I keep breaking the little thin wire tool that some ceiling speakers ship with, for grill removal.

Wondering if anyone's found an effective tool (or hack) to easily & safely (w/o damage to the grill/frame, that is!) remove grilles from in-wall and in-ceiling speakers?

Got a litle hook from Boston Acoustics at CEDIA a couple of years ago. Works great! I don't know if they sell them or not.

Boston Accoustic make a Little metal hook for Grill removal.

Dave

I have a little cheapy. right angle pick that works great. Seen them at many hardware stores. Usually you can find a pack of 5 different ones.

I also use the Boston eyeball gouger, one of my favorite tools.

Russound has a hook tool I got at a training and jamo supplies one with each speaker pair. A paper clip works fine as well.

I have a neon green handled Snap On pick set...

I would bet that Craftsmen, Ace hardware, etc. have the same thing for a LOT less.

The Boston abortion tool works great. I picked one of those up too at CEDIA. I have the Russound folding one-also obtained at CEDIA.
2nd rick- Were you an old 12v guy? I also have the neon colored snap-on set. Orange screwdriver, Yellow Picks, purple screwdrivers, etc. I purchased those because 1. no one would want them and 2. I could easily see them left on the carpet in dark cars.

I use the scissors that came with my GERBER multi-tool, they are small enough to fit in the holes and I now have 2 points of contact instead of one, therefor saving the grill hole from possibly being bent or torn.

I've seen dentist picks at a couple hardware stores around here, they would work great......if I didn't already have a Boston pick.

Kinda...
The store I worked for had a wicked strong car department in the early/mid-90s and we produced most of the local and quite a few regional SPL and SQ champs during that time.

I was on the floor more than in the bay, but I know may way around a car.
Plus I had more woodworking skills than most of the talented guys that worked out there.
Many of those guys are still my closest friends today.

As the company progressed, I chose to follow the custom home route and deal with the area's business leaders on $25-100K no competition jobs in million dollar homes, rather than continue dealing with snotty punks and drug dealers over some $2-5K wheel-and-deal price match system in a beat down rolling crime scene.


"Not for use as chisel or prybar" Sound familiar?? LOL.
I also had the orange ratcheting screwdriver with the bit storage on the handle. It walked along with my Fluke meter and my HP scientific calc that my parents bought me when I started tech school.
I guess that the departing installer who lifted these items thought of it as severance pay or something.

I didn't make him a hack, I just fired him because he was a hack.

My screwdriver set is the Wiha soft ergo set that cost WAY too much money... I'm a sucker for a better tool, even when there is a totally competent tool that does the same thing already in my kit that I never use.

First 'real' tool I ever bought was the snap-on red handled screwdriver with the bits in the handle and the matching red pvc snap shut case. Must be 12 years old now and is on every jobsite I visit. Bits get rusty and replaced but the tool is great.



Cant find the red one or the plastic case anymore.

tip of my spyderco

If you want a tip that is less likely to distort the perforations, you could try a pair of snap-ring pliers. You can get tips in different diameters and both 90-degree and straight. Strong, non-tapered tips and a decent handle for straight-out pulling.

Set of picks from sears. I think it was about $10 for 5 of them. I use the right angle one for grille removal and the straight one for prodding lazy helpers. Have not bent a grille yet.