Treat it right:
By using a screwdriver for a job it was not designed for you risk damaging the tool and injuring yourself. Try not to use a as a crowbar, chisel, hole punch, scraper, or paint stirrer. If you must use a screwdriver for one of these tasks, choose an old one that’s already damaged.

This end up:
To protect your screwdrivers and make it easy to find the size you’re looking for, store them with their handles up. If lour screwdrivers are not color-coded, you can make identification even easier by marking the tops of the handles with a minus sign for slot screwdrivers or with a plus sign for Phillips and Pozidriv screwdrivers. Either write the sign with indelible ink on a piece of tape and attach it to the top of the handle, or burn the sign into the handle with a soldering gun.

Avoiding slips:
When driving a screw, always hold the screwdriver blade in the screw slot. 1f you hold the work as you drive the screw, the blade can easily slip out of the slot and injure your hand.

In selecting a screwdriver, be sure, that the tip fits the slot perfecty. If the tip is too big or too small, the blade will slip out of the, slot.

A screwdriver with a damaged (rounded) lip or edges can slip and injure you or damage the work. Similarly, a screwdriver that has a split or broken handle can cause injury.

Keep screwdriver handles clean. A greasy handle can easily slip out of your hand.

Never use a screwdriver near live wires or for electrical testing.

Don’t use pliers to increase the torque (turning power) of a screwdriver. Use a spanner for this purpose, and only with square-shank screwdrivers.

Holding power:
Before driving a screw, dip the tip of the screwdriver blade into a small mound of scouring powder or dig it into cone of carpenter’s chalk. The coating of chalk or cleanser help the tool stay firmly in the screw slot.

Magnetic tip:
To start screws in tight places, use a magnetized screwdriver. You can either buy a factory-magnetized screwdriver or magnetize one yourself by dragging its blade over a magnet several times in one direction. To prevent the charge from draining out of a magnetised screwdriver, keep it away from other metal objects. A home magnetized screwdriver should hold its charge for about a week. To demagnetise the tool, just drag the blade over the magnet in the opposite direction.

Wax job:
You’ll have an easier time driving a screw if you first pull its threads across a bar of soap, beeswax, furniture wax, or lip balm. Dipping a screw in linseed oil before driving not only eases the job, it also protects the screw from rust.

Getting a grip:
Another way to start Screws in difficult places is to push the screw through the sticky side of a piece of adhesive tape, insert the screwdriver into the slot, and wrap the tape around the blade of the screwdriver. Or try dabbing a little rubber cement on the screw head.

Hammer time:
Despite the rule that says you should never hit a screw with a hammer, a few light taps when a screw is almost in place causes the wood fibres to compress and slant downwards against the screw threads. As the screw is given its final tightening, it will get a better bite.

Brass screws:
Brass screws make attractive but fragile fasteners. Because the metal is soft, a screwdriver can damage the slot or break the screw. To avoid this problem, drill a pilot hole, pick a steel screw the same size as the brass one, and drive it into the hole. Then remove the steel screw, lubricate the threads of the brass one with soap, and drive it into place.

Set in shellac:
To keep a screw from being loosened by vibrations, dab shellac underneath the screw head, If it’s necessary to remove the screw later on, you can break the shellac film by pressing firmly on the screwdriver as you turn it. (When working with shellac, follow the maker’s safety instructions.)