One does not simply throw away Allen wrenches.
I have so many of these things, I’ve thought about getting a forge to smelt them into ingots.
Forge is for blacksmithing. You want a foundry for smelting.
I have seen enough forged in fire and home smithing videos to know you can also do it in a forge. You just aren’t casting them.
Much easier and efficient to put your crucible in a foundry. You also cast ingots.
Chip off the L-bit and now you have Allen Keys that will fit into any drill chuck
Alternatively, keep the L-bit on and now you have one wild drill thingy, and will be feared.
I got an allen key bit set and just started throwing all of these oot.
I might need it
I don’t remember where I put it if I do need it
But I can’t get rid of it because I might need it
Oh, that speaks to me.
I’ve considered using some of those as components in 3D printing projects.
Not sure how well it’d work, but hey, spare material.
I bought a complete Allen wrench set and still don’t throw away the disposable ones that come with assemble-it-yourself products
A ratcheting driver set is even nicer, you get all the allen tips plus torx, the weird philips variants, etc. Mine has sockets under 3/4" even. I use the thing like 10 times a day.
I have a big ratcheting screwdriver with the drivers stored in the handle, its so nice. And for smaller stuff I have a ratcheting right angle one that’s great for leverage. That plus a tiny screwdriver with 30 different tiny bits for all different kinds of electronics, and a simple drill. It can all be had for under $50, compared to removing the frustration of not having the right bit plus the right tool which is priceless.
No matter which one I get. It’s always missing the one I need 😢
I have literally a dozen allen key sets, at least, and still toss the freebies into a drawer
they come in handy every now and then when you need to hammer one into a partially stripped bolt head or something like that
Precisely. They’re the red shirts of the operation. I’m not putting the fancy Craftsman shit into my drill.
i do vaguely remember owning one of these, but i dont remember how i got them. any ideas where they come from?
Flat pack furniture normally
Protip: tape this to the bottom or back of whatever it is you’re assembling. Makes it super easy to tighten loose screws or disassembly for moving.
No I’d rather put it in the junk drawer with the other 20 I already have. They need friends
Yup, super convenient to have a tool on hand instead of trudging down to the basement to crack open the ol’ box o’ mystery.
Oh, there’s no mystery about it. It’s a box, full of single-use hex keys, all of which are inexplicably the wrong size.
I have never thought about that before. That’s a good idea
This is also really good if you want to sell or give away your stuff, so the next person has the tool they need to put it together.
I tape a DeWalt 18v XRP, including the battery, charger, and a bit set. Makes screwing or uncrewing easier.
i’ll never need these disposables i said
20 years later, i dug through my pile of disposables and pulled out the 3 sizes i needed for my bike, and it has most of what i need for my repair kit.
Melt them down and make a single big one
But they were all of them deceived, for another Allen key was made
I usually try and tape it to an inconspicuous spot on the item so it’s there if I need it
I put together 8 IKEA cabinets in the last 2 weeks. After stepping on two of these, I found the willpower to trash the extras and those in my stash. Tossed over a dozen of them.
Just… don’t put them on the floor…
I throw away the plastic M.2 screwdriver I got with my 250gb drive. Now they don’t come with them anymore and it’s so aggregating, who came up with this god awful attachment mechanism anyway?
You don’t have a screwdriver? M.2 screws don’t use any sort of special screw head. They’re almost always a regular phillips screw size #0 or #1, maybe even being cut for a flathead to work as well.
I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a drive come with a screwdriver.
The M.2 screw itself usually comes with your motherboard. But even then, they’re fairly standard. The specification is for a M2-0.4 x 3mm screw.
*aggravating
all the drive screws I’ve ever had to work with are just a phillips head, nothing special
Don’t even look at my random wire collection.
