Finders - with drill bit sets

[wadge]

I've bought a new box set of drill bits and driving bits. In it there are a couple of rounds plastic bits called finders? They are common with most of these type of box sets. What are they and how do I use them?

 

[xerxes]

New to me, but according to this they are devices for locating a bit in a slotted screw head.

I'm inclined to agree that this sounds like something one can do without.

 

[wadge]

Thanks. Agreed, pretty redundant although I can see where the original need for it came from.

Sometimes slotted screws can be a pain in awkward or tight corners with a cordless driver.

 

[neds]

Slotted screws should be outlawed! They just look nasty too

 

[disinfo]

Slotted screws should be outlawed! They just look nasty too

I still think they look better on furniture / door handles etc

 

[mattylad]

They also hold the screw while you start to screw it in.
I have several but never used them.

Slotted screws are dangerous when using a Electric driver, but IMO much better when using a hand screwdriver & needing a good "thrutching" !

That said as I'm now officially lazy & use the electric driver, I only ever use cross head unless on a door.

 

[noseall]

once painted a few times, cross head or posi are almost impossible to remove.

never have this problem with slotted.


no good for the cordless driver though.

ho hum.

 

[xerxes]

Last year I had to remove a large number of slotted screws from a ceiling. The only sensible way to go about it was with a cordless driver, but it was a messy business. To make things worse, the heads were very hard (and brittle) so I had quite a few broken screws which had to be removed with pliers. Maybe a screwfinder would have come in handy for this job, if I'd known they existed.

I would still use slotted screws where they're going to be on display when the job's finished, installed with a screwdriver of course, and driven home so that the slots are aligned.

I also like to use slotted screws in a location where they're liable to get very dirty, or clogged with paint, and I might need to remove them later, for the reasons Noseall gives.