Brace with screwdriver bit

[vic008]

Serious unscrewing job to do. Remember using a brace years ago, but there was an issue with the jaws not too happy with a round bit. Any suggestions?

 

[vic008]

Cancel(googled and can buy)

 

[PaulRainbow]

An example ; Screwdriver Bits | Power Tool Accessories | Screwfix.com

 

[ghostlymoron]

I've found the most important thing is a well fitting driver. I've ground them on my bench grinder in the past for ordinary cross head but you can't do this for Phillips or similar heads. These days there a great range of shapes.

 

[Poignard]

Sometimes they come up on eBay

 

[Old Harry]

View attachment 88281

Sometimes they come up on eBay

I have a double ended type

 

[jbweston]

As a confirmed bodger (to be fair, only when bodging is better than nothing), I might try a bit from an electric screwdriver. Or that old standby, not a brace but a mole wrench holding on to a normal hand screwdriver for leverage.

 

[tillergirl]

Somewhere in my workshop I have (or had) some unused bits for a Brace. I'll have a look.

 

[bluerm166]

Faced with a large slotted machine screw in the bottom of a Harken winch and not having a selection of overlarge screwdrivers was able to release by buying a cheap hex section cold chisel and sharpening it to a perfect fit and applying a wrench to the hex.Of course this loses the pressure easily applied from a brace ,but then ,I have a russian brace.

 

[ghostlymoron]

View attachment 88281

Sometimes they come up on eBay

I've got one like that. It was my dad's. I've also got the brace with which you can get a lot of leverage.

 

[Stemar]

Impact driver? But get the right sized bit of decent quality for it. There's a vid from Sailing Uma of the guy taking a track off a mast and shredding cheap bits one after the other. Then he went & got a good one

 

[Ian_Edwards]

As said, one of these, not sure where you'd buy one these days.
I inherited my grandfather woodworking tools (he was a carpenter by trade), all the different wooden planes for making molding and stuff like that.
Including a well used brace and a big selection of bits.
I'd stress that you need to get the profile of the bit accurately matched to the slot, in width and length. I'd also ensure that the slot in the head of the screw is really clean, a small drill is often a good way to remove old paint and gunge.

 

[earlybird]

There's one by Footprint, so a good make, currently on Ebay for £9 + £1.50.
Prompts me to look after mine. A very useful tool at times.

 

[penberth3]

Serious unscrewing job to do. Remember using a brace years ago, but there was an issue with the jaws not too happy with a round bit. Any suggestions?

I use a normal 1/4" hex magnetic bit holder in a brace chuck without any problems. Then just pop in whatever bit you need. The length of the bit holder keeps the chuck clear of the work and you can see what you're doing. You can do the same thing with sockets using the 1/4" hex to square drive adaptors. All available Toolstation/Screwfix/Ebay for a few pounds.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Impact driver? But get the right sized bit of decent quality for it. There's a vid from Sailing Uma of the guy taking a track off a mast and shredding cheap bits one after the other. Then he went & got a good one

Exactly.

I certainly wouldn't try and electric screwdriver.

I've also got a Makita 'rattle gun' that gives over 300 Nm of torque but I don't go near screws with it...

The advantage of an Impact Driver is that it drives the screwdriver bit into the head of the screw at the same time as it tries to rotate it.

 

[reeac]

Agree-an impact driver is the way to go.

 

[lw395]

I wouldn't use an impact driver on some wooden structures for example.
The advantage of a brace and bit is that you can lean on it and apply a lot of force keeping the bit in the slot.
The other thing that matters is keeping the bit axis aligned with the screw's axis. A brace where you can tighten the chuck is sometimes much better than a 1/4 hex drive or 1/4 square tools from this point of view. but sometimes those tools fit the screws better....
Don't rule out a big screwdriver with a spanner on the shank either. Get someone to do the turning while you lean on it.

 

[earlybird]

Agree, if you've got a number of large woodscrews to tighten up or remove, then a carpenter's brace and screwdriver bit is a superb bit of kit., rapid and really powerful.

 

[rogerthebodger]

You could also use a socket brace like this

With a screwdriver like this.



You could also cut and gring a 1/2" extension to fit into the square drive of the carpenters brace.

 

[penberth3]

Agree, if you've got a number of large woodscrews to tighten up or remove, then a carpenter's brace and screwdriver bit is a superb bit of kit., rapid and really powerful.

And no flat batteries half way through the job!