screwdrivers

olskool

olskool

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here is something to ponder. i have 8 broke screwdrivers, 4 of them are grace and 4 of them are forster screwdrivers. i emailed grace and within 2 hours i got a reply. i asked what i had to do to get them replaced? he emailed right back and said just tell him what numbers were broke? i did and in four days i got brand new ones in the mail! then i called forster and talked to the service department and asked what i needed to do to get the 4 broke ones replaced? he asked had i used a pair of pliers on them? i told him i was a part time gunsmith and a transmission rebuilder for 40 years and i was 59 years old and i know how to use a screwdriver. he said to return them and that they wanted to check them for hardness yea right, i told him about the great service with grace, he replied really? i said yes sir no song and dance and they did not want me to spend money and time sending junk back so they could see if they were abused. he told me i had to send them back before they would send replacements. i told him i might send them back but i would not ever buy anything but grace from now on!

i emailed grace and thanked them for there great service, he emailed me back and said, "no sir thank you"! what a great company....
 
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That's good to know, especially if in the market for screwdrivers.
Anything can break at anytime but good customer service is a big factor in determining reputable companies.
ETA:
You might want to email Forster's rep a link to this thread after it fills with comments about their CS.
 
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Great Company

Slightly off topic, but a couple of years ago I was interested in a Grace gunsmith hammer. I had seen a picture but could not find one for sale. I called Grace and spoke to someone named Grace. He said he would mail me one and if I liked it just send him a check. He did and I did.

Jeff
 
Broken Screwdriver Blades

Its going to happen but the hard part is choosing from which vendor to make the purchase, a similar experience prevents me from initiating any further purchases from Midway USA, yet Brownells only asks the number marked on the broken screwdriver.
 
Jeff423 said:
Slightly off topic, but a couple of years ago I was interested in a Grace gunsmith hammer. I had seen a picture but could not find one for sale. I called Grace and spoke to someone named Grace. He said he would mail me one and if I liked it just send him a check. He did and I did.

Jeff
Click to expand...

There are very few people that do business like this anymore. I can think of 2 off the top of my head
 
I did my first professional gunsmithing job (I got paid) 61 years ago on a Browning O/U trap shotgun that had a broken ejector spring. The local 'Nationally Ranked Champion' trap shooter had a big meet the next day in Las Vegas. He called my Dad and asked who he knew who could do the replacement. My Dad recommend me. The man came over with the shotgun, a replacement spring and the exploded view of that shotgun. I ground two screwdrivers to the proper size and went to work. The trap shooter had never seen anyone regrind and reshape a screwdriver. He was amazed. He told my Dad that he knew 'gunsmiths' operating at trap meets that couldn't do that. My Dad said, "I taught him how". With that brag I have to say that Wheeler Engineering's Big Kit does 98% of anything I have ever needed on quality guns. Oh, I did break one Wheeler tip one time. I just set it back and the first time I needed a smaller tip for a special job, I reground and reshaped that tip. I have and have used Brownell's fixed blade driver set, the Chapman's, the DeWalt, the Craftsman, the Stanley and the Miller Falls sets. I have recently bought the mini-Wheeler set to specifically take to the Rifle and Pistol Range in my tool kit. All suit the purpose for general handy-man projects, but the Wheeler Kits are what I reach for when working on quality guns.

One small bon mot; The Wheeler allen wrench tips seem to be slightly undersized for some (not all) allenhead socket screws used on scope rings and mounts. That's ok, because I have others that do fit tightly. ........
 
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Narragansett said:
There are very few people that do business like this anymore. I can think of 2 off the top of my head
Click to expand...

Off topic a bit... I have a 30 year old Charter Arms revolver that I only bought a year and a half ago off GunBroker.

It uses these little plastic washers under the crane screw.

I called Charter Arms to order a couple and kinda whined about the $15 minimum purchase (the washers are $4 each) and the minimum $8 shipping charge, so Dee Ecker (the wife of the owner of CA who does customer service personally) said "No problem give me your address and I will send you a couple."

3 days later I had 6 washers in my mailbox.. FREE!! If I had to pay for these it would have been $32!!

Say what you want about Charter Arms, but they have some very good customer service!! Oh and for $49.95 plus parts (which are also very cheap) they will repair any of their revolvers... even my 30+ year old one (that I have only owned for less than 2 years)!!
 
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zonker5 said:
How did you manage to break 8 screw drivers?

In all my years I have never had one break from turning, only from using it as a pry bar to open a paint can or such.
Click to expand...

you must have never tried to take the lifter screws out of a 1873 uberti rifle. they are small and a nightmare, and no i don't use my gun screwdrivers to pry open those 55 gallon paint cans you must be talking about, in fact i am to lazy to paint........
 
I like Grace tools too! I bought their screw driver set about 4 years ago. I liked it so much I bought their hook and pick set as well as a brass hammer. No issues whatever and I use them frequently.
 
No problems with my Grace set.

I had 1 of the tips break in a Wheeler Screw Driver Set.

After an online form filled out with the btibrands customer service I had a replacement 3 days later.

Thumbs Up To Wheeler Engineering Customer Service.

I've also had excellent customer service experiences with Ruger and Lee Reloading.
 
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'splaining.....

Mike McLellan said:
Screwdrivers are like ex-wives. I don't remember why that is , though.
Click to expand...

Mike: Even with my limited experience with women, I can explain with a few analogies;........... Sometimes perfect girls become imperfect women, sometimes older screwdrivers become imperfect; sometimes women 'break', sometimes older screwdrivers break; sometime women are dull and non-performers, sometimes screwdrivers become dull and non-performers; sometimes women look right are prove to be far from that, sometimes screwdrivers look right and prove to be far from that; sometimes women look as though they should be able to work and then don't, sometimes screwdrivers look as though they should work for an intended job and then don't.......etc, You get the idea. ..... I'm sure that some others can contribute some more meaningful analogies........ :-)
 
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Grace is a Michigan based company. For the last several years come to the Gun show in Novi Michigan right before Christmas. I have talked to them real nice folks. It is nice to see a leader in gunsmith tools take the time to meet the public show show there latest products.
 
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In all the years of doing this work, I've never actually bought a 'new' screw driver. They're all second hand, or worse. But most good US or Euro made stuff that used to be the norm on most any 'smiths or mechanics bench.
It's good to hear that there are still companys around that make and stand behind their products.

There's way too many glitter-junk tools floating around that may look pretty in a cased set or handy to use with all their detachable tips,,,but they fail in the real test of normal use.
(Can't stand those interchangeable tip tools myself, but I know I'm in the minority on that.)
 
zonker5 said:
How did you manage to break 8 screw drivers?

In all my years I have never had one break from turning, only from using it as a pry bar to open a paint can or such.
Click to expand...

Brownells screw driver bits are extremely hard - to the point of being brittle. The concept is the bit will break before the screw does or the screw head twists, to prevent damage to the gun you are working on. I've broken more than a few, especially the extremely thin ones. Their Phillips bits have small projections along the blade that helps it bite into the screw without slipping and rounding the screw head out. I've had my set of Brownells bits since the mid eighties. As a side note: a lot more guns are being assembled with thread locker. Heating the screw with a soldering iron can soften the locker up and make removal a lot easier.
 
IMO Brownell's Magnatip screwdrivers are FAR superior to Grace and others. I own most brands of screwdrivers (including a full set of Grace) and the Grace simply doesn't hold up compared to Brownell's brand which I believe is made by Apex (the finest as far as I am concerned). It seems that the Grace are much less precision ground and they are a little too brittle. The Grace also lacks the diversity of sizes that Brownell's has.

BTW: If you like the Brownell's brand bits and want the same quality bits but in other configurations for general and Automotive uses that Brownell's does not carry, look up Apex Bits. There are many more variants than Brownells carries as they don't really pertain to Gun-smithing.
 
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