A torque-limiting assembly for a surgical powertool has an input shaft and an output shaft. Two relatively rotatable parts of the assembly are configured to be locked against relative rotation by at least one shearable piece for torque transfer between the input shaft and the output shaft up to a torque limit. The assembly further comprises at least one shear off structure rotationally fixed to one of the two relatively rotatable parts for shearing off a portion of the at least one shearable piece above the torque limit so as to unlock the two relatively rotatable parts for relative rotation.
