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.