Good screwdrivers?

[Timberwolf]

What Jack says!  You can get an insert type screwdriver and replace bits as needed (I also have the Chapman set).  I use the Chapman set for my minor gun work and use regular Grace for other chores.

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The inserts are essentially the ones I use for household work but no matter what, it's important to use screwdrivers that are the width of the screw slot..blades that are too narrow are usually the reason blades slip out of the slot...Insert "sets" usually have an assortment of straight blades..

Here's another use for powdered rosin..just dust a tad on the screw head to reduce the possibility of slippage...It works for Phillips also..I hate to have the screwdriver slip and scratch a firearm or a nice woodworkng project..but it has happened to me..
...Just any old screwdriver wont do..use the right size..

[Rob Young]

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A 6"/8" grinding wheel works fine..

This.  So, essentially, the grinding wheel you probably already have.

Somewhere I have a scan of an old 1950's era article on grinding the screwdriver tips.  Good photos, etc.  But dang if I can find it right now...

[CLETUS]

Somewhere I have a scan of an old 1950's era article on grinding the screwdriver tips.  Good photos, etc.  But dang if I can find it right now...

Keep looking! I'd like to see it.

[Handplanesandmore]

As someone has said:http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=32219&cat=1,43411,43417,32219

Lifetime...replace any free. I have so far replaced none of mine.

Simon

[Rob Young]

Keep looking! I'd like to see it.

So would I!  Haven't tried very hard the last couple of days.  Now I'm wondering if it was a scanned article or an old high-school shop manual.  I have a couple of those at home.  Maybe that's it.  Or maybe it wasn't even in a woodworking document, rather an old how-to home machinist book.  

Carp.  There goes my ability to sleep at night.

[hbmcc]

I looked at the driver sets on LV. Some thoughts and worries:

First, "USA Made." I didn't abandon Ford and Chevy decades ago because of price. I still ignore them for the same reasons. Junk. It's nice to go USA Made, and I have done it recently. And, I have been burned by costlier junk, also. Frankly, I am leary of that motto. That said, some of the best tools I have are USA Made and I carefully protect them because they won't resurface.

Second, Grace look like many screw drivers I have grown up with. That slot blade design will mangle any counter bored shaft. I could grind down the "paddle" and have in the past. But, design-wise, why have the tapered paddle in the first place? I don't see one on the phillips heads. Also, I don't know about wood handles. I have shredded the attachment before. Plastic is nice for the numerous times tapping crud from the slot is required. Tell me you have another tool for that task. And, a separate tool box? 

But, as long as Grace are around, they have the replacements the ghosts steal from me almost daily. It used to be children.... On his death bed my father accused me of losing his tools. Those were the days.

[Aram]

Second, Grace look like many screw drivers I have grown up with. That slot blade design will mangle any counter bored shaft. I could grind down the "paddle" and have in the past. But, design-wise, why have the tapered paddle in the first place? 

I know. I've never understood that either.

[Downwindtracker2]

Leonard Lee answered a compliant about the fit of flat bladed screwdriver/ screw fit years ago. The slot standards were so loose that a correct fit was impossible. Brownnells gunsmith kit just uses industrial off the shelf tips. Gunsmiths should grind one to fit each time. I buy a bunch and fit as I need them. I've found Wera Philips as good as that bad design can be. However their attempt at a Robertson is junk. In the old days if you wanted a great Robertson you got a Cluthe', now the best ones are Fuller.

[Rick F]

I have Felo and Wera .. I like both and have found them quite durable.