When did screwdrivers become consumable?

[finn]

Just like a growlers and cans of beer. The contents are consumable, but the container is refillable or disposable.

A screwdriver bit is always consumable, but some are packaged such that the handle is reusable, while some are not.

 

[Gautama]

So the consensus is that there's no concensus. What I find amusing is not the number of different views on the subject, but how supremely confident so many people are that their view is the right one. "Screwdrivers will wear out. End of story." "Screwdrivers only fail if you use them wrong." "Screwdrivers aren't disposable unless you buy cheap ones."

 

[davewo]

There's also a much higher percentage of heat-treated screws on the market with heads that rival the strength of screwdriver tips.

 

[mmack66]

I don't know, as I have never tried to eat one.

 

[Gautama]

Consumable: (of an item for sale) intended to be used up and then replaced. It's the first definition.

 

[1950mercury]

Phillips no2 is I don't care what brand you own

 

[winlinmac]

to answer OP's question---when Harbor Freight started giving away free screwdriver sets....:cough:

 

[Strouty]

I am a little confused, I almost agree with the king of all trolls.

I would clarify that the screwdriver became consumable when harbor freight started making screwdrivers. Of course there has almost always been a version of harbor freight throughout all eternity.

 

[four.cycle]

Of course there has almost always been a version of harbor freight throughout all eternity.

Rosenberg Brothers Co., New York

my father ordered them in big cardboard barrels. they were four for a buck when I was a kid, later on we sold them for 79 cents each or three for a buck, and even with all the shoplifting and employee pilferage we still made a killing on them.

(they did make damn good paint can openers, though!)

 

[Gmonkee]

A simple test would be to stock them in mill tool rooms and such where no one has any particular love for one brand over another.

Cycle each type three shifts for several months each and bin them to compare to the others at the end of the test. My bet is the black handle HF stuff would hold up longer or less worn than a few well known types or brands.

But the key is just a tool, no love or brand preference. Just a tool for a guy to fix something and return it.
It would eliminate the bias and ideas each of us has learned by buying our own and making choices of handle type, price class and warranty. The testers wouldn't care beyond function to do a job and then get rid of it

My guess is our preconceived ideas (including my own) would be pretty silly looking when compared to actual results.

 

[Gautama]

That sounds like an interesting experiment, but I think the likely result of your test would be to show that people end up developing a favorite anyway. Maybe it's an evolutionary trait. I bet it wouldn't necessarily even correlate with how well the tool performed, but based on a bazillion other preferences a person develops over the course of their life.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

So the consensus is that there's no concensus. What I find amusing is not the number of different views on the subject, but how supremely confident so many people are that their view is the right one. "Screwdrivers will wear out. End of story." "Screwdrivers only fail if you use them wrong." "Screwdrivers aren't disposable unless you buy cheap ones."

The consensus is that some screwdrivers are better than others, now and then. The disagreement is whether even good screwdrivers eventually wear out in normal use or the people who wear out good screwdrivers are Barbarians Who Lack Any Semblance Of Personal Responsibility.

 

[Finky198]

sounds about right to me ^^^

 

[sberry]

My guess is our preconceived ideas (including my own) would be pretty silly looking when compared to actual results.

We have a version of that. I supply the tools and have had the stuff for a long time, have a big mix and find survivors from every class and it doesn't seem to have much correlation to cost or initial quality. Got a few worn out Kleins too, god some dollar stuff would like to have a couple more of in hindsight.
This is my whole point in many of these threads, the assumption and the speculation do not match reality. We originally bought some cheap stuff to ride in tractor boxes etc and it worked its way in and a lot of it soon became used the same, in particular combo wrenches, adjustables and screwdrivers.

 

[four.cycle]

The consensus is that some screwdrivers are better than others, now and then. The disagreement is whether even good screwdrivers eventually wear out in normal use or the people who wear out good screwdrivers are Barbarians Who Lack Any Semblance Of Personal Responsibility.

I believe you may be correct.

My 7th-grade wood shop teacher Mr. Buranan was fanatical about knowing the correct name of the tool and how to use it properly. We spent the first half of the semester learning the correct names of various tools and how to use them properly before we were allowed to actually use them.

I find the various "screwdriver" threads kind of funny, actually. We sold thousands and thousands of Rosenberg screwdrivers. I think I may still own a few. Cheap throw-aways. Good paint can openers. Not worth a damn as chisels or pry bars.

But the good ones - Indestro / Challenger / a couple really OLD Craftsmans - are all still in pretty good shape, except most of the #2 Phillips ends have gone to **** over the last 40 years. (And yeah, you can clean 'em up but you use a sharp file, not a dull one. Probably not worth farting around with, though.)
I think a lot of it has to do with whether you're using the correct screwdriver for the job. I used to rebuild a LOT of carburetors, which requires owning a gazillion different slotted screwdrivers unless you want to ****** the slots on soft air-horn screws and brass metering jets and give the customer back a part that looks like a hack job.
On the Phillips I went down to Tacoma Screw and bought some PROTO 1/4" drive Phillips bit attachments which seem to hold up pretty well.