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How to repurpose a Philips head screwdriver?

Q

qqzj

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Nov 28, 2017
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It's almost ironic that a flat head screwdriver is a lot less useful, to me at least, than a Philips head. However, once the screwdriver gets used and beaten, the flat-head old screwdriver is a lot more valuable than the Philips. Now that I have a bunch used P1 and P2 screwdrivers with perfectly good handle but trashed tips, what am I going to do with them? It is kind of a pity to just throw them away. But they are just wasting space now. Ideally, it will be great if there is a tool to beat their heads into a flat head screwdriver. Any suggestions?

BTW, the WF made Craftsman screwdrivers aren't that good at all. The tips seem to melt if I look them long enough.
 
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Tools4Me

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I don't really have many worn out screwdrivers, because I switched almost completely over to hex bits quite a while ago. I prefer the added flexibility in terms of how I can use my tools that way.

The couple screwdrivers I still use (that do wear out occasionally), usually get the handles pulled off and repurposed if they are handles I like. The shafts usually get the winged handle end of the shaft chopped off and the screwdriver tip chopped off, so I am left with a simple hardened steel rod. That rod goes into my small scrap round rod drawer for use as a pin punch. They work quite well, because they are already hardened about perfectly for that sort of work.

If you are careful to keep the metal cool and you are good with shaping/grinding metal by hand, you can convert a P2 screwdriver into a hollow ground cabinet tip screwdriver rather easily.

If a screwdriver has a small enough diameter shank, cut the tip of the screwdriver off and it can become a socket release tool if you ever use pin lock extensions or adapters with your impact sockets.

It's a little bit more work, but I've also made my own schrader valve removal tool, a couple 4 sided birdcage awls, and a couple triangle scrapers out of old screwdrivers. You also might also find the shaft of a worn out screwdriver useful as a round burnishing tool.
 
F

f121

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Dec 8, 2018
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The Ph2 in my roadbox is regularly repurposed as a punch and as an alignment tool, the ph1 has been repurposed as an engine mount bolt for a car on stands for the last year. I find those screwdrivers practically repurpose themselves
 
L

LOW1

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Perhaps the attitude that old screwdrivers should be repurposed is somewhat responsible for the plague of disorginazation which has infected so many of us, including me, so severely.

If one keeps the worn out screwdrivers and buys replacements it will not be long before you are drowning in screwdrivers. Each of which will take up valuable room.

You really can have too many tools.
 
M

Mr_B

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Sharpen and use as scribes or picks.
can bend longer ones into nice pick or hose removal tools .
I got a bit good at this to point I no longer need buy any pick hose tools as can make exactly what I want for pocket change ...

picks.jpg
 
E

ecotec

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Oct 5, 2010
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5,409
I throw worn out screwdrivers away.

If they are truck brands that I got on the secondary market, I give them to friends who are serviced by the particular brand’s truck. He gets a “new” screwdriver out of the deal.
 
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isb cornbinder

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kaymccampbell said:
I sharpen them to stab oil cans. Oh, ****, no more oil cans. Well, I can still stab stuff with them. Come by, I'll demonstrate.
Click to expand...
I had a large straight shaft screwdriver I repurposed into a sharp point. I used it to puncture oil filters before removing the filters. The filters could drain and not make a mess when removed. I gave this and other specialty tools I had made away, on my last day.
One of the supervisors took my ideas and submitted them to the company incentive program, as his own bright moments. I did not know this happened until one of my coworkers called me. He made a complaint. The supervisor resigned and moved away.
 
M

Meursault74

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LOW1 said:
Perhaps the attitude that old screwdrivers should be repurposed is somewhat responsible for the plague of disorginazation which has infected so many of us, including me, so severely.

If one keeps the worn out screwdrivers and buys replacements it will not be long before you are drowning in screwdrivers. Each of which will take up valuable room.

You really can have too many tools.
Click to expand...
yes and no. If the tool is too buggered up to drive a screw, then it is no longer a screwdriver. It can be many other things, but is no longer kept with the screwdrivers. I have a few tools that used to be slotted screwdrivers that I keep with my paint supplies. They do a good job of prying open a paint can. I'd never use a screwdriver to open up a paint can, but I'd use a metal shaft with a flattened tip and a handle that used to be able to drive screws to open up a paint can. :) . I know this is GJ, but there's no way I'm buying a tool that's marketed to open up paint cans.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VEC63I/?tag=atomicindus08-20
 
A

AirMech#406

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Sep 29, 2021
Messages
142
iamhomeless said:
If you buy good screw drivers, they not only last longer, but when they do wear out, you can warranty them for new ones.

Life is too short for ****** tools.
Click to expand...
High quality tools wear out too, albeit slower than cheap ones.

Ive got a drawer with probably five or six worn out or broken snap-on shafts that i have been looking to repurpose. I'm glad this thread popped up!
 
B

Bubba Fett

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Eastern NC
qqzj said:
It's almost ironic that a flat head screwdriver is a lot less useful, to me at least, than a Philips head. However, once the screwdriver gets used and beaten, the flat-head old screwdriver is a lot more valuable than the Philips. Now that I have a bunch used P1 and P2 screwdrivers with perfectly good handle but trashed tips, what am I going to do with them? It is kind of a pity to just throw them away. But they are just wasting space now. Ideally, it will be great if there is a tool to beat their heads into a flat head screwdriver. Any suggestions?

BTW, the WF made Craftsman screwdrivers aren't that good at all. The tips seem to melt if I look them long enough.
Click to expand...
Earlier WF screwdrivers were great, but as time went on, they started making them less precise, to the point that they wouldn't even fit halfway into the screw head. I usually would take some micro-files and and sandpaper to them until they fit well enough to hold themselves in a screw on a wall.

I tend to use magnetic drivers as my main drivers, and only use standalone drivers for recessed screws, etc. So they last a lot longer. However, the really worn out ones get repurposed as awls, picks, punches or hole-making tools.

You could also remove the blade and replace it with a magnetic or locking bit holder if you still like the handle.
 
D

Debcrow

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May 14, 2019
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New Mexico
Yes, we end up with a lot of tools that are less than perfect and clutter up storage.

However, screwdrivers are seasonal tools.
I look in my tool storage and cannot find one flat blade screwdriver among the 30 or more there.
Thats when I know its Phillips, Torx, Reed and Prince Season and Flat Blades are out of season.
 
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pbon

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May 14, 2017
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Mr_B said:
Sharpen and use as scribes or picks.
can bend longer ones into nice pick or hose removal tools .
I got a bit good at this to point I no longer need buy any pick hose tools as can make exactly what I want for pocket change ...

picks.jpg
Click to expand...
Do you heat as you bend? I have snapped screwdrivers before trying to bend them.
 
R

Robinson1

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Jun 22, 2015
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Location
Kentucky
A long screwdriver makes a good thing to stir quart cans of paint and stain and is easy to wipe off.

Cut/grind the tips flat to make pin punches

Cut the shafts up to make pins

Grind to a point to make a scratch awl

Repurpose for file handles

Drive them in the wall to hang cords on
 
M

Mr_B

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Nov 21, 2016
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Reading
pbon said:
Do you heat as you bend? I have snapped screwdrivers before trying to bend them.
Click to expand...
yes
chrome vanadium blades not always so good and chrome plating can be issue, the S2 blades come out great and bend easy and neat with heat, can get them look like a factory made pick/hose tool with retained finish and they hold up good ...
 
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