Stanley 100 Plus Screwdrivers

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4GSR

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“I hope they start selling quality screw drivers soon, so far it looks like the drunken monkeys still have the contract to produce their screwdrivers.“

I pulled this quote from another thread to start a new thread on “screwdrivers”. Pacifically Stanley 100 Plus screwdrivers.

In the very beginning, dad was instructing me on the proper way to use a screwdriver. (Boy, was that a mistake!) I don't remember what brand screwdriver I used to take the license plate off the car, It worked! Got mom in trouble with the law a bit later. This was around 1959.
Scan_20180114.jpgGrowing up at a early age I can remember my first screwdrivers I had as a kid. Most were from the local five and dime store. I remember buying a set of made in USA screwdrivers with plastic handles for about $8-9. I think there was six screwdrivers in that set. Dad had a set of wood handle ones he bought that most of them he worked with for a living. We dare not touch them back then. Along with those, we had a bunch of worn out Phillips tip and straight blade ones. The straight blade one some had been modified, most be me, in an attempt to bring back the tips on them. Learned early why you don't grind on a blade of a good screwdrivers. This was in the mid 1960's to early 1970's.

A little later in life, dad bought a nice set of Stanley 100 Plus screwdriver set that took the place of the wood handle screwdrivers he had left from the set he had. About the same time in the mid 1970's, I bought my first set of Craftsman tools to replace all of the misfit tools I had used since a early age and my first real set of good screwdrivers. Those Craftsman screwdriver have been replaces many times over the years with bigger sets and warranty replacements.

After dad passed, I go a hold of a couple of the last of the Stanley 100 Plus screwdrivers he had. Will say, they were starting to show their age. They are worn from lots of use in the 20 something years he used them. They been hammered on as chisels, used for prying, and who knows what else. I bought a set of Klein screwdrivers that I like very well, but have rubber handles. That don't work good when your hands are greasy and oily. Plus I like them for electrical work as intended. The Klein's look very much like the Stanley 100's, too. So I started looking at eBay and found an exact set as dad had. They are not cheap! So I bought a set of them. They will last the rest of my life for sure. Here's a couple of pictures of them.

20180114_103015.jpgThese are the new ones I bought. Note the flared blade where it enters the plastic handle. Third picture is the new one and one of the old ones I have that belong to my dad. Last picture is a new set of round blade Stanley 100's you can still get today.
20180114_103029.jpg20180114_103301.jpg20180114_103529.jpg

Ken

EDIT: If you ever go to flea markets or garage sales, watch for these and buy them if they are in decent shape to use. I consider them as being one of the best screwdriver out there. I don't care what people say about Snapon or any other brand out there! Ken
 
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On the subject of quality screw drivers. About 35 years ago I bought an Makita thickness planer. In the tool kit was a Philips screw driver, the usual cheap looking plastic handled thing. Its still in my tool chest in the machine shop. My go to Phillips, it grabs in the head like no other one I've ever owned and hasn't worn a bit.

Greg
 
I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but there are Phillips screwdrivers and there are JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screwdrivers. I spend a fair bit of time working on Japanese motorcycles and ATV's and finally got fed up and spent some money on a set of Vessel JIS screwdrivers. NOT cheap at $20 and up, but worth every penny.
 
On the subject of screwdrivers, why do some of those old plastic handles smell like dirty feet? Carcinogenic I'm sure.
Mark S.
 
Every estate sale or yard sale I come home with at least a couple of oldies.
WDNich was over and commented - while looking at my two slide out drawers, that I might just have enough. . .
There's a couple of those Stanley's in there.
I've got one matched set of Whia's at the computer repair bench in the house, in the shop they are all mis-matched.
Last set I bought was MAC wooden handled, I think that there are only two still left out of that set.
 
Stanley 100 drivers are very nice in my opinion. I have several that I bought used and I favor them for sure. I do not abuse mine either. No clue if they even make those anymore either. These days I favor the Williams Hard Handles that are twins to the old Snap-On screwdrivers that used to be sold until about 10 years or so ago. The great part is they are USA made. Williams is a Snap-On company so the drivers Williams sell are spot on except for the name stamped on the drivers. Another great thing is they are really cheap too compared to how much they cost when Snap-On was stamping their name in them!

Only today I bought two 6 pc sets, one straight and the other Phillips and had them shipped to the SIL direct from the factory for a total cost of $86.50, and $16.00 of that cost was shipping so the 12 drivers themselves only cost me $70.00. Some might think that cost high, but when Snap-On used to sell them just one of those sets would have cost you most of $100!

See link: http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Williams-100P-8MD-Hand-Tools-Screwdrivers-Driver-Sets

Sorry to hijack your thread. I too am a fan of the Stanley 100 screwdrivers.
 
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