the Filo, the only thing it failed dong well was low load. With the entire grip being sticky, the thin part of the grip did not spin well between the finger and thumb of my left hand, making two handed use slightly awkward.

Long story short? You probably won't be disappointed with either.


I also have some of the Wiha 530 and Filo 550 series, both with metal end cap:





If I didn't already have a set of the Wiha 530 chisel style drivers, I would order a set of the Felo 550 today. The completely sticky grip works to the Felo's advantage in a chsel driver.


I haven't yet been able to handle some Witte, but I don't like the descriptions and pictures and won't order them blind. I have also held off on getting Wera for the same reason. I have some Klein but have become less enamored with them over the years.

I also have a set of the Felo 200 series:



They are fairly slick, but are a great beater set for nasty jobs.

I love my Wiha precision screwdrivers (the German steel is very durable, tips have great machining and fit fasteners extremely well), I have the earlier non ergo type and you should check out Wera too! I got the Wera precision screwdrivers because the handle was so ergonomic; I haven't tried a German tool, I didn't like!

Wiha Standard Precision Screwdrivers

Wiha Pico Soft Tactile Grip Screwdrivers
Wiha has come out with these that are more ergonomic but I haven't tried any yet.

Wera Kraftform Micro®
The electronic screwdriver with improved ergonomics. The most impressive precision screwdriver I have used so far!

Very informative thread, thanks guys. I've been considering a set of Wiha's and was wondering if they came pakaged in a tray suitable for use an the tool chest drawer?

I'm specifically looking at this set http://www.all-spec.com/1/viewitem/W46094/ALLSPEC/viewimage/w3path=cat

Phatsub - my Wiha chisel driver set did not come with a tray. It *did* come with a canvas pouch that was very neat but mosty useless for tool chest use.

In addition to the usual tool drawer organization sources, I have had good luck shopping the kitchen drawer organization department at Lowes.

Dr.JohnnyFever said:

I haven't yet been able to handle some Witte, but I don't like the descriptions and pictures and won't order them blind. I have also held off on getting Wera for the same reason. I have some Klein but have become less enamored with them over the years.

Click to expand...

Two thoughts...

1) if you want to see some Witte screwdrivers up close and personal without getting on the Matco or Cornwell truck, go to NAPA and look at their set of NAPA Pro screwdrivers. Those are Witte.

2) I will agree that the Klein rubber grip screwdrivers are not what they used to be (a friend who runs a commercial electric company was actually complaining about them), but don't dismiss the Journeyman series before you see them live. Head out to HD and check them out. Pricey, but I bet they'd be a great tool.

Any thoughts on how the various handles clean up?

hamburglar said:

Any thoughts on how the various handles clean up?

Click to expand...

I haven't tested the others yet, but the Felo 200 series cleans up great. After a nasty brake job, I sprayed the handle down with WD-40 and wiped it clean with a shop rag.

When I first checked the prices of the Felo 550 Set it was around $45+ , Amazon brought it down to $33.77 so I bought a set. Now I just saw the price and it's down to $24.62, thats around $5 per driver + free shipping if you bring the order up to at least $25.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

JayL said:

When I first checked the prices of the Felo 550 Set it was around $45+ , Amazon brought it down to $33.77 so I bought a set. Now I just saw the price and it's down to $24.62, thats around $5 per driver + free shipping if you bring the order up to at least $25.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and bought a set for my carpentry toolbox to replace the Land O' Screwdrivers crazy set I've kept in there.

hamburglar said:

Thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and bought a set for my carpentry toolbox to replace the Land O' Screwdrivers crazy set I've kept in there.

Click to expand...

I bought this 5 pc set against the $37 Mayhew 6 pc set because they are manufactured in Germany. I have not received my set yet but I reckon that the quality must be good if not topnotch.

Here are some Felo 200s @ $14.84 for a 5 piece set.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E60MKI/?tag=atomicindus08-20