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Wish list: Skinny 1/4" driver extension

Every decent 1/4" driver set has one of these extenders:

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I have at least three.

But domestic and kitchen equipment often has deeply recessed security screws and those extenders can be too fat for the recess holes.

I got myself a 50 piece set of 60mm 1/4" security bits but they're not always long enough. And I really notice their weight in my tool bag when I go to a repair event.

What I'd really like is an extender no wider than the diagonal width of a 1/4" bit (around 7mm, chamfered).

A 1/4" shaft with 6 hardened steel fingers on the end to grip the bit is what I have in mind. And for the cherry on the cake, how about a good strong neodymium magnet amongst the fingers to magnetise the bit and pull that pesky screw out of its hole?

So how about it, iFixit? And while you're at it, a similar 4mm extender might just come in handy too.

Regards - Philip

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@pleriche I'd buy a few of those myself ;-) BTW great job with the The Restart Project and RepairDay!!!!

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I'm currently looking everywhere for 6" long 5/32 (4mm) tips, I can find 6" long 1/4" shafts all over the place. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MMQL6UI) Let me know if you find any that are the precision toolkit size. Extensions will always have this issue as the item allowing the extension has to be larger than the bit.

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Hey Philip,

Thanks so much for the suggestion! I'll pass it along to our Tool Development team now. We appreciate your feedback!

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So what did the Tool Dev Dept say? I could have used one of these again today on a combined radio/cd/cassette player with some deeply recessed screws at the bottom of narrow holes! On one of them I was reduced to using a flat bladed screwdriver on a cross-head screw (horror of horrors!)

In trying to find this thread again I found someone asking a similar question about a 4mm extender:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/4596...

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@pleriche - Not sure there's an answer here as the wall of the extension where the bit is held would need to be fat enough to pass the torque to the bit without deforming.

Maybe whats needed is a longer bit which clears the recessed hole. How deep is this hole? Then the bit would need to be that length and a bit more for the handle to grab it. If there is a given bit type thats more likely here I would just do it.

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The problem is that these recessed screws quite often have a security screw at the bottom. I have a 50pc set of 75mm long security bits but I was faced with an even deeper recessed screw the other day. And they're surprisingly heavy to carry around so I wouldn't much want to add to that. I've looked at 150mm bits but can only find basic sets of 3 flat, 3 Phillips and 3 Posidriv.

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Or how about a set of 1/4" bits with a 4mm hex socket in the back end, together with a 120mm 1/4" shaft terminated in a 4mm driver? Or if the shaft also had a 4mm socket in one end (why not both?) it could be linked to the bit with a 6mm hex neodymium magnet.

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Philip, that's a great idea! Kay Kay passed this over to me back in October, and I've been stewing on it for a while now. The problem is that it asks quite a bit out of the material. I've made a quick mockup of what you're describing, and each of those little metal fingers would have to be less than 0.5 mm. That might be possible, but like Dan said, it's likely that it would deform under use. I'll keep this in mind for future experimenting, but I'm thinking that this problem might have to be solved in a different way.

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Yes, it's a tricky problem and I've been mulling it over for a while myself too. If it had open fingers like your illustration they would certainly splay out under stress. But if you put a 0.5mm thick sleeve around it?

An ideal 6.35mm AF hex profile is 7.33mm across the corners. An extender I have which was too fat the other day measures 9.8mm OD, which means it's maybe 1.25mm thick at its thinnest. That's quite a lot of metal. If I simply put it in a lathe and shaved off 0.75mm it might do the job. Except that it only gives 50mm extension and even my 75mm bits weren't long enough for one of the recessed screws on Saturday.

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@brett & @pleriche - The other risk is sheer with the pin design. A welded tube around both the cut area but a good part of the shank to offer more sheer stability as well.

How much force do you need to turn the screw? As that will be the factor. Do you have a foot pound wrench to measure?

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How about a 6" 4mm bit set like the 1/4" bits have? I have a 6" extension but have the same issue, the shaft that holds the 4mm bit is to fat to fit in a lot of the fine holes. See my comment above for an example

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That would definitely be an option, but at that point you may as well just be using a fixed-bladed screwdriver.

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Hardly not, if you use that same logic there is no reason to have the same thing for the 1/4" drivers.

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Buy a cheap set of electrician's plastic-handled, long-shaft, screwdrivers, then hammer the handles off. You now have a set of long-drivers. Mine are 9" long. I have seen 13" (more $$$).

Also,,, the shafts are often fluted to prevent handle twist, which may not fit tightly into your driver chuck. My small impact /drill driver works fine with one of the two flutes ground off.

If your are using a twist-drill chuck, this may not be necessary.

Check the electronics-industry drivers. I found a set of 10inch star drivers, used in most plastic appliances.

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I think you miss the point. I have a comprehensive set of 75mm 1/4" bits but they're quite heavy and not always long enough, and I have a limited set of 150mm bits on the way, which will add even more to the weight. What I want is an extender to allow me to use my short regular and security bits to cover all eventualities with the minimum of stuff to carry.

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I understand. All my 1/4" stuff fits in a 14" toolbox.

My NEW 5/32" tools fit in my pocket.

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Not sure where you are located but Harbor Freight likely has what you are looking for at a ridiculously low price.

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Nope. Still no long skinny 1/4" extender.

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What if instead of trying to grab the bits from the outside, you created a set of bits that had a square or hexagonal inset on the back. Then the extender pokes into the bit and the pokey part might be stout enough to not strip or deform under torque?

That would require that your bit-sets support having this hole, I suppose, but maybe you could also have small adapters that could be soldered or sintered onto the back of an existing bit set?

Maybe much more trouble than it's worth?

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Sorry guy it’s simply an issue of having one side fitting over the other. It makes no difference which is the male and the other the female.

The torque you apply wants to stretch the female end so the wall needs to be strong enough to withstand the pressure without distorting. That then limits the diameter of the shafts end. Which in open air with an extension we can get today is not a problem. Here we have the case wall which limits you.

Back when I was fixing the original Macintosh we had a extra long Torx tool to get to the upper case screws deep in a hollow. The hole was just barely the diameter of the screws head. Here’s a modern version Torx driver

The only real way to make this work is just biting the bullet making long driver bits. So instead of a 20mm shaft on these bits you push it out to 120~130mm in length. But then gets into which sizes one would need as you couldn’t offer a full kit as that just would be too expensive!

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I can see the problem. I was using a T10 Torx security bit for a while on non-security screws until it sheared off.

Would it work any better if you made a set of 1/4 bits with a T15 or T20 Torx socket in the back? You could drive it with a long (preferably magnetised) Torx screwdriver. I can see that a hex shaft in a hex socket is going to stretch and possibly split the socket but Torx should give more torque before that becomes a problem. Are there any higher grade steels you could use? I imagine Torx sockets and drivers wear much faster than hex, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem given that this would be just for occasional use in difficult to access screws.

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Philip Le Riche will be eternally grateful.