Posted 4 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
Who knew there were so many varieties?!!
Gathered from the various toolboxes I've recently inherited (plus a couple I already owned) comes this group of little screw starters. They all have some method of 'gripping' the head of a little screw, in order to get it into its hole (often someplace where fingers can't go) until it can be really fastened with a more substantial tool.
From L - R in pic 1, other pics are closer views
1) not a 'screw starter' at all, this one just fit in with the bunch. It is actually a 'non-metallic' tool meant for adjusting delicate coils inside old-fashioned radios/electronics, where an actual metal tool would throw things all off. ;-)
2, 3, & 4) two different sizes of "QUICK-WEDGE", #'s 1736 (red handle) and #1836 (green handle) also marked "Salt Lake" with patent info/etc. 3 & 4 are the same tool, but 4 is older/more worn and marked slightly differently. Pulling the small 'collar' below the handle on these squeezes each half of its 'blade' together, thus expanding its thickness to grip the inside of the screw slot.
5 & 6) This pair are (SEARS) CRAFTSMAN "SUPER TUFF". I've owned (and regularly used) one for many years...now I have two. ;-) :-) They have a nifty little springie-clip thing that can slide up and down the blade, it physically grips the sides of a screw head or in fact can be pulled all the way back to the handle, when the tool otherwise reverts to a way-handy little screwdriver to finish driving the little screw it just started.
7, 8, & 9) These three function differently, turning/hooking the little metal collar at the end of their handles makes (against a spring) a small center section of their 'blades' rotate sideways and retract, which when unhooked turns back and wedges itself into the screw slot. Look close at pic#4, the one in the center is 'relaxed' while the other two aren't. Both with the whitish plastic handles are unmarked (for maker anyway?) though the larger is marked with a (part?) number for "ITT HOLUB INDUSTRIES" in Illinois. The dark handled one also has a pocket clip and actual magnet at its other end, the clip on it identifies it as a "STANLEY" product.
10) THIS one's fun -- meant to hold onto *phillips head* screws instead of slots. Marked only with a patent number, pulling its collar away from the handle draws its two blades closed to fit into a phillips screw, releasing the collar allows them to expand thus holding onto it. I did not know such a thing existed...I actually tried to use it today, and IT WORKS as it should...where's this thing been all my life...??!! <applause>
11) One more, like the previous, that I've never seen before. This is a "STANLEY HEX-A-MATIC", their #66-525. Pulling its outermost collar back and forth from the handle allows its inner parts to grip onto a (small, 3/8" or so +/-?) *hex head* screw. I haven't tried to use this one yet, but am betting that when I do, I'll like it...??? <lolol> ;-) ;-)
Great collection, my husband uses this type often
I found one like those on left side of your ruler.
It was among my dad’s tools....I’m looking forward to trying it out. :-)
For sure, the home mechanic would be lost without the noble screwdriver.
Thanks SO MUCH to all y'all for your <love it>s, and especially Newfld, Watchsearcher, & hotairfan for the kind comments! :-) :-) ;-)
For the record (just as almost expected...I have TOO MUCH STUFF... <lol) right after I showed this assortment I remembered *just one more* in a different tool bag someplace else... <groan> It is a CRAFTSMAN #41124, newer and larger than the two little ones seen here but with a similar springie-thing around its handle -- it operated by another little collar-like piece directly under its handle, but differently colored than this one here:
http://www.searshometownstores.com/product/Craftsman-41124-316-x-5-in-Screwdriver
I thought a 'screwdriver' was something to pour down your throat on a merry evening !