Stinky old screwdrivers make your tongue numb!
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- Опубликовано: 19 окт 2024
- The urethane handles on my older Wera screwdrivers is decomposing. I was under the impression that plastics, the bane of the earth, do not break down in the environment for millions of years. Hrmmmm.
Why are they rotting in my toolbox after a decade?
If your screwdriver handle smells like ass, it could be that's where it's been. Quit licking it and wear protection next time.
Shawn Bottom ROFLOL
Shawn Bottom but the cat rectum peg board rack I got works so well other than the smell. well it do scratch me when I put them back.
LOL
An old college buddy had this white powder that made his nose go numb. Tongue and brains too. If he made it from old screwdrivers he never mentioned it.
Tin Man For the price it must have been snapon screwdrivers.
now thats funny
That white substance is still cheaper than 1 snap on screwdriver
I want some of that.
The moral of this story
The moral of this song
Is that one should never put one's tongue
Where your tongue does not belong
and do go mistakin paradise for that home across the road!
Ahhh, the tips just fine, just the tip though... ;)
Never put your toung on another man's tool!
And also:
Don't put your fingie where you wouldn't put your pinkie.
I think the plastic is Cellulose Acetate Butyrate or another Butyrated plastic. Butyric acid is the main component that makes vomit stink (and apparently old tool handles). Its also found in rotting butter. The decomposition could be producing a molecule something along the lines of gamma amino butyric acid which is an amino acid neurotransmitter blocker.
***** And all this time I thought that smell from the screwdrivers was from drinking too many of them the night before.
I tossed all my old craftsman screwdrivers because of this. I couldn't take my toolbox smelling like old vomit anymore.
That said, it's interesting Snapon black handles are that material. The usual culprit are the clear/semi-transparent handles from the 80's and 90's. Just stink like hell. Never licked them though. Ugh.
c brown GABA is a neurotransmitter in and of itself. It does not block, inhibit, or act as a reverse agonist for other receptor sites. It also has no action as a local anesthetic. The other receptor sites are still active.
That would more likely be the work of a Na+ channel blocker, akin to most anesthetics ending in -caine, including cocaine.
stazeII I have literally well over 100 screwdrivers (including Snap-On, Mac, Wiha, Craftsman and Companion) and some are at least 75 years old, but none of them stink. Maybe I am just lucky or maybe it has something to do with cleaning them before putting them away. Whatever the reason, I'm certainly glad they don't stink!
Very very lucky. Or you keep your toolbox open so they off gas. I kind of thought Craftsman and Stanley were the big offenders on this with their translucent handles. There are a ton of posts online (Google-able) when searching for "toolbox smells like vomit". Also, I kind of line having tossed so many drivers. I had too many before. Now I have maybe 20, and they do 99.9% of what I need, and when I get that .1, it's an excuse to buy a nice driver. :)
Damn near spit coke out my nose during the "intermission". I used to make my living as an industrial engineer. (damn near starved). Anyway during one of my first jobs ever we worked with an outside machine shop to build parts for new equipment. As a summer intern is was my job to make drawings for bits and pieces (never important stuff) and take them over to have them made. First time I step foot in the shop the old man running the place asks me into his office where he has a plate threaded with every bolt size imaginable from smallest to biggest each with an appropriate bolt inserted. Its all shiny and heavy as all get out. He puts it on the table and asks me if I can pull the bolt out of one side and place it in the other (ummmmmm...... yeah). He then asks me if it matters what side of the plate he threads the bore from (ummmmmm..... no). "I think we can work with you. The last guy is the reason I have this thing." Learned more in two months with that machinist than in the two previous years of engineering school. Thanks for the edutainment.
That reminds me of when I was in Boy Scouts and they told me to go find a left-handed screwdriver. I walked off into the woods and sat down and had an enjoyable time not doing any work setting up the camp. I came back an hour later and said no one had one. Screw them, if they want to pull that crap on me they can lug their own firewood.
@@AliasUndercover take your time, then bring them a regular one. No work, task completed.
@@AliasUndercover its a funny joke dude, chill your beans
I can't believe this issue has come to a video!!!
My grandfather hated plastic handles on screwdrivers. He had all wooden handled Stanley screwdrivers and would not use anything else. I found them sometimes useless as the shafts would actually twist when pressed hard to loosen tight screws. (they had square shafts)
He one time took all of my father's and my recently purchased screwdrivers (mostly craftsman and dad had a mix of many brands) - dragged me along into the basement workshop and together we removed all of the handles. On his metal lathe that he also used on wood, he crafted wooden handles for all of our screwdrivers.
I actually loved them. He experimented.. some were knurled, some splined, some triangular or square shaped and decided in the end to just make them round on the lathe , then mill out longitudinal grooves.
basically similar to the craftsman plastic handles without the knob on the butt.
there are still some around - I think my brother has what remains- I will try to get a hold of them and send a pic if anyone is interested.
I haven't seen them in years and do kinda miss them.
I am too lazy to do that again. It must have taken us two weeks to make them all. I had the not-so-fun job of removing the original handles... not an easy task. Started by cutting most of the plastic away with the band saw (from a meat packing house) then we would mount them in the drill press and I would apply a chisel or file or rasp and emery cloth to strip away the molded on handles... There was some kind of liquid that would work when there was only a little bit remaining. No idea what it was though. Probably something that is illegal to own today. turned the plastic to a thick goop.
Ahhhhhh, the good ole days
Anon
This sounds like a fine idea for some small machine shop what wants to restore tools back to a usable state.
Or a cheapskate homegamer.
Either way, I think I want to try it!
The question is; how did that person find out the screw driver makes your tongue numb?
i wax thinking about that...for longer than I probably should have and then realized that I frequently put tools in my mouth when I need to change off with more then a few. so I'm assuming that he was holding it between his teeth while using another tool and his tongue hit it...or he's just fuckin with us to see how many people will lick an old screwdriver.
+Joe Mamma
I would guess he was holding the screwdriver in his mouth while he had his hands full.
There are stranger things people have figured out...
Who figured out taurine (a component of bull urine) makes you less tired?
Who figured out moldy cheese that stinks like death actually tastes quite good?
Who figured out that if you take poisonous bitter beans and burn them completely black, then grind them up, boil them, and drink the brownish black bitter water it makes you less tired?
There are thousands more of these if you think about it.
I just licked an older Snap ON from the late 80's. Didn't make my tongue go numb. I'll have to try the others. But I keep my tools clean so maybe mine aren't decomposing. I do know once a plastic starts to break down nothing will stop it. I know certain oils from our hands can interact with certain plastic and cause them to break down.
who discovered that cows produce milk?
"I don't know what we'll have in twenty years, maybe a crescent moon, I guess." I see what you did there. Very clever. XD
I work at a plastics compounding plant; I'm not sure what the screwdriver handles are made of, (possibly cellulose acetate) I'll have to check with the folks at work, but many plastics will break down when exposed to other petroleum distillates... AKA oil, grease, and the like. Many plastics leach plasticizers over time. Urethane, if that is in actual the overmolding material, is very tough and chemical resistant. Might I suggest, carefully coating the handles with sili-con carne, which will not react with anything. (I've never tried this myself though)
Silicon carne is the correct term.
I was having a similar issue, silicon carne works well, thank you for the tip.
I've suggested re-coating the plastic in epoxy resin, is this a bad suggestion?
sili-con carne? Carne is Spanish for meat. lost me there, adding a rubber coating. Hmm. I have the same issue with my old drivers, oh my lord, smelly feet, or super strong Italian dried cheese, so yeah, rotting butter, another dairy product. No wonder! I though it was the old tool box doing it.
I'm thinking you would want to stabilize the plastic so it doesn't continue to decay under a new silicone layer though.
I have no idea what chems you would use, maybe a super glue, enamels, or epoxy resin as suggested before.
that reminds me of the bicycle hand grips they make now, they get all sticky and gross, takes a nuclear explosion to get that goo off the hands.
What kind of bicycle grips are you using?!
"bicycle hand grips" is code for "sex toys", right?
Coat them with a light dusting of baby powder to dry them out
i hate it when the rubber pads on old computers rot, thankfully rubbing alcohol cleans it off ok.
i recommend going with tried and true iron tools with wooden handles.
Rinoa Super-Genius you want to grip dead carcass every day? Sick.
Says the man stroking liquified dead dinosaur carcass-handled tools.
Filip Lindberg I only use the finest chinesium steel tools with dinosaur handles from the nearest hazard fraught. But who knows what them cookey chinese put in them things
Exactly the reason I stay the heck away from "soft grips" whenever I can. There are plenty of reasons why plastics go wrong, anything from prolonged exposure to UV, to oils and other crud, to contact with other plastics, humidity, the list goes on and on. Plastic ages on itself as well, even if stored in ideal conditions. It's just the nature of the beast unfortunately.
As for the smelly plastic, could be that it's a bakelite-like plastic, some sort of phenolic resin, that in turn gives off a chemical which causes the bad smell and tounge numbness.
Switch & Lever Concrete gets harder over time. Maybe I should make concrete handled screwdrivers.
"It's fine I hit it with break clean"
Next yard sale I go to I am gonna lick every tool I see, easiest way to know if it’s an antique lol
I have 10 Snap-On screwdrivers (as well as other brands) in my tool chest because I found them to be the best in removing screws, especially Phillips, without damaging them. Most were bought in the late '70s and 1980s. I'm retired now, so they don't get as much use as before, but the triangular black handles on several of them started to crack, and a white powder or clear oily substance was coming out.Rather than trying to find a Snap-On truck, I called their online store and, when I explained the problem, I was sent new drivers to replace the ones with broken handles at no charge. No hassle at all (they're even open Saturday evenings!), and the new drivers are great. The service rep seemed to be familiar with the issue. I'll be keeping an eye on the rest of the old Snap-On drivers to see if their handles fail as well, but I'm even more impressed with S-O now than I already was.That's what I call a great lifetime warranty.
+nomorokay The best screwdriver for removing Phillips screws without damaging them is any screwdriver that takes replaceable magnetic tips. But, I don't recommend licking either end.
A lot of plastics degrade by breaking into smaller and smaller bits but overall don't chemically decompose into something nature can process for a very long time. That's why micro and microscopic plastic pollution is a problem, in the oceans especially.
Not sure what it is but I can tell ya for sure that some plastics degrade when left in contact with a different plastic. Happens all the time in a tackle box. Seems more often it is a soft plastic rotting from touching a harder plastic (like on your tool). Found this on a fishing forum where they were discussing the same thing:
The question was about plastic lures rotting thru tackle boxes. Heres an answer given:
Was the box "clear like glass"? If so, it was probably molded of polystyrene, which reacts to most soft plastic lures. Like others noted, look for (worm proof). Even the Plano boxes are not totaly clear & are molded of either Polyethlene or polypropylene which do not react to the "soft plastics".
I'm picturing all 78000+ viewers going out in the shed to lick their screwdrivers.
Glad to see that this doesn't just happen to me.
This kind of decomposition happened to me a couple of times. On my Dramal tool and a couple of mastercrap screwdrivers. The soft polymer began sweating some sort of oily liquid and a week to a month after I wiped it off, the soft part began to decompose or became very hard and brittle in the case of the screw drivers.
Working with polymers, the most probable explanation would be an excretion/decomposition of the plasticizers. A plastic is rarely only composed of the polymer that give it's name (poly urethane, poly carbonate ...) The supplier will add a bunch of additives to tune it's properties or to make more "skucum". One major additive is the plasticizer which makes the plastic more pliable/flexible/soft. Without it most plastics would just be crap (think vinyl patio chair in the dead of winter or after a long UV exposure).
What causes the plasticizer to migrate out of the polyurethane? That remains a mystery to me, but the contact with certain types of oil might be one explanation. If the polymer is more absorbent to oil than to the plasticizer, the oil might try to take it's place, pushing it out of the plastic.
Another explanation would be the contact with a catalyst or with another type of plastic containing another kind of plasticizer. This actually happened to me once. The prolonged contact between an ABS plastic box and a rubbery electrical cord made the ABS become soft and sticky at the point of contact.
A case of engineering to fail? Looks more like a case of noobgineering to me.
Some type of urethane compounds seems to decompose on their own. The urethane foams used in speaker driver surrounds and camera light seals beak down. The urethane sealant used to make insulated glass units for windows fails after time and lets moisture in to fog the glass. Even had the little bumper feet used on the bottom of my NEC monitor turn to goo. The stuff seems to polymerize on its own after time.
Very informative. Thanks for the vid Ave!! Many of my black handled Snap-on drivers have rotted one way or another. Thanks to the many many helpful comments. Stay safe. -Mike
I first ran across the early ones in 1994 and they decompose so bad that they actually melt and stick to the drawers in your toolbox. Brought it to the attention of the dealer and at first they tried to say that they were soaked in a chemical. When more examples came to his attention from other guys in the shop he immediately replaced all of them.
I had an issue with a few of the old snap on old handles. The 1st one they honored the warranty without a problem. The 2nd time I called they sort of gave me a hard time about the replacement. So make sure you save your receipts for 20 years.
my father is a mechanic and he has a set of sunflag screwdrivers. some he has kept at work and some he has kept at home. i was at his work and i noticed all the ones at his work the handles were hard as a rock but not peeling away at all. the ones at home were soft and squishy. like they were when they were brand new. its definitely the oil, grease and brake cleaner which degrades the plastic materials. as there are rubber safe greases out there for rubber and plastic bushings we can only assume that other lubricants and other chemicals will degrade plastics. the cheaper screwdrivers but still great quality such as kincrome and stanley are not degrading at all. my fathers old stanley screwdrivers are in perfect shape. but the plastic was always a very hard type. acetate or something.
You could easily replace the handles with wood. Trim a big shrubbery and get some lilac. Lilac is the best, but its difficult to dry and to find the right piece. Rhodo is good.
I've been watching your videos for like 2 weeks now, and you're my hero. that is all.
I'm a shoemaker, and i already had my share with urethane.
Some soles are made out of that stuff. When being stored for too long, they look fine as long as you don't wear them.
But go some steps and half of the shoe will disintegrate.
My entire collection of black handled 70's Snap-On screwdrivers and nut drivers did this. Split out and smelled like Gandhi's sandals. Fortunately, that "lifetime guarantee" worked and I got a new set to replace them all. By the time these new one's do the same thing, it will be my grand kid's problem.
Hey dude, some taxi driver/enthusiast from the bottom of the terceiro mundo just here to say "thanks for the videos"
I see a lot of people talking about how people should clean the tools before store them or things like that but, if the manufacturer thinks of all kinds of new features for their tools like a thousand kinds of combination wrenches with twisted grips or ratchet box ends just to "make your life easier" (sell you a new tool), well, they probably know there are a lot of people who doesn't clean the tool before drop it on the box 'till next thing broken up. I have some tools with these nice and soft grips, at first look and touch you think "this is how all tools should be made" but having videos like this just helps me to be ready for the disappointment of someday opening up my beautiful half brazilian minimum wage worth crap tool set ('cause the good ones cost as much as twice that and features almost the same) and experience some sticky melting away tool handle, or better, helps me remember clean the damn thing trying to make it last for maybe 10 years. Well, tools should be made to fix things up and last for a life time, what is a little bit of oil on a handle?
I have a set of those black handle Snap On screw drivers that the handles have crumbled. Can't get them replaced as you have to be a regular customer and am now retired. I just used my lathe and made new and nicer looking handles out of oak.
Lifetime warranty shouldn’t stop when U retire. U need to give the online store an email and picture of the handles, they should send u replacements and let u keep the old ones.
No those should have still been guaranteed
Funny thing is I know the exact smell you are talking about! It was like 15 years ago when I was rooting around in my Dad's old toolbox as a teenager. I remember it to this day. Luckily none of my tools have suffered the same fate yet.
I also never got around to licking it...
HA! Not many people put outtakes at the end of their videos. That's awesome. Great video, Sir. Informational, honest, funny and entertaining. It's hard to find real, quality videos like this on youtube anymore. Thank you for sharing this.
I've always heard that plastic all start to break down at 14 years. But now a days it seems to be faster. The wrap that we put on our hay bales will break down in a year and a half to two years. So it really seems to depend on the process at which said plastic or rubber is made with.
Oil eats plastic. :-P
Dust goes back to dust.
Ash goes to ash.
Oil stuff goes back to oil.
I have a weather radio that is about 15 years old and the plastic on it has turned soft and sticky. I’m going to have to give it a whiff!
So I gave your query a quick looksee and found:
Some polyurethane is the thermosetting kind of plastic; it does not soften/reform when heated, suck as Bakelite. And so, some polyurethane is the thermoplastic kind, which can be reformed with heat. My sense was that the latter kind was more recent and rarer.
Traditional polyurethanes are made by reacting an di-isocyanate (not a cyanide; -ates have oxygen, -ides, save for oxides, do not)) with a a polyol, commonly Hydroxyl-Terminated PolyButadiene. The di-isocyanates can have a multitude of radicals, that make polyurethanes with specific properties.
While isocyanates do not have cyanide, they do have elevated toxicity. Isocyanates are made by reacting an amine (*NH2) with phosgene (COCl2) to make the isocyanate *NCO + 2HCL.
Newer polyurethanes are made without isocyanates, and as such, probably don't make one's tongue numb.
Since so many versions of polyurethane can be made, it's not possible for me to determine what sort of chemical attack may have rotted your screwdriver handles. Suffice it to say, a screwdriver handle can be more easily replaced than your liver, so perhaps forego further tongue-testing of shop tools.
Your video's always make me laugh, but you really outdid yourself this time! I have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.
I had a number of the old black handled Snap-On Screwdrivers and all started deteriorating and when stored in my tool box leaves a white coating on the box and other tools. I got rid of them and replaced them with wooden handled screwdrivers by MAC. I like the wood better anyway because they aren't as slippery and the shanks are square. As an ex-Snap-On dealer I can say that Snap On was always pretty good about warranty and I wouldn't be surprised if they would make good on the black handled screwdrivers that turn bad. When I was a Snap On dealer we used to replace the screwdriver blades and reuse the plastic handles unless the handle went bad then the entire screwdriver was replaced. That was 40 years ago so things may have changed.
Plot twist: theres an underground internet prank to see who gets to make people lick screwdrivers the most, and yall are being played like a fiddle :D
Snap-on has a lifetime warranty. As a retired mechanic/racer, now hobbyist. I always clean my tools as I put them away. They don't get put in the drawer otherwise. As I wipe each one down I'm inspecting them for damage, so I can replace damaged ones before I need them again.
I have the same black snapon screwdriver. . I have never had the need to smell it or lick the darn thing but now you made me curious
We get something similar at work. The cushions on some industrial sewing machines are oil based, ie urethane or similar soft rubber. As it runs light machine oil gets on them and they eventually turn in to a substance similar to troll snot. Its like a sponge, a really slow one. The old tool handles may be the same. its probably a type of plastic that is not to far of from vulcanized tar, good stuff but would gives eco yuppies hernias.
Many plastics and rubbery handles also contain a plasticiser chemical. You get a very sticky disgusting "bloom" of the stuff on the surface, which also tends to be an endocrine disrupter.
Chemically similar to goat sweat, and human skin oil (sebacate). "dibutyl sebacate, citrate esters (triethyl, acetyl triethyl, acetyl tributyl), triacetin
Oils/glycerides Castor oil, acetylated monoglycerides, fractionated coconut oil"
Same thing happened to the radio volume knob on a 3 year old ford focus. It was a soft touch plastic and ended up melting into a sticky goo. to the point where you could see hard plastic underneath.
I had a similar SnapOn for 30 years. Had the hollow handle with interchangable bits.
A few years back, it started to smell like vinegar and the bits stored in the handle all rusted. A few months back, the handle just broke into pieces and fell off the blade.
The local anesthetic effect may be due to a phenolic plastic being used. Phenol is commonly used as a local anesthetic in throat sprays and similar products
Oh my god this explains why my father's old toolbox FUCKING reeks of shitty ballsweat cheese. We searched that fucker inside and out for mouse shit, old milk, something or anything and we couldn't find anything.
Fuck.
I've hated that smell for as long as I can remember.
One of life's friggin mysteries!!
I'm like 43 and I've been around this stuff since I was a teen.
I never knew what the hell that was.
This channel is fuckin awesome!!🍺
CleverUs3rname my dad has an old remline from the 50s and it smells like swamp ass and blue cheese.
my dad looked at me like i took a dump in his tool box or something. its that plastic made from wood like xcelite used and cheap plastic pouches that hold things like files
I have a friend who works in old film restoration, and he described how the acetate backing on old celluloid films would turn to vinegar, and the plastic turned to gooey slime. And I was visiting a different friend who's an animator who had a pile of old animation cels from the 1980's (plastic sheets the animation was inked and painted on) that had stuck together and smelled like vinegar; same process apparently. I haven't looked up the chemical reaction, but I guess acetic acid is the result in that case.
Do they allow hand tools in nursing homes/graves? So it might be a moot question.
Thread answer: since the thread obviously flips twice, you would have to rotate it only 90 degrees (32c for the metric world) to obtain a left handed thread.
Especially when you have chips on the floor! Those things seemed to have melted into the bottom of my shoe. I know they can come off hot and sharp, but it wasn't that. It seems after two hours or such, tooling oil for cutting made the bottom of my boot super soft and like a hot knife through butter, aluminum chips were imbedded and needed to be pulled out with my pocket knife, which for some reason I seemed to enjoy.
The smelly handles are probably made of Cellulose Acetate Butyrate which slowly decomposes to form Butyric acid which absolutely stinks. Your best bet is to dip the handle in epoxy or shellac might work. The urethane problem is harder to guess at. I'd say most of the problem is probably mechanical damage. Chemically most of the damage will be hydrolysis (sweaty hands) and photo-oxidation, particularly if you leave them out in the sun. There are a couple of fungi that can attack it but it won't be that as the conditions aren't right for growth (unless you store you screwdrivers in the ground?).
My buddy hadn't opened his tool box for over 5 years, lost the key, I picked the lock, he had some of those black handled snapon screwdrivers one of which was discolored and it crumbled like a stale breadstick.
yeah! ive got an old u.s. made great neck screw driver i found buried in the dirt and after i cleaned it off it smelled like crap. i never knew why i guess it must be decomposing.
You are right. Plastics don't decompose but they do break down into smaller bits.
Break fluid can deteriorate plastic, so can atf and many other types of oils. Not just solvents. They can replace the natural oils in the plastic with their own that's easier to wash away or decompose. I've seen many plastics go this way. Esp if it's a rubberized plastic. Then it's super permeable.
My 30 year old black handle Snap-On slotted screwdriver with hex shoulder (model SSD 2 [USA]) doesn't smell or taste like anything. I have quite a few Snap-On tools with plastic handles from the '80s and all the handles are in good shape and odor free.
The soft feel plastic is a ethylene based plastic. You'll find it on speakers, earbuds, tool handles, dashboards etc, etc. It's designed to be Eco friendly. ie: breakdown rather quickly in landfill dump sites.
However... depending on the mix ratio, it can break down rather quickly... like within a year or less of manufacture.
The auto industry first noted the issue when customers having bought new cars complained at discovering that within a year their dashboards were covered in a sticky goo.
I've had several items start decomposing within a year or two, sometimes sooner. A rechargable screwdriver, brand new put in my tool box. I discovered when i went to use it, it literally turned to a runny sticky gooey mess. The soft part of the handle literally liquefied.
Not an authority on the subject, but basically it's due to using alcohol based plastic as opposed to petroleum based from what i understand.
Some companies intentionally use a rapid breakdown type... so yes... you're forced to buy a replacement. Unless you call or email and complain and request a replacement. Most people won't, they'll just throw it away and buy another. They count on that... in sales, it's called "breakage". The percentage of breakage and estimated percentage of returns or people willing to ask for a replacement is figured in to determine profitability. The lower the cost of the product, the less likely you'll be to want or ask for a replacement which would cut into their profits.
Even with a lifetime warranty... they know the percentage of people who will actually take them up on it, is very low allowing them to be able to offer it in the first place. And profits high enough to easily cover those that do from those that won't.
"Breakage"... those asking for a replacement will not break the bank due to a much higher percentage of those that won't ask.
Enjoying your banter along with your knowledge of things btw... makes me chuckle at the same time learning a thing or two. 😀
cheers...
Plastics are reactive, and not just to what you'd think. Oil and solvents will definitely break the polymers down, but two others which people don't think about are heat and UV exposure. Softer plastics in particular can be extremely sensitive to UV exposure.
"Gregory: If they are really old they might be unfluorinated urethane which tended to have some physical property degradation from visible light, especially UV light, and will also exhibit color instability (yellowing) in affected areas.
That "plastic doesn't decompose" is a complete myth. Everything decomposes, some things just take longer!"
The scientific research community would be shocked @ the fact that the comment section of world renown tool review videos by AvE has done more to analyze the molecular decay of resin compounds than they ever have. Stay proud gentlemen, you are the tip of the spear.
I seem to recall that some plastic was decomposing into GHB it could be a similar thing.
This isn't specific to urethane used on screwdriver grips; my experience is with polyurethane-coated nylon stuff sacks used in camping gear. But it might be related; consume with many grains of salt, though.
After a couple years of ownership, the draw strings on the stuff sacks were binding inside of their channels, unable to fully close the opening. The texture of the sacks were beginning to turn gummy, too (the stuff sacks, that is; try to focus and keep your mind out of the gutter for 3 seconds).
After researching it a bit, here's what I discovered on the ol' inter-ma-webs: polyurethane absorbs moisture; including that found in the atmosphere. Given time, it turns the urethane gummy. I don't know if this is true of all formulations and/or durometers; but it certainly applied to the camping stuff sacks. Since then, I've switched to silicon-coated nylon and won't buy a polyurethane stuff sack ever again; pricier up front, but worth it in the long run.
Perhaps the same is happening to the urethane grip inserts on your screwdrivers.
My Xcelite nut driver set must have been made from the same batch of "stink plastic". And, no, I'm NOT licking any of them.
Great videos.
I have that screwdriver that I bought around 2006 and it has held up fine. Same as the day I bought it.
The black plastic snap on screwdrivers are leaking PCB oils don't touch them they smell like viniger PCB is a cancer causing oils that used to be used in hydro transformers my snap on dealer put gloves on and put them into a plastic bag along with the gloves replaced them with whatever I wanted not to worry about price
I HAVE SNAP-ON S DATING BACK TO 1966 .SO HARD THEY WILL SCAR/BURR AND CAUSE SKIN DAMAGE..JUST SIGNED IN OCT 2017 ...WATCHING HOURS OF OLD STUFF ...NEIGHBOR THINKS I NEED RUBBER ROOM LAUGHING SO HARD IN MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT ....KEEP IT UP... INFORMATIVE AND HUMOROUS..MOVING FORWARD INVOLVES FINDING OUT WHAT DOESNT WORK
I'VE PUT MY TONGUE ON SOME STINKY STUFF UIN THE PAST BUT NEVER ANY OF IT MAKE IT GO NUMB
Wooden handles FTW!!!!
Have a bunch of ANCIENT craftsman screwdrivers around. Glad to report they are still working great.
But on the other hand I got some hard plastic mini screwdrivers from a tool lot. Went to turn in a small screw and the plastic literally crumbled. So I guess it depends on the plastic.
Here, most tools sold in markets are older than 20 years, they are dirt cheap but do the job...
When the urethane on their handles starts rotting (or when I get them rotten) I scrape off the rotten urethane and dip the handle in isopropyl alcohol for an hour or so "depends on the plastic type" then I wrap it with high quality electrical tape and depending on the mood I might stick a grippy silicon sticky thing on it (the stuff you folks use on gun grips and stuff) and wallah, my tools are almost as good as new!
interestingly enough, youtube suggest "How to put on a Tampon" on the up next video.
***** Lol I had that off to the side in suggested videos, and 7 Things You Don't Know About Ariana Grande in the batters box for next video. It's scary how well RUclips knows what we want to watch next, lmao
***** lol it suggets pushup bras thats funny
***** yeah, WTH? Maybe AvE has been watching some weird stuff... ;) It gets cold up there in the North ya know.
***** RUclips uses your viewing habits to determine what videos would most interest you. So that makes me wonder what you've been searching up that would make Google think you're into tampon application tutorials...
Dee Jay That's what I was thinking!
old school fowler, hard plastic pointy non ergonomic pin punches are the best... i never knew why they made them different colours. Also, those pointy star shaped things called torque drives...excellent easy outs.
If you have sticky rubber handles or components you can use a light dusting of baby powder/talcum powder, brush away the excess. This will dry out the surface and make it not so unpleasant to use again.
a few years ago I got 2 unused late 1960s bubble faceshields for a retro helmet. they were still in the sealed original bags. when I opened them they smelled like vomit so bad I had to keep them in the garage. Couldn't use them on the helmet as they smelled so bad it made me gag and tear up. wish I had a video of that experience , was funny to everyone else. tried soaking them in a bucket with all sorts of stuff . bleach, Murphys oil soap, simple green. and even after 30+ days in simple green they still smelled the same . I'm no smart college guy but assumed the actual lexan was breaking down.
My father has the same Snap On screw drivers, the black handle ones along with some newer Green ones and the new red and black Instinct screwdrivers like you have here. I always wondered why his screwdriver drawer stinks to high hell, and after a while that black handle will turn white and crumble. You can warranty it though.
My snap-on tools with these grips are still good 😁 got them when the design was introduced! had lots of use until 2010 and used on and off since!
C Brown below is exactly right. As far as handles, I like wood. It doesn't last forever either but I can put a new handle on damn near anything. And one that suits my hand and needs to boot.
The reason for the deterioration is oxidation, fungal, algae and lichen. This was found in museums with plastic and rubber items on display. It was also found in protective coatings made from polymers to increase the grown of microorganisms. The carbon in the rubbers and plastics was one reason.
Oil can also be a reason. Rubber gloves always fall apart when cleaning a kitchen.
I got some PB Swiss screwdrivers as a gift. Damned nice tips, especially slotted, machined parallel w/ chamfered edges.
They add vanilla to the cellulose butyrate to make sure they smell less like death over time.
Just get the wood-handled Felo's unless you work with a lot of slotted fasteners.
Based on my experience I'd say the handles are made with Anbesol.
johndoby Anbesol hardener! Works great for epoxy plastics and loose teeth!
I really like my classic range German CK screwdrivers with their cellulose acetate handles. Have had them for about 25 years. Still as good as new. I think I still have at least one New Zealand made Stanley screwdriver that I have had for about 35 years! Probably cellulose acetate as well.
When flexible polys loses it's elasticity and either becomes brittle or sticky it is often due to the ozone in the air. If you've ever seen a rubber band after a couple years then you know what I'm talking about. That's purely a result of the ambient ozone attacking the alkene bonds throughout the material (i.e. carbon double bonds).
I still remember being a kid, before there was "baby proofing" of toys in my case. A lot of toys went in our mouths...you know, like plastic bullets so you could carry more than just what you could fit in your hands. Some plastics made your tongue hot. Not temperature hot, but chemical hot. And our old toy box did smell like a Marine's arm pit. I wonder if they are the same plastics that go bad to make your tongue numb?
I have my grandfather's Craftsman screwdrivers with plastic handles. 1960s, I believe. Certainly before 1975.
I have no clue about this particular plastic, but i might have a story.
Years ago i worked in extruded - plastic picture frame factory. They got a batch of ultra cheap plastic from somewhere. Ultra ultra cheap. The plastic was previously used for buckets on fishery and then ground (it is reusable to some extent). The stink was lethal. Final product (picture frames) was covered in paint, but i can imagine the stink it made when scratched :)
Plastics do decompose in time.. decomposition rate varies with kind of plastic formulation and any "blooming agents" that migrate to the surface of the plastic (to make it soft,slippery, etc..) it has in the formulation. (Soft PVC tubing is a prime example for this) Also most plastics without antibacterial agents incorporated in the formulation are wide open for bacterial attack, which makes them crumble or stink. This is sometimes done on purpose so the plastic bags (usually LDPE) can decompose in nature in a short amount of time. Screwdriver handles are probably made out of PP(C) or HDPE for mechanical and chemical resiliency. The soft parts for grip dont have to be PU. There are variety of poylolefin elastomers and plastomers for the job. But please bear in mind that if the handle becomes sticky or start to stink there is usually nothing to do but toss it away. Also the decomposing plastic chains, may give out unpredicted volatile and toxic chemicals that may be irritant to skin. - SO NO, that Wera is not engineer to fail. Just buy a new one every 10 years. How else are they gona make money? - think about it. :) - btw i absolutely love your channel.!
At leats in the fishing industry some knifehandles are ruined by the oil the fishies give. My mothers old fileingknife that she used mainly on salmonids, the handle of it is fucked. It is all sticky and gross. The acids in the oils deteriorate the plastic.
We used to think that plastics last forever, but certain kinds dry out and crack, while some others are very sensitive to oils and chemicals. I've seen rosemary oil cause a plastic hairbrush to crumble into small pieces, and seen Loctite do the same thing to black plastic. Both cases happened within days of contact. Foam rubber speaker surrounds fall apart in 15-20 years, so surround kits are available to replace them.
I caused that problem of sticky grips with my hands having penetrating oil on them and using the screw driver. I now clean my hands off with a rag before I use that type of screwdriver. It did have the oil on it for hours and that may have caused the problem.
Be good to see more of these walkarounds / general overviews of the tool species inhabiting your workshop.
PB Swiss have a reputation for bad smelling handles. See their response.
The plastic handles do contain Celluloseacetobutyrat (CAB) which is the material causing the smell (especially if you stock them in a closed area without fresh air, like for example in a drawer or in a tool case). If the smell isn’t bearable anymore, the tool can be changed for free (under guarantee). If you don’t like these plastic handles anymore, there would be an alternative, the handles made by Santoprene.
I enjoyed the "describe how it smells" out takes.
The red-yellow wera screwdriver is an electrician one (insulated)... might be the reason its rottening because you are using it in a metal work shop (as in grease and oils). The black-green ones are for normal handyman use, black-yellow are for metal work shop and the black-silver are for some sort of mechanical gods (havent found a reason to buy titanium ones yet).
You use titanium tools around devices with strong magnets or fields. Like particle accelerators and medical equipment.
Always wondered why the tool box smelt like poop , now I know
If its unsafe to lick , is it even safe to hold with bare hands ?
NoSpace4Bass maybe someone took a shit in your toolbox?
Wash after wiping
+Dee Jay Someone tried in my tool box. Caught em. They are still in the bottom drawer.
Wera doesnt change their pattern, different color means different usability, green are the strong indutrial, red the insulated one, black the one you can use as a chisel... same patterns for more than 20 years. Lasertip is the thing thats relativly new and is used with all line of wera screwdrivers.
I won the second version of the snap on screwdriver but I bought all black handles. And I've had mine for close to 20 years and they are fine. No stiink no rot. While mine haven't been used seriously for about 10 years now I got out knuckle busting and became a millwrong pays better than field service. One thing I never did was clean my tools with brake cleaner. All the years I ran a service truck I kept a 5 gallon bucket with a lid with about a gallon and a half of diesel fuel in it. Throw said nasty tools in bucket close lid and drive to shop home where ever. Remove tools a clean rag and then whamo clean sparkling tools.
I “invested” in some rubberized plastic snap on screwdrivers back in either 2000 or 2001 and as of 2017 they are still good as new so ya should be good with yours, mine are a different style though, mine are the style like your ratcheting one.
jJust to add these rotting handles are fitted to other tools too,such as adjustable wrenches,docket accessories such as Ratchets,and also wood chisels..avoid them buy knurled grip socket tools,wood handle chisels,and adjustables with no "comfort grips" just plain metal
I wonder if cleaning, then baking would fix this problem? I saw a product for car interiors that was doped with plasticizers, and would "revitalize" plastics....
Enquiring minds want to know!
Maybe paint hardener would work???
Creator Nater bindi hardener
Not sure if the urethane on their power tools is the same. The urethane is swelling up and flaking off my power tools in about a year.
Question, why do screw drivers smell so bad when they are ignored in a drawer for too long?
On my Estwing hammers, I brush acetone on the rubber grips, then rub in carbon powder to make them black. Makes them look cool if nothing else.
And I thought only my Snap-On handles stunk, mystery solved!
Thanks for sharing,
Ray
I've got one of those old spaff off screw drivers I use it as a pry bar I never thought to smell it though.... On another note I don't know what it is but something in my tool room smells really good some days and my girlfriend notices it sometimes too I wish I could find what it is and bottle it as mechanic smell (but only on a good day) 👌🏻