Went to use a small multi-bit screwdriver and the bit fell right out: evidently, the ball wasn’t swaged tightly enough; it and the spring went walkabout. Given that I don’t know when or where that might have happened, there’s no chance I’ll ever see those parts again.
But I do have some 2 mm steel bearings that aren’t grossly oversized, so all hope is not lost. Alas, I have no idea what sort of spring to put in there, other than that I don’t have one of those.
This looks like an application for rubberdraulics: use compliant silicone snot rubber as a spring. Lautard described a use with a lock ring and an external screw to apply pressure, but here it’ll work fine to allow a small motion for a tiny ball.
Drill out the recess barely larger than the ball: the slight clearance allows the cured rubber to squish out around the ball. I clamped it in the Sherline vise and jogged into position by eyeball, then poked a hole with G83 down 1.5 mm. The original recess was a bit over 2 mm deep, so there’s plenty of room for the silicone in the bottom.
Then mush some silicone into the hole, install the ball, push it down until it stands barely proud of the surface, scrape off the excess rubber, and let it cure overnight.
There, now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
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4 responses to “Screwdriver Bit Ball Repair: Rubberdraulics!”
After it cures overnight……did the silicone have sufficient “give” and “spring back” resilience to keep the bit in the handle, and keep on doing it?
Yup, although I admit to having to yank that sucker out after the second night spent in the handle: a bit of silicone snot atop the ball almost did me in!
After rubbing off the excess, it works just like you’d expect. As Eeyore once said, “It goes in and out like anything!”
That’s quite a brilliantly simple solution, actually!
And it works, too, which makes up for almost everything else… [grin]