DeWalt's crappy, DW2735P Flip drill and driver kit.

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Thanks to DeWalt's substandard crap I wasted an hour and a half of precious sunny weather. What passes for a pilot drill, countersink and reversible driver swallowed the driver bit. The tiny super-magnet had obviously come loose in the body. Causing it to shift enough to allow the tip of the driver bit to be a full 1/4" below the nose of the holder!

I struggled with every tool I had to try and remove the Torx bit without success. It was far too deep and there was nothing to grip in the tiny space available. Four pairs of tweezers were sacrificed in the battle.

In the end, I removed the drill holder and countersink and drove a cut off hex key down its throat. It took quarter of an hour of hammering with the body held tightly in the 3-jaw chuck of my lathe. Finally the driver bit came out of the other end with the magnet still clinging tenaciously. Then all I had to do was wrestle the hex bar free.

The image shows how far down the throat the driver bit went. The damage from being tightened in the 3-jaw lathe chuck had to be filed away to allow the body to re-enter the DeWalt chuck.

My added packing is slightly too long so the bit is protruding more than it should. I shall fix that for what it is worth. The DeWalt flip drill/driver kit costs only $22 on eBay in the US but cost me over £40 equivalent here in Europe including delivery! $53 equivalent! 

Without the magnet in place there is no bit retention so the driver falls out repeatedly. Sadly I have no idea if something vital fell out of the body. The bit never wanted to disappear inside previously. Not until it suddenly vanished from sight! I had used the tool for several days before it broke so badly. The driver bit had fallen out onto the ground several times during normal use. The pinch screws are incredibly short and are actually hollow rings. Hex inside and threaded outside. Lose one and you'll never find it again!

So, thank you, DeWalt, for designing and producing such a pathetic piece of expensive crap, as badly as only you know how!

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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