How to Open the 61637 Titanium Nitride Drill Bit Set Index Box

Today, I bought this 29 piece titanium nitride drill bit set from Harbor Freight. It was a deal. Only $9.99 for the whole thing, if you have the coupon. For those without coupons, it was on sale for $14.99. Still a good deal. Unfortunately, when I got home, I discovered that I could not open the box. Fortunately, I was not under pressure and had all afternoon to figure it out. It took me about 15 minutes to open it with very little demolition. As is usual for goods made overseas, there are either no instructions or they are undecipherable to humankind. This had no instructions. So, let us sally forth and figure out how to open this box.

Step 1: Look for the Big Yellow Tab

It seems simple from the outset. There is a very large tab with an arrow pointing down, and if you follow normal logic, you find that you can pull that tab out. Now the box should open. But as you huff and you puff, you find that it won't open. You get anxious and look for some way to pry it open. But, you don't want to ruin the beautiful index box. Well the next photos will reveal the secret. Hang on!

Step 2: The Secret to Opening the Box Is a Little Yellow Pin

The little yellow round thing there is the secret. If you can figure out how to get that out of there, you will have opened the box. It is not a screw, bolt, rivet or nail. It is simply a pin of some kind that has a slit that expands slightly to hold it firmly in the hole.

Step 3: As It Is Being Extracted, the Pin Looks Like This

It's a simple little pin but a big headache to extract. You may want to take it to your dentist. He/she may know a good way to extract something like this. Those mean little pincers could conceivably do the job.

Step 4: The Pin Is Very Difficult to Remove Without Damaging It

There is no tool I know of that will open this pin. There is (almost) no way whatsoever to grasp the pin to remove it gently and gracefully. Maybe if you drill a small hole and use a very small screw extractor, you could possibly remove it without much damage. My method was to use a big screwdriver and pry the box open. After that, I discovered how the thing was held together and decided to publish this instructable to help other hapless DIYers with this incredible problem.

Step 5: This Is How It Looks Once You Have the Pin Out of the Hole

Once you have extracted the pin, you see how simple the mechanism is that holds the lid on the box. It is simply a tongue inserted into a matching hole with the pin to prevent it from opening.

Once you have the pin out of the hole, the index box opens as you would expect. Just open it like a book.

Step 6: Voilá!

So, here is the open box. Simple wasn't it!

Comments

[atomfire]

Ehat about cutting off the head and pushing the pin thru into the box.

[stannickel]

atomfire's idea is the best answer. Just cut the head off of the pin, and push the headless pin into the box. Open the box, find the pin and discard it. You'll never need it again.

[TimeNow]

Agreed. Use a box cutter. Slice the pin head off since it serves no purpose.

[stannickel]

The only purpose it may serve is to prevent theft of the drill bits from the box in the store. All it does is slow down the thief. If they know the trick, they can steal all the bits!!!

[TimeNow]

Considering I spent $5 on the set, stealing the bits seems unwise. :D

Just for giggles, DeWhatsIt's 29 piece set is $60 at the orange store.

I thought the pin might be for shipping so there wouldn't be bits all over the place in the event of rough handling. Nice mention regarding the tape too. That is really stuck on there.

[stannickel]

I thought I did well for $9.99 for the set. Those bits are very valuable. So many diameters. I use them all the time.You might be right about the reason for the pin. I never thought about shipping. Drill bits all over the shipping truck!!

[stannickel]

I forgot to mention the tape at the bottom of the box. You need to take that off or cut it along the seam, otherwise you'll be stymied by that hurdle.

[pynnonen]

Thank you! Wasn't sure that was a shipping pin or button. Best to use utility knife to cut it, but I use pliers to pull it out.

[KristinP27]

Thank you!!! I bought it on sale today and couldn't open it. So quickly googled it and your great step by step instructions worked. The pesty pin came out easily with a pair of pliers.

[stannickel]

You're welcome. This is one of my very best Instructables yet. Almost 10K views. At $9.99, that would mean about $100K in sales for Harbor Freight. At any other price, it would mean quite a bit more. Think top price of $29.99 each. One would think that the Harbor Freight would have a small handout to give to all customers who bought the drill set, but that would defeat the purpose, which I assume is to prevent people from opening the box and taking a few "free" drill bits home with them. If they tell people how to open the box, how hard would it be to quickly open it and take the drill bits that one wants?

[Donalyn]

Thanks for the tip. I saw that tiny pin head and it was difficult to grasp. I held the tip of a needles nose pliers at a 90 degree angle and grasped the pliable pin and worked it out. No need to worry about destroying it. It’s just there to prevent the box from opening during shipment or in the store. It wouldn’t be fun to buy the set only to find a bit or two missing.

[Gil 92672]

Use a blade knife to cut the yellow button off and push it down to remove.

[stannickel]

Thanks for your suggestion. One may point out that there are dozens of ways to remove the lock pin on the drill bit box. The trick is figuring out where the pin is; not how to dislodge it.

[jmudd007]

Thank you!!!!! So simple and so great!! What a pain until I saw this post....

[Ursa Horribilis]

Got to send you some love for this tip. Saved my bacon as I prep my passenger barrier for returning to rideshare driving post covid vaccination. Thanks so much Needed to drill some new holes.in it before Monday. You got it right; remove the pin. I used some diagonal wire cutters to get under the lip and move it a bit, then some vicegrips to grip and pull out.

[stannickel]

Happy to help.

[officecataz]

Agreed, it is a challenge, thanks for the tips here. I used my 6" diagonal cutters to grasp and pull the pin (mine was white) and it is simple IF you know the 'trick' -- wanted to post a pic but got only "server error" Jay

[stannickel]

It's all in knowing what to look for. Thanks for your comment.

[NeverAcceptBroken4anAnswer]

I tapped the long pin out of the back of the case with a small screwdriver. After I tore the top off of the little plastic one and gave up on it. Thanks for the instructions though. I thought I was going crazy!

[cfdfyrman]

Lol 😂. I was ready to throw it out the window. GGGRR.