I searched this forum, and could only find an old thread from 2012. Since times change, I’m wondering about current good quality products.
I’ve heard mixed opinions about the Wowstick,and I don’t really see much of an advantage in an electric screwdriver just for occasional use. Xiaomi’s Mija Wiha set looks quite nice, but I’d like to hear other people’s views before ordering. A few months ago I bought a cheap set, and it’s rubbish, so I don’t want to make the same mistake again.
I love my brass screwdriver that takes the standard 801 bits. Solid and heavy construction with large selection of bits. I sewed a carrying pouch for it.
Yeah, its some chinese standard for industrial electric screwdriwers it seems. Usually you can find these with the “801” keyword for the 5mm variant and “800” keyword for the 4mm variant. The nice thing is that these bits can access deep screw cavities and you can get very large and also very fine sizes.
I'd like to recommend the Xiaomi Wiha set as well. However, in the EE industry, the actual full-length Wiha's are the benchmark standard. The bits are long and can reach deep inset screws, which the changable-tip Xiaomi's or similar ones often cannot reach. A good set if you manage to find a good deal are the https://www.wihatools.com/tech-tools/system-4-precision System 4 precision sets. If you're looking for EE pliers and flush cutters, Excelta is the industry standard; fantastic, but expensive: http://www.excelta.com/.
I use something between the budget Chinese stuff and the top of the line Wiha - the iFixit Driver Kit has all the bits I’ve ever needed and is extremely high quality. I haven’t used any of the bits for a long enough time to make a comment on reliability, but this set seems to have good ratings everywhere.
Do you need "precision" as in truly tiny fastener such as those used on computer HDD's, or do you need "precision" as in precisely fitting more common sizes of fasteners?
The German Whia tools are top quality.
Japanese Vessel brand tools are every bit as good.
The Japanese Vessel brand screwdrivers will precisely fit common JIS screw recesses that only superficially look like Phillips head recesses, but are of different enough geometry that a Philips screwdriver will easily damage them. JIS fasteners are commonly found in devices sourced from the Orient and Europe. JIS is rapidly becoming the defacto standard for all cross-head screws.
Gunsmithing screwdrivers will offer hollow-ground straight blades of many sizes that resist camming out of a screw slot.
Cheaping-out on tools is false economy IMO. If I value my project, I'm using the highest quality tools available.
I’ll have a look at those suggestions (and those from others). Not even sure what you call that screw size, but I was struggling with finding a tool to tighten the screws of the MF-01’s battery carrier, and to unscrew the brass ring that held in the driver. They are definitely smaller than the standard ones used for HDD’s.
I’ve had a Wiha set of 7 small drivers for at least 20 years, they’ve been great but a couple of them “walked off” recently. I got sloppy. Back then it was mainly flat head and Phillips stuff that I worked on so these have been great. I’ve supplemented this set with torx and Allen, pentalobe, tri-wing, etc.
I bought the Xiaomi Wiha set to try, it’s very nice. I think it will replace all of my supplemental drivers but I’m going to get a new set of 7 flathead and Phillips.
I like being able to just grab a driver and not have to deal with bit swapping, also the longer reach of a dedicated driver comes in handy.
The Xiaomi Wiha set is on the bilakos GearBest thread right now for a discount. If too late you might check Banggood.
My old Wiha set, while incomplete, will still get use either at work or in the garage. They’re great drivers built for the long run. I doubt I’ll wear out the Xiaomi Wiha set any time soon.
The case they come in is pretty cool but too much for regular use. Will pack the outer shell away just in case I need to go mobile.