Why slots?
Aug 26, 2020 08:22:11 #
jaymatt wrote:
Square holes great and slots are ok, as are stars. Phillips heads are the most prone to chewing out under pressure, so far as I am concerned. I wouldn’t be upset if I never saw another Phillips head screw.
That’s just my humble opinion after working with carpentry and farming and such for about seventy years.
That’s just my humble opinion after working with carpentry and farming and such for about seventy years.
You gotta use a good grade and proper fitting screwdriver bit, oh and be sure the slot is not a Reed & Prince or a Posi-drive
but even then they will strip.I do agree the Scru-loc (square drive) is the best but again the proper size is important, the same with Torx (star) and Socket head (Allen).
Aug 26, 2020 08:23:41 #
srt101fan wrote:
Good to hear someone else finding fault with Phillips head screws. I thought it might just be me and/or my cheap tools.... 😕
And here's another non-fan of Phillips heads. Not only do they chew out easily (and forget backing one out if it's rusted), I have to carry three times as many Phillips screwdrivers as slotted because there's such a difference between Phillips slot configurations.
Aug 26, 2020 08:36:56 #
Robertson, was all over the Model T but when he refused to license the design they switched to Philips, which are harder to over torque.
Aug 26, 2020 08:49:42 #
In the UK we have similar problems with tool and materials quality. It seems to me that the screws bought decades ago were of harder steel and brass than those I find in stores today. A lot of our brassware is made in India and is definitely of poor quality I once found the slots in a box of them were cut off centre making them useless. For some years the Forces have bought ammunition from India and I hope that a) the quality is up to the mark and b) we never start a war with India!
Aug 26, 2020 08:54:24 #
Woodworm65
Loc: Lombard, IL
Phillips head screws suck, flat blade screws suck, all screws should be square or torque head no stripping and can be torqued down.
Aug 26, 2020 08:54:50 #
jaymatt wrote:
Square holes great and slots are ok, as are stars. Phillips heads are the most prone to chewing out under pressure, so far as I am concerned. I wouldn’t be upset if I never saw another Phillips head screw.
That’s just my humble opinion after working with carpentry and farming and such for about seventy years.
That’s just my humble opinion after working with carpentry and farming and such for about seventy years.
I personally have less trouble with Phillips head than with slotted screwdrivers in keeping the head in the screw.
Aug 26, 2020 08:56:30 #
Harold Stetson
Loc: Marquam 97038
Don't forget guys. There were no power tools for screws when the slot became popular. The need to have something center your power screw driver is a pretty new requirement in the scheme of things. Slots go way back in there use into the 1800s. They were huge in the early 1900s. Power screw drivers were becoming popular in the 1970s and now battery powered stuff is almost universal and guess what, phillips and torx work better with it. Not so much with a good fitting screwdriver by hand.
Aug 26, 2020 09:08:58 #
And besides all three pages of this discussion - Have you ever tried to turn a philips screw with a dime??
Aug 26, 2020 09:34:02 #
One place where the slot is essential is in wooden boat planking. The screws (usually #12 or #14) are counter sunk and covered with glued in wooden bungs, or plugs. Years later, when replacing rotten planks, the bungs are pried out with a chisel or some such, revealing the clogged up (old glue, rotten wood) screw head. The slot can easily be cleaned out with a screwdriver by simply working it back and forth in the slot. Philips or square drive? Very hard to get clean enough to remove. For household or furniture building, it's square drive for me.
Aug 26, 2020 10:05:38 #
Morry
Loc: Palm Springs, CA
Bridges wrote:
Some of you engineering UHHers help me understand ... (show quote)
Twenty five or thirty years ago I rebuilt a deck (12'x30') in a previous home and used the square head 3" screw that was recommended. I still have some of the remaining unused screws left and it is always the screw for me to go to if it's the right size for the job. I think square head screws are the only way to go for most things.
Aug 26, 2020 10:09:36 #
Aug 26, 2020 10:27:12 #
Don's Leica
Loc: Asheville, NC
I like working with my hands, don't do construction jobs, have a large collection of hand tools. With slots I can feel how strong the wood is and control the torque. Large screwdrivers have flat handles for high torque.
Aug 26, 2020 10:29:45 #
1Feathercrest
Loc: NEPA
jaymatt wrote:
Cheap tools, expensive tools, makes no difference.
Cheap tools, expensive tools, makes no difference.It is not so much the tool as the lack of expertise in using it.
Aug 26, 2020 10:45:58 #
RonH
Loc: Shoreview MN
Just as a side tip if you have a screwdriver of any type "rounding out" of slipping in the screw head put a dap of valve grinding compound on the tip of the screwdriver. Makes it bit in and more of the turning torque is applied to the screw rather than the screwdriver backing out. Also the old trick of striking the screwdriver handle once the screwdriver is placed in the screw frequently helps loosen when twisting force is then applied. Lots more tip on this issue but that's enough for the non-mechanical crowd. Valve grinding compound in small tubes is available at AutoZone, O'Reily's etc for a few bucks.
Aug 26, 2020 11:11:55 #
Surprised I didn't see a reference to the Robertson screw. A Favorite in Canada.
No complaints. Good luck. DA
No complaints. Good luck. DA
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