It looks like a veritable bounty of drill bits, spades, sockets, and more in the Black & Decker 150pc Accessory Set. After all, it is 150 pieces, right? Well, let's look at it in a more detail...
Let's get the "Black & Decker" case issue out of the way, first thing. Black and Decker has this annoying habit of packing its accessories in cases that look really good on a store shelf, but are difficult for the home remodeler to work with. The 150 Piece Accessory kit is no exception. All the pieces are displayed in a flat, plastic case with an anemic stand in the rear that would not work for even one second. The spades are hard to remove, and you cannot remove the drill bits except by violently chipping them out with a screwdriver. The best thing you can hope to do with Black & Decker accessories is to find a good case to put the pieces into (a fishing case perhaps?) and quickly toss the Black and Decker case in the recycling bin.
How are the Accessories?
So, we have 150 pieces. Sounds good. But let us start separating the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, the well-intentioned from the worthless:
Accessories You Will Use
- Spades
- Drill bits
Accessories You Will Not Use
- Allen wrenches - why are manual Allen wrenches in a power driving tool kit? I still puzzle over this.
- Socket set - it's difficult to drive bolts with a power drill. Manual ratchet wrenches are still best.
- Flexible drilling shaft - I am anxiously waiting to find a use for this tool that lets you drill or screw around corners. And I'm still waiting...and waiting.
- Screwdriving bits - I counted 27 screwdriving bits of different sizes and shapes! Who needs that kind of variety? I have a DeWalt set of 500 identical Phillips screwdriving bits, and when one bit is worn out I toss it and put in another. I also have a small handful of flat-head bits. But that's probably just me.
- Everything else.
