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Broken tools

Monte

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Dec 23, 2008
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12,664
Location
Germany
That`s why you should buy quality tools...

Some pics from my broken/defective tools collection...


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twisted torx bit

wewe41.jpg


fght183.jpg


broken pawl

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rounded socket

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share some pics of your "broken dreams/tools"
 
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voidifused

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Nov 18, 2008
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219
Location
Canada
Not mine, but have had this happen more then once, got a small sliver from one set stuck between my thumb and forefinger. That was when i bought a full set of knipex pliers and i like them a lot :thumbup:

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Sorry i am away doing my 3rd block of school so i can't run and grab a real picture of my own.
 

dxdexter

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Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
1,923
That`s why you should buy quality tools...

Some pics from my broken/defective tools collection...
fght183.jpg


share some pics of your "broken dreams/tools"

I had a few of these. Obviously made from Chinese trees. :lol_hitti
 

strizzy

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Apr 4, 2006
Messages
572
Location
Western NY
This thread reminded me that I still haven't tried to warranty an older Blackhawk tool. Ended up buying a Snap On with a couple bucks off thanks to trading in those damn 5 position ratcheting screwdrivers for a straight handle...thanks!

IMG_8676.JPG
 

Rigmaster

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Nov 17, 2008
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Location
Elm Grove Farm, NC

I have a hammer that looks VERY similar to that one (except for the broken handle). I bought it at a hardware store in W Berlin along with a chisel sometime around 1989. My brother and I used it to chip off some chunks of the Berlin wall shortly after the reunification started.

I still use that hammer on a regular basis and it works just fine.

;)
 

nissan_crawler

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Jan 12, 2008
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9,638
Location
Wichita, KS
I was framing in my house and had the fiberglass handle shatter, and the head go flying by my ear and through the drywall behind me. I just got a small little cut, an inch or two over, I probably wouldn't have an eye.

I immediately ditched all of the hammers and bought Estwings.
 

wyndycity

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Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
286
Location
Chicago
I shattered a Phillips drive bit with my 1/4" impact driver while trying to drive a screw into a dense wooden beam. I had a piece of the bit hit my cheek and even though it was a small chunk, it was still pretty scary.

Those drivers pack quite a punch and are underestimated. That's why there are impact rated bits out there....which I did eventually buy before I used the driver again.

It seems as if it's really tough to even find those impact driver rated bits in a walk-in store. But I think it's important that folks understand that regular 1/4" bits are not made to withstand the forces behind an impact driver. The metal in regular bits is strong but brittle and will shatter. The black colored impact bits (black just like impact sockets) are softer grade steel but will "deform" rather than shatter.

A broken bit may not seem interesting in terms of a broken tool for this thread but I thought it was important that I share with others my lesson learned in safety. Glasses are your friend too!

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Griff93

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Jul 25, 2009
Messages
1,121
Location
Huntsville, AL
Here's a few I have handy. The SO ratchet never had a cheater put on it. I bought it new. In it's defense, it put up with almost 5 years of daily hard use.
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IMG_2584.jpg
 

Wakefield

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Aug 26, 2010
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5,132
Location
Arlington VA (but would like to get out to country
The flex head ratchet that has a handle that looks like the same one on a breaker bar--I wonder if having the ratchet head puts more stress on the fork/clevis area of that handle than a simple flex coupler without the ratchet would?
It would inspire more confidence if the two sides of the fork/clevis had a lot more meat than they do. Breaker bar or flex head ratchet either one.
 

hammergodthor

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Oct 10, 2009
Messages
475
Broken 5mm Matco. Broke a Cornwell similarly a month ago.
 

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tjmonsen5

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Oct 14, 2009
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1,341
Location
Crystal Lake IL
2r2aanl.jpg


I broke that one yesterday trying to remove a lug nut. Returned it to the store for a new one, and then broke that one too!! Thats when I got an impact socket, which ended up rounding off the lug nut. Which is when i went out and bought a lug extractor, which I had to hammer on, which ended up chewing the lug nut up really bad. Lug nut still has not turned. Tomorrow I am going to destroy it with a chisel. Never buy a car from a complete ***** who uses an impact to tighten their lugs!!
 

MrMark

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Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
4,626
Location
Southern Cal.
This thread reminded me that I still haven't tried to warranty an older Blackhawk tool. Ended up buying a Snap On with a couple bucks off thanks to trading in those damn 5 position ratcheting screwdrivers for a straight handle...thanks!

IMG_8676.JPG

Can you say what is wrong with the ratcheting screwdriver. I have one and am curious as to other's opinions.
 
OP
M

Monte

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Dec 23, 2008
Messages
12,664
Location
Germany
Which is when i went out and bought a lug extractor, which I had to hammer on, which ended up chewing the lug nut up really bad. !!

which type ?
like the ones in the pics or the one which looks like a fine thread ?

41kZ2PZDlHL._SL500_.jpg

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tjmonsen5

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Crystal Lake IL
looks like the big one in your picture. I think im gonna try using a chisel today to destroy the bolt head.

Its a BMW so the lug nut is like a huge bolt. Once i destroy the head, the wheel will slide off but i will still need to deal with the stud part of it. Guessing ill need to drill that out, which will not be fun. Worst part is, we are doing this in the college parking lot, and we live about 3 hours from home, and only have minimal tools here.
 
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Wakefield

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Arlington VA (but would like to get out to country
I guess you can get some Kroil or something(penetrating oil said to be better than WD40) and if you can destroy the head,that should release the tension on the threaded part of the bolt and make it relax a little bit unless it is severely corroded. It's hard to believe that a Snapon impact socket wouldn't have taken that thing off. I suppose an option would have been to have used a hand powered impact driver where you put the tool over the nut(with the proper impact socket) and strike with a hammer. Perhaps someone who knows more about this than I do will post. Old McCormic Farmall tractor had lug bolts,not nuts,on the front wheels.
 

djb2

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Apr 3, 2010
Messages
639
Location
Redwood forests
Destroying the head won't work so well.

BMW wheel bolts have conical seat, and a flange. You'll have to go down into the conical section, and the wheel alloy is like butter compared to the bolt.

You are better off leaving as much of the bolt head as possible, and drilling through the center to relieve a little of the pressure. At some one of the thread-on wheel bolt extractors will be able to break it loose.

A moderate amount of heat might help, since the wheel light alloy should expand faster than the steel bolt.

Where I went to school it was easy to get liquid nitrogen, and there were lots of machine shops that students could get access to. You might have more resources there than you expect.
 
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otis66

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May 28, 2010
Messages
1,875
2r2aanl.jpg


I broke that one yesterday trying to remove a lug nut. Returned it to the store for a new one, and then broke that one too!! Thats when I got an impact socket, which ended up rounding off the lug nut. Which is when i went out and bought a lug extractor, which I had to hammer on, which ended up chewing the lug nut up really bad. Lug nut still has not turned. Tomorrow I am going to destroy it with a chisel. Never buy a car from a complete ***** who uses an impact to tighten their lugs!!

Try heating the lug nut with a torch then replace the lug nut.:lol_hitti
 

djb2

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Apr 3, 2010
Messages
639
Location
Redwood forests
Try heating the lug nut with a torch then replace the lug nut.:lol_hitti

He likely has a lug bolt on a BMW, not a lug nut. Heat isn't as effective -- you just can't get the heat down to the threads without messing up the wheel. And getting penetrating oil down to the threads can be difficult as well.
 

mdbeck1

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Mar 7, 2010
Messages
2,297
Location
Norman, OK
Bent lug wrench. The lug nuts were so tight that the 1/2" impact wrench (Sioux) would not bust them loose. To break the nuts loose we had over six feet of cheater bar on this.
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This happened 30+ years ago and I keep them as a reminder of what two kids with tools can do.
 

Wakefield

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Aug 26, 2010
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Arlington VA (but would like to get out to country
Any chance he still has enough stump to try another type of "damaged lug remover" socket with a hand impact driver? File/grind down the stump, hammer on/force on an undersized impact socket(which would likely get sacrificed)? Sounds like the wheel is in danger of becoming sacrificed. Another poster mentioned liquid nitrogen. Wonder if chewing gum removal aerosol for carpet- a custodian supply-(works by chilling and hardening gum-it is very cold) would chill enough to do anything at all?
Does the threaded bore for the lug bolt come out behind/back side he could try to soak the Kroil or whatever there?
 
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otis66

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May 28, 2010
Messages
1,875
He likely has a lug bolt on a BMW, not a lug nut. Heat isn't as effective -- you just can't get the heat down to the threads without messing up the wheel. And getting penetrating oil down to the threads can be difficult as well.

Put the heat in the center of the lug bolt. The lug bolt will cool faster than the wheel. This has always worked for me in these situations.
 

tjmonsen5

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Oct 14, 2009
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Crystal Lake IL
Well, used a bolt out socket, which only chewed up the lug bolt, and twisted off. I hammered it on all the way to the base of the wheel, and it still wouldnt hold.

Next i used a chisel, and ended up messing up the lug nut pretty good, but then the chisel broke.

So, we ended up taking the car to Sears, and they drilled it out for 60 bucks. Not bad i guess, it is my roomates car, and we dont have access to any good powerful tools since we were trying to do this in the school parking lot.
 

djb2

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Apr 3, 2010
Messages
639
Location
Redwood forests
$60 is a very reasonable price for that service.

While I love Bolt-Outs, the next time you might try the thread-on style of extractor made especially for lug bolts and nuts. They have a relatively fine thread pitch, pretty much a reverse pipe thread, not the coarse spiral of a Bolt-Out extractor. You may need to prep the bolt head first, but they can really get a good grip.

A plus of the external approach is that a broken extractor falls off cleanly. It seems that every car message board post that mentions a bolt extractor ends with "how do I drill out the broken tip".
 

wafrederick

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Jul 3, 2010
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6,044
Location
Holton,Mi
I broke a Mac 1/2 drive 14mm deepwell impact on a Honda headbolt which I used a 1/2 impact on it.The torque spec is 63 foot pounds the headbolts were really tight.Don't have it anymore,sent it in to Mac tools and got a replacement real easy.
 

Moose-LandTran

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Mar 8, 2008
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The Brink of Insanity (England)
And it wasn't on an impact? What drive size?

Nope, never went on an impact. It was a long 3/8" one. It's two-piece where an extension has the locking part on the end, held with a roll pin, the "collar" shattered where the extension goes into the locking part. I wasn't putting that much force on it but it gave way. Got a new one though! :)
 

KEH

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Jan 31, 2010
Messages
5,142
R: the broken hammer handle, I consider wooden handles to be consumables. I've lost count of the number of wooden handles I've replaced. Axes, splitting mauls, sledgehammers, claw hammers, ball peins, you name it, I've broke it. I've got a good start on breaking the plastic handle of a old Plumb 16 oz ball pein which I'll hate since it's got such a nice balance. BTW, I saw a plastic handle sledge hammer with a broken handle in the warrenty bin at HF. The handle is plastic coated wood, and I don't have a high opinion of Chinese wood, but then the Japanese cut down every tree they could find in the part of China they occupied during World War II.

KEH
 
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