Bigblue&Goldie
Well-known member
After years of frustration with stripping JIS screws on Honda carburators, I've finally broken down and purchased a set of proper JIS screwdrivers. I just picked up a new mountain bike with Shimano derailleurs that have JIS screws, so that helped push me over the edge. Based on reviews, the Vessel Megadora's are very popular, so I set out to find a set of those. In my wandering I came across a few sets at vesseltools.com I narrowed my choices down to two sets:
$38.31 http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/screwdrivers/screwdriver-sets/900/kit/flypage_sku.tpl.html
$49 http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/screwdrivers/non-slip/300/kit-10/flypage_sku.tpl.html
Ultimately, I thought the Ultra Non-Slip's looked cool, and the price was really hard to beat for a 10pc set. Also, for some reason this set reminded me of a modern take on the old wood handled Stanley screwdrivers my dad had when I was growing up. I had a few questions so I called up JDV and talked to one of their guys, Larry. He was really helpful and mentioned that he discovered JIS screws when working on an Integra. I asked Larry about the Non-Slips and this was his response:
"While I don’t own this series, yet, I have a little experience with them. Vessel had a promotion when these were introduced last year where they had a steel shank with a Non-slip handle on one end and a Gel-Grip handle on the other. You put a nitrile glove on one hand and poured baby oil on the glove, and then gripped the non-slip handle with the oiled glove and the other handle with your other hand. Twisting as hard as you could, the oiled glove gripping the non-slip handle would grip better than the other handle."
I mentioned to him that Japanese tools are well regarded by members here, so he passed along a discount code for GJ members. "THEGARAGE" is good for 10% off orders over $25 for non-sale items.
I'll do a review and take some pictures when the set arrives. For what it's worth, my home and work screwdrivers are Proto and Snap On, neither of which work well on JIS (naturally so), but are great otherwise.
$38.31 http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/screwdrivers/screwdriver-sets/900/kit/flypage_sku.tpl.html
$49 http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tools/screwdrivers/non-slip/300/kit-10/flypage_sku.tpl.html
Ultimately, I thought the Ultra Non-Slip's looked cool, and the price was really hard to beat for a 10pc set. Also, for some reason this set reminded me of a modern take on the old wood handled Stanley screwdrivers my dad had when I was growing up. I had a few questions so I called up JDV and talked to one of their guys, Larry. He was really helpful and mentioned that he discovered JIS screws when working on an Integra. I asked Larry about the Non-Slips and this was his response:
"While I don’t own this series, yet, I have a little experience with them. Vessel had a promotion when these were introduced last year where they had a steel shank with a Non-slip handle on one end and a Gel-Grip handle on the other. You put a nitrile glove on one hand and poured baby oil on the glove, and then gripped the non-slip handle with the oiled glove and the other handle with your other hand. Twisting as hard as you could, the oiled glove gripping the non-slip handle would grip better than the other handle."
I mentioned to him that Japanese tools are well regarded by members here, so he passed along a discount code for GJ members. "THEGARAGE" is good for 10% off orders over $25 for non-sale items.
I'll do a review and take some pictures when the set arrives. For what it's worth, my home and work screwdrivers are Proto and Snap On, neither of which work well on JIS (naturally so), but are great otherwise.
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