So if you watch our play-set videos or check out any of our articles, you might notice that cordless impact drivers are a go-to tool for us. We use them for everything from drilling holes to driving deck screws.
But one of the places they work hardest is socking up ½ inch through bolts and deck hardware.
See, instead of turning a ratchet a zillion times to sock a nut down tightly, we load up a socket onto an adapter that fits into the impact driver’s ¼-inch hex drive. Super-fast, super strong.
Problem is, however, that there is a lot of force smashing that fitting and socket into each other and it sometimes freezes the socket on the adapter.
No problem.
That’s when I reach for one of my other favorite tools—my scratch awl. I pass the awl point up through the open end of the socket—which is big enough to get a firm grip on with my other hand—and tap the bottom of the adapter until it slides free. You can even pound (pound might not be the right word; this doesn’t take a ton of force) the handle of the awl down on a bench if the two are really stuck.
Simple, fast, and easy. Now back to work.
