Impact Driver Tip

One of the first tools I bought after buying my first motorcycle was an impact driver. It has been a big help over the years. But, the following video provides a great tip for making the impact driver even more effective.

Any type of lapping compound will work. In a pinch I have even used toothpaste as many have abrasives in the mix. I always used to keep some Ultrabright toothpaste in my tool box for polishing metal. Now I use lapping compound. This trick even works well when using a normal screwdriver by hand to help keep from caming out.

good tip but what's funny is I had to use mine for the exact same thing Thursday on my son's car and I believe I bought my first one around 1972 or 1973 because if you wrench on a motorcycle back then you had to have one, those Philips head screws were terrible

I carry scars on my hand to this day from missing that dang thing with my hammer.

I wonder whatever happened to mine

Just like every other tool, I've got 3 or 4 of them. I might be able to find one when I need it.

Just like every other tool, I've got 3 or 4 of them. I might be able to find one when I need it.

At least you work at a place with a great loaner program

Using a hammer? No wonder I could never get them to work ):

I bought my first impact when a friend who worked on motorcycles informed me how he got those impossible phillips head screws out of a motorcycle engine's side covers. I had a Yamaha 305.

ALSO if you enjoy good informative auto/truck repair videos see more of Eric's. He's owns SOUTH MAIN AUTOMOTIVE and the videos are on YOUTUBE. They are great.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=south+main+automotive

Frank

I'm the one that taught his grandmother that trick.

I still have the one I bought in 1965 when drag racing in Omaha. Great tool and I have used it often.

One of the reasons that those Philips are always stripping is that they're not Philips head screws. They're JIS, Japanese Industrial Standard.

What I've read is that the Philips head was designed for Henry Ford, it sped up the assembly line because the Philips is designed to cam out when the proper torque is reached without buggering up the head of the screw and leaving sharp edges that caught on skin and clothing. Before the days of precise driver clutches and electronic torque wrenches this allowed fast assembly without leaving damage behind.

The JIS tips are cut straight, not curved like a Philips, they are designed to lock in and not cam out, for this reason JIS drivers are even better with Philips screws than a Philips driver. Get yourself a set of Vessel JIS drivers and you'll wonder where they've been all your life. I don't know how many times I've removed carb and case cover screws that someone stripped with a Philips driver, by doing nothing more than using the right screwdriver. Here's a youtube (not mine) video that does a good job explaining it.

Amazon has sets and individual drivers, and you can get them other places on the web. Vessel makes an impact driver that looks and is sized like a regular driver, too, not 3 pounds of awkward fat stubby steel. If you work on Japanese bikes you need these, they will pay for themselves in money saved replacing fasteners. (see there, gave ya somethin' to tell the missus ...)

Tim