Improvising

[Anonymous No.175862]

I don't care what kind of screw it is, you can use a flathead screwdriver on it!

I have tons of Torx, but not one with a hole in the middle.

What have you improvised or jerry-rigged lately?

[Anonymous No.175863]

>>175862
well, fuck.

[Anonymous No.175876]

>>175862
90 percent of screws that or torx head are usually deep into stuff and u cant just grind it away like that

[Anonymous No.175882]

>>175876
I'd fucking love to do that but I don't think that my game consoles would appreciate it. $35.00 and a quality set of specialty screwdrivers later and I can get into damn near everything. But good info.

[Anonymous No.175880]

>>175862
That's a "security Torx", and the proper bits are inexpensive.
Last set of "security bits" I bought were a whopping $5.99. Not to sound like a buyfag, but there are times when you need the correct tool, and it's worth investing in.

This is one of those times.
>>175876 illustrated why.

[Anonymous No.175884]

I drilled out all the tips of my torx screwdrivers cause I ran into so many of those security screws.

[MusicCityTitan No.175886]

Or just go pickup a small set of security bits.

Good ones can be found at some auto parts stores. Or no more than you come across you can get a cheap set from somewhere like Harbor Freight.

[Anonymous No.175888]

>>175886
This, you need some basic tools mang...

[Anonymous No.175897]

>>175888

>This, you need some basic tools mang...

This^2.

Having worked in mechanical maintenance, I can say that life will be a lot easier when you have a tool kit with whatever tools you usually need.

Brute force and improvising is good but you don't really want to break your stuff or repair it really half assed...

[Anonymous No.175909]

>>175897
if I had money for tools I wouldn't need to DO IT MYSELF.

Fucking buyfags.

[Anonymous No.175916]

>>175909

A lot of times using the improper tools can end up costing you more than just buying what you need.

[Anonymous No.175925]

>>175884
OP here. This was my first thought, but then when I saw how small the bit was that went in there that I said fuck it.

[Anonymous No.175928]

>>175888
>torx
>basic tools

Nope, those are not basic tools. Basic ones are flathead, phillips, and socket sets. I can't even buy torx bits in the local hardware store.

[Anonymous No.175929]

>>175916
You've never made your own tools before have you?

[Anonymous No.175931]

>>175909
then how did you cut the slot?

[Anonymous No.175937]

>>175931
That's not the OP.

[MusicCityTitan No.175940]

>>175909
The last cheap set of security bits I paid $7. It included the security Torx, triangle bits, square bits, one ways, and a few others I still to this day have never seen, but I will be ready for when I do.

Call me a buyfag if you want, but I dont mind spending money on the tools needed to achieve the project.

[Anonymous No.175979]

use a flathead.
did this to take apart xbox controllers because my securaty torx was drilled off center

[Anonymous No.175998]

>>175909
>if I had money for tools I wouldn't need to DO IT MYSELF.
Labor is always much more expensive than tools.

[Anonymous No.176013]

>>175876
That sounds like a hypothetical situation that OP didn't run into. Also, it's one thing to suggest buying, but another to let a thread get filled up with BUY BUY BUY.

[Anonymous No.176022]

>screws
MOVE ASIDE PEASANTS!
Nails and glue masterrace coming through!

[Anonymous No.176023]

OMFG. You can buy that tool (an entire kit with multiple "security" tools for like under $15. WTF is the problem here.

[Anonymous No.176030]

>>176023
OP posed with a solution, it appears you have the problem.

[z No.176032]

If you can jam the right sized flathead in a security torx you can snap the pin off. Then use a larger flathead to remove.

[Anonymous No.176052]

I had a recessed 3 sided hole screw on a toy I war repairing, no 3 sided bits owned. I couldn't slot the screw as I would ruin the toy so I took a nail and ground the tip to a triangle. Held in a pair of pliers they came out no problem. Once out I slotted them for a flat head to put them back in.

[Anonymous No.176058]

>>176032
OP here.

My first thought was drilling a hole in the torx bit then I even hammered on it a bit with a screwdriver, but I had my Dremel right there so....

>>175979
I normally use small flatheads to do that sort if thing, but this one was stuck too well and the size of flathead I needed to do that wanted to bend and cam out.

>>176013
I have to agree with that anon. Most are in pretty damn deep. Which is why I have all sorts of bits. However, the bits are useless for deep screws since the bit holder it always too big to fit in. you need a complete set of screwdrivers, each ones with a different tip.

>>176022
Rviets and welds are master race.

>>176023
>buy

>>176052
I've done that sort of thing a few times before.

[Anonymous No.176071]

Security bit set from harbor-freight, like $4 or $10 for the deluxe kit.

[Anonymous No.176098]

/diy/ - Do-It-Yourself

http://www.4chan.org/rules#diy
>1: MAKERS GONNA MAKE!

[teka No.176106]

>>176098
spending 20 minutes on a workaround instead of 2 minutes using the correct tool is just foolish.

Makers have more time for Making when they use the right tools.

[Anonymous No.176111]

>>176106
>20 minutes

To Dremel a screw head?

>2 minutes

To unscrew a screw?

>the right tools.

Like a flathead screwdriver.

[Anonymous No.176114]

>>176106
You missed those forge and furnace threads some time ago. Basically, you make charcoal, a clay furnace, and go from there to make tools for making tools to do pretty much anything.

[Anonymous No.176115]

>>176111
You can't unscrew a screw in under 2 minutes? The fuck?

[Anonymous No.176117]

>>176115
That is what I'm implying about >>176106 I mean

>spending 20 minutes on a workaround instead of 2 minutes using the correct tool is just foolish.

Implies it's taking 2 minutes to unscrew a screw.

[Anomalous No.176148]

Wow guys, attack a poor guy for making life a bit easier. if he destroyed the head then he would get to drill it out and fix it, his fault. I don't think he did though or he might not have posted here. Who cares if he improvised and cut a slot in a torx head bolt. Do you know how easy it is to strip the shit out of those if their rusted or overtightened by a dumbass previous owner? Pretty easy, i applaud OP for doing something useful. Now my "Improvisations" are a little more redneck, see i don't have money to afford a breaker bar or a decent size pipe to leave laying around my garage so...

This is a picture of a 1/2 inch socket wrench on the axle side bolt for a part on my truck, the is supposed to be torqued to about 200 ft lbs so loosening it was a pain, i decided to use a small floor jack and it worked wonderfully. No i didn't have a torch no i didn't have a breaker bar or a pipe that would fit.

[Anonymous No.176149]

>>176148
He hasn't made life easier. That's the whole point.

[Anomalous No.176151]

>>176148
And again, another redneck improvisation was not having a frame jack to let my suspension travel for some maintenance, so i used a big floor jack a block of wood for a bigger surface and a cinder block type thing for height.

Yes it was stupid and yes it was unsafe but i don't have the money to buy a frame jack yet so it did the job i needed it to do.

[teka No.176152]

>>176117
Its a general 2 minutes.
A vague small measurement of time compared to a vague larger measurement of time.

Fine, maximum specificity.

"Better to spend a moment looking through a box of bits, selecting the right one and using it then to spend several minutes grinding a notch in every screw you have to remove"

Not to imply that improvising is never the solution and not to imply that all projects must halt without the specific required tools.

There.

[Anomalous No.176154]

>>176149
He made it easier for himself, you could spend ~20 minutes dremeling the head or spend 20-25 drive to hell and back trying to find a store that carries security bits, i know i don't have a place near me. The local harbor freight is 20 minutes away plus time of finding said bits. The auto parts stores have them yes but it is still time consuming driving there. Also who the hell takes 20 minutes to dremel a slot? It really shouldn't be that hard.

[Anonymous No.176155]

>>175862
Hex set screw

[Anonymous No.176161]

>>176154
>~20 minutes dremeling the head

It literally takes about 3 seconds to do the actual cut in a screw head with an emery disc and a dremel. It takes about the same amount of time putting the disc on as it does sizing the bit for the screw and putting it in the screwdriver.

[Anonymous No.176165]

>>176152
[ ] - waiting 5-7 days for tools from harbor freight, because no one has them locally

[ ] - grabbing up something and improvising for 5 minutes.

Choose one.

[Anonymous No.176177]

Don't have the right knife for the job?

Make the right knife for the job.

[teka No.176178]

>>176165
[] Reading the post.
[] Not Reading the post.

choose one.

[Anonymous No.176179]

>>176177
>implying that's a knife and not a shank

[Anonymous No.176181]

>>176178
Not everything is meant to be negative against what you are saying.

[Anonymous No.176184]

I cut a slot in my knifed screws because it used the smallest size possible it stripped 2 mins and a dremel flat head later problem solved. So sometimes improvising is the better option.

[scroton !SW7uh6H3p. No.176204]

Regarding the top this thread devolved into rather than what the OP put forth: I think the right course of action concerning this would depend primarily on how often you encounter these screws, and whether you intend to put the screw back later. If you're gong to be working with these frequently then it makes no sense NOT to acquire the correct tools; even though the workaround is relatively fast, overall you'll end up wasting a significant amount of time. If this head type just happens to be on something you need to open up then it's faster and more efficient to do this (or use needle-nosed vicegrips) than to go get a toolset you'll use maybe once.

To note, though: doing this would remove any coating the screw might have. Depending upon the screw type and application, that might be important. Usually not though.

[scroton !SW7uh6H3p. No.176205]

>>176098
>>175929
>>176114

I don't agree with your pigeonholing this board into what you think it should be. Building everything from the ground up can be fun, and definitely takes a lot of skill, but not everyone is interested in doing that. For many it would be an added chore that would only delay them from doing what they want to do. Many of the people here are hobbyists and if that isn't something they would enjoy doing it wouldn't be a good use of their free time. For those that are tradespeople, making all your tools, screws, nails and other hardware from iron you mined yourself would severely impact the amount of work that you could do.

It's very difficult, almost impossible, to completely remove all reliance on what others have built from your life. Everyone has their own level of buyfaggotry they're comfortable with, but no one is completely removed from the work of others. Unless of course you typed your comments from a computer you built yourself from materials you mined/acquired yourself. In which case, Dr. Hinkley I must let you know I've always admired your work. Your ability to improvise anything from Cocos nucifera is simply astounding.

[Anonymous No.176208]

>>176148

I've done that before on some calipers. Bent the damn ratchet but it was a cheap one. Finally got it loose.


Also recently my manual can opener broke. I jerry-rigged it into an electric one.

[Anonymous No.176210]

You anti buy fags are worse than vegans.

OP belongs on thereIfixedit.com

[Anonymous No.176213]

sooo..... you have money for a power electric rotary tool, but not a cheap ass set of bits? whose the buyfag.....

[Anonymous No.176217]

>>176213
See
>I have tons of Torx, but not one with a hole in the middle.

Fucking kid. I'm not just saying you're a kid because "HURRR I'M ON /DIY/". I said you were a kid because of your kid-like grammar.

[Anonymous No.176358]

>>176205

[Anonymous No.176368]

I have one for you OP

>At work
>Whippersnipping because boss ran out of shit for us to do
>Run out of cord
>Use some old high-tensile wire we nick from our toolbox
>Whippersnipper of DOOM

I can't believe nobody's done this before.

[Anonymous No.176379]

>>175928

what kind of shithole hardware store doesn't sell torx?

[Anonymous No.176388]

>>176205
See >>176013
No one in this thread has told anyone else not to buy security Torx. They've merely given a few ways to avoid doing so in some situations.

[Anonymous No.176409]

The screw in the OP isn't a torx, people. Otherwise the OP would have used a torx, because he states he has torx. It is a security hex socket.

http://www.wihatools.com/700seri/761_tr_hex_sockets.htm

[Anonymous No.176413]

>>176368
>Whippersnipper

We call them Weedeaters in the USA. lol Yeah, I've done that before with wire and with the metal strip from a windshield wiper blade.

[MusicCityTitan No.176445]

>>176413
When I was 12 I had to clear some thick brush from behind a building. My dad put a skil saw blade on the weedeater and let me go to town....

Its a wonder I have lived this long looking back on the stuff I did as a kid. lol

[Anonymous No.176488]

>>176445
lol Damn, yeah I can see that going wrong if it hit something thick enough to shatter the blade. The wiper blades I used would start to bend with thicker stuff so I knew they'd not sheer off and kill me.

[Anonymous No.176491]

Today, I took an old propane tank that a friend gave me (1 of 2) and put a "POL adapter" on it so I could use it as a compressed air tank for my 90PSI compressor. It works very well. I love that it gives me extra air and is portable. I'm getting a pressure gauge for it soon. Then I'll set it up with the second tank so I have even more compressed air.

I have to fill the tanks up, release the pressure, and repeat several times to get the residual gas out of them. Turning them upside down for a few of those pressure releases helps too.

[Anonymous No.176516]

>>176409
stop trolling you idiot


I hate this thread.

[Anonymous No.176712]

>>176516
Its actually a combination security torx and security hex.

[Anonymous No.176980]

I have dealt with these security torx fuckers before, I took a small punch and broke the fucking pin off then used a hex wrench and got on with my life.