Screwdrivers

[david pierce]

I bought a brand new cheap set for $10.00 + free shipping off of Ebay. The set was so badly made that nothing could be done to make them usable. :ugeek:

[chris mabbott]

Interesting views regarding, IMHO THEE most important tool and possibly most used in our vast repertoire.

Like most of you, when I began delving in earnest, I didn’t want to cough up for a good quality set simply because I wasn’t sure if I would take the hobby up seriously, but I didn’t want a super cheapo model either. I think the first set were A-F and I have no complaints about them for the price, and the quality was good.
The original blades were not too bad either but I eventually, again like most others, purchased a set of Bergeron blades.

After using the A-Fs for 3 years, I finally treated myself to a Bergeron set. You can tell the difference in quality and build, no doubt, you’re not paying for the name only.
This being said, I appear to still be reaching for the A-Fs 😆 so in retrospect, IF I could go back, I would have probably paid the extra $45-55 for the Bergeron set. Not because of any performance issues, just because I ended up buying them anyway, but I suppose it’s good to have two sets of our most used tools 🙄

[david pierce]

Chris,
I think you described many of us. You can see what Bernie is going through; as did Paul and many others. I have two sets that I bought from FINDING KING that are pretty good. I like their lazy susan style holders because they have extra holes in the center that were put there for spare blades. I use them to hold the small indespensible needle tools. After a couple of years I swapped out the origional Finding King screwdrivers and replaced them with Bergeons. I don’t think I can do without the holders however. I still use my Stella tweezers a lot but the Dumont #5 has no equal.
david

[tmac1956]

@Bernie Weishapl wrote:

Thanks guys. David I just ordered Bergeon blades for $15. I will also order some steel and make some other blades.

Bernie:

Wow… where did you find them at that price? Every time I price them out they’re almost as high as buying a set of Burgeon screwdrivers.

Thanks!
Tom

[bernie weishapl]

Tom I found them here. First listing on the page. http://www.ofrei.com/page239.html

[bernie weishapl]

David was the set you got from finding king like these? They both have revolving bases.

[david pierce]

Bernie,
The stand is the same but the screwdriver handles are different. The handles I got were all metal. I like the stand because I can put other tools in the center which is covered by a plastic cap in the picture.
david

[david pierce]

What on earth is this world comming to. Otto Frei has the best price on something??????

[bernie weishapl]

Never ceases to amaze me. I bought a set to use in my cheap handles and see how it works out. I think I am going to just buy a set of Bergeons and be done with it. 😆 I am also looking at the Finding King set to. Never can have to many screwdrivers. My granddad always told me take the money you would spend trying to make cheap tools work and just buy the good stuff to begin with.

[david pierce]

Bernie,
Those plastic handle screwdrivers might end up being pretty good. You never know until you try them out. I bought Bergeon as well as Finding King screwdrivers and they were both pretty good but if you go with the Bergeon’s you know they will work properly. I also bought a set off of Ebay that looked OK in the picture but turned out to be crap. The set including the stand was less than $10.00 but it was just a waste of $10.00.
david

[bernie weishapl]

That is exactly what happened with this bunch. Just not worth the $11 I paid. Should have known better because it always jumps up and bite you in the back side.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Bernie,
As you probably already know I’m a huge advocate of buying the best screwdriver set that one can afford. Screwdrivers as well as tweezers are the hand tools most used in day to day watchmaking. There is much more than just the blade to a quality screwdriver. Balance, solid feeling head rotation as well as a good prominent star knurl or in the case of Bergeons ergonomic drivers, perfectly spaced splines makes all the difference in the world in feel and that all important connection with the movement. With screwdrivers it’s always been my experience that the more I spend the happier I am with the set. Horotec puts out a great screwdriver (not inexpensive) with perfect balance and feel and uses ball bearings for the head mounting. Incredible screwdriver.
Adding good blades to a cheaper set will definitely improve the performance and is a great inexpensive move if money is tight. If on the other hand the money is available and you plan to do some serious repair and restoration work then I HIGHLY recommend splurging a bit and going with the best you can afford. You won’t regret the choice once you’ve used them.

Hope this helps,
Bob

[bernie weishapl]

Thanks Bob. I have a good set of tweezers as I use them doing clock work also. So after thinking about it this afternoon playing golf I think I will at least get a good set of Bergeon’s.

[bernie weishapl]

Well I got the Bergeon blades for the cheap set I got and replaced those blades. I also got a set with the revolving base from Finding King that David talked about. I used both when doing a watch last week. I can say both worked very well and the bergeon blades are 100 times better than the cheapies. So for now I am happy with what I got.

And Bob I will splurge on a good set of bergeons when I get a few watch repairs done. These seem to work pretty well.

[arutha]

Thanks for the update Bernie. I might try some of those Bergeon blades at some point
Paul.

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