Wasted $40 on a cheap JIS screwdriver set that stripped immediately

Bought a no-name set off Amazon thinking it'd save money. First time I used it on a Pentax K1000 the tip twisted on the third screw. Anyone else find a decent brand that won't break the bank?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_riley14d agoProlific Poster

Blame the seller more than yourself, cheap steel is cheap steel. Try Vessel or Hozan, they're Japanese brands that actually know how to make JIS tips. Cost a bit more but the metal holds up to actual use instead of folding over on the first stubborn screw. Had a set of Vessels for a few years now, stripped plenty of screws but never the bit itself. Worth the extra ten bucks to not replace them every other job.

ryan_ellis14d ago

Yeah I've been down that exact same road man. Bought a cheap set off Amazon thinking JIS was just a standard and it would work fine, then watched the tip peel back like a banana on my second screw. @the_riley nailed it with Vessel though, I grabbed their Megadora set after my first cheap set failed and they've been solid for years now. The steel is actually heat treated right so it bites into the screw head instead of deforming. What a lot of people don't realize is JIS requires a sharper tip angle than Phillips, and cheap brands just grind a Phillips bit down a little instead of making the proper shape. It makes a huge difference when you're working on old camera screws that are already stuck from decades of gunk and corrosion. Spend the extra ten or twelve bucks once and you won't be back here complaining next month.