scr(ul)ew [new even worse version]
scr(ul)ew [new even worse version]

I kinda miss a few opinions on the topic of “screw taste” here. 🥲
old version:
scr(ul)ew [new even worse version]

I kinda miss a few opinions on the topic of “screw taste” here. 🥲
old version:
I like torx
Torx is definitely the best, it holds the screwdriver the best and a torx screwdriver also works to remove other screws with stripped heads
Look at any comparison that includes robertson and it wins every time, and if the reviewer is american they're surprised every time. Canadian fastener aisles are 95% robertson 2% torx and 3% hex because lag bolts and such. Only screws included in other hardware are anything other than those
Me too
It’s a good one but I read in the voice of “I like turtles”.
May i recommend: torx plus
Hey, Robertsons are great ok
Reliable, color-coded, and Canadian!
Like my Sunday through Monday undies.
What kind of maniac has one of those in his pockets at all times?
It's canadian, eh. Just don't mind the maple syrup we also keep in there, along side, loose
They're the best in my opinion. They hold on the tip of the screwdriver, they're real hard to distort, and they're Canadian.
Is Robertson the same as square head? It looks like Robertson has a slight taper?
Pocket hole screws are typically square and I find them inferior to torx.
I've only ever heard of the square as robertson, but you're right, they appear to be distinct driver bits
I see, you decided to pick 2 pieces of shit.
Phillips proceeds to strip when I look at it badly.
Slotted keeps kicking out the screwdriver.
Robertson is the top. It holds onto the screwdriver even without magnet, and good luck stripping a square.
Phillips usually strip when using a pozidrive screw driver on them. Very common mistake because people think they are the sams, but easy to avoid once you know it.
Also, the fit has to be tight. If it’s loose, the screw driver is too small.
Posidrive is not that common and not the problem. Phillips heads strip because they're designed to cam out and prevent snapping heads or overtorquing. JIS is same cross shape but doesnt cam out, which is good for avoiding stripping the heads but makes it easier to snap the head off of screws
(This information is incorrect, see the reply below.)
Pozidriv drivers actually work very well on Philips screws, sometimes better than Philips drivers, due to the fact that the "vanes" are angled rather than curved, proving a larger contact area. Fit is definitely the larger factor, along with the quality of the screw metal.
They're both junk next to Robertson though.
Philips is designed to allow the screwdriver to slip out so you don't over-torque the screw. If you're stripping them, you're probably using too much torque. But, it might not be your fault, because a lot of people use Philips screws when they shouldn't, and use too much torque when screwing them in.
As for slotted, those just suck. I guess one benefit is that you can use an over-sized head on small screws. But, slotted is really the wrong choice almost every time.
Philips is designed to allow the screwdriver to slip out
That's a myth. I've read the entire patent and there is no mention of it, and later patents are just post-hoc justifications for an objectively faulty, inferior design.
My charitable hypothesis is that the design uses shallower angles that are easier to cam out because sharp angles would result in stress fractures during the cold forming of the screw heads. My realistic hypothesis is that dies with shallow angles are cheaper to produce and more durable. But the point is moot: the Phillips didn't become the de facto standard because of any practical advantage (real or perceived), but because Robertson wasn't willing to sell exclusive rights to Ford.
I'm usually not one to criticise a person's life choices, but if you think Phillips is better than the popular alternatives, I immediately think less of you as a person.
Hex is amazing, actually. Perfect for mechanical systems that need precision adjustments and/or precision tightening torque. The driver grips solid and is really hard to accidentally strip.
Slotted / flat head is a joke and I can't take you seriously if you claim it deserves a top spot in any ranking.
Phillips is great for layman end user applications that need protection from over-torque, as it's designed to reject a driver when torqued out. But it's the wrong head to use in like 90% of the places you encounter it.
Yes, screw Philips, all Philips heads should be turned into Torx heads. And slotted heads can go straight into the bin.
Slotted are sometimes the only option, when working in small scales, like M1 and M1.2 because there is so little material in the head of the screw On larger scales, I totally agree
My only issue with hex is that the angles between the sides are too flat and easy to round off, especially if the screw is small or cheaply made (soft steel or aluminium). Speaking from experience, if the screw head is 3mm across or smaller, Torx or JIS (which is still better than Phillips) are more reliable.
Hex could have been great, but along came the Americans with their units, and since hex was in mm, then they had to make their own hex in fractions of inches. I'm involved in archery, where you meet both without warning. Almost as annoying as having ISO, UNC and UNF threads.
The real propaganda is labelling Robertson square.
The only reason Robertson isn't everywhere is that it was patented and Robertson refused to license it, insisting that his company would be the only one to manufacture it.
Because of that, Henry Ford used those screws on the Canadian-made Model T cars, but not on the American made ones. The patent didn't expire until 1964, so many other screw types that weren't patented became popular in the mean time. But, the patent has now been expired for 60 years, so I think it's ok to just call it "square" now.
We aren't calling it a Robertson to honor a dead patent, it's to show we know the origin as Canadian, and because that's the name of the thing. Living next to the cultural blackhole of the USA means getting swallowed and erased if we don't showcase and have pride in what is Canadian. So at least where Canadians are concerned it's not a square.
Fyi Robertson(square) and slotted are the "tasty" screws.
Philips is a corporate design built to strip.
Your mum is built to strip
Now I wanna see op's mom.
Square and Robertson are 2 different types. The Robertson screws have a slight taper to the socket you can see if you look. Square drive screws are NOT tapered.
There are also 2 different types of common cross slotted screws. One is Philips that is actually meant to be a 'one and done' install. It was meant to cam out to prevent over torquing when assembling something back in the day. Don't blame the screwhead for your poor choice in application or you cheaping out on the driver to install them because you bought some crappy dollar store driver.
And then there the VERY similar looking JIS, (Japanese Industrial Standard) screws that require their own special driver. If you get Philips and JIS screws mixed up, you WILL have a very bad day....
My favorite flavor is the hex socket head screws. A nearly complete set of wrenches will fit in you pocket. Either fold up or ball end L style.
Both Phillips and slot screws are fucking awful.
Yeah flat heads are terrible. They are always the reason if I get injured by my screwdriver.
Firstly, theres no geometry preventing the bit from slipping out. Secondly, greatly exacerbating the first, you need to press hard to prevent the bit from camming out, which increases the risk of it slipping out.
Both problems combined causes the bit to slip out with very high force. If you happen to be holding the workpiece, you can injure yourself real bad.
I fucking hate flatheads.
Flat heads exist because they were the only thing we could make for a long time.
Philips was made to strip heads.
Hexagon the the true master head. No camming out and If it starts to strip, you can smack it with hammer to return it to a working shape.
it's missing the brand new BMWTM screw
Those just taste like boot leather
Every screw eventually becomes a slot screw if it pisses you off enough
Torx is the vastly superior option and Robertson drive are also really good
I'd argue that Robertson is actually superior to Torx, since the "vanes" of the Torx head are more prone to stripping than the solid right angles.
I think hex is superior to both as it's way harder to strip than a torx and it has 50% more options for starting angle than a robertson, which comes in handy when you can only get at the bolt head from a right angle, while being almost nearly as grippy and strip-resistant. Plus it's presumably simpler to machine than a torx star.
I think Torx tend to be used on things that are assembled by machines. It might be better to use Torx on things that are machine-assembled. In that case you have to care about the wear and tear on the screw drivers, and a Torx design might last a bit longer. With a square head there's going to be a tendency for the driver to become rounded over time.
I have never approached a slotted screw with any less than absolute contempt.
My 100yo house has many. I have come to think of them as quaint.
Sewing machines are about 30% slotted grub screws by weight.
This Robertson screw slander is unacceptable
The only reason robertson isn't the standard in NA is because the inventor was a moron and wouldn't license the production to ford
TBF Henry Ford was a literal Nazi and I probably wouldn't want to license anything to him either.
I miss Amp.
Red Bull was owned by a harcore Nazi until his very end, and his inheritors apparently also really suck…
Phillips and slotted should be illegal. Torx is far superior in every way.
Why is this flamebait being up voted?
It's not square, it's ROBERTSON!!! A gift from Canadians to the world, and everyone else decides that, no. Easily strippable screw heads are better...
Phillips strips because it was designed to. Literally. And I fucking hate it.
Slotted is a bitch unless you have the motor skills of a neurosurgeon.
All tamper screws are offensive to me on a religious/spiritual level.
It wasn't designed to strip when overtorqued. It's a myth with no evidence. The original patent says nothing about it (I've read the whole patent), and later patents list it as post-hoc justification for a design fault.
Really? We were actually taught this in college but come to think of it I never did read the fucking patent.
Look, what’s important is we all seamlessly transition to Robertson screws….
(Honestly I’m convinced it’s just spite for Canada that we haven’t already)
No mention of Oval drive? As much as I normally hate security fasteners, I love those for being hilarious. At first glance it appears roughly circular, you'd be like "well this is a nail, or a rivet or something". But no, actually you can unscrew it!
I have never seen this. I love it! It’s so simple! Why are these not everywhere?!
Right?! And yet AFAIK there is exactly one (now defunct) company who ever used them. I guess it's time to be the change we want to see in the world 😈
Yeah, but unfortunately it has to protrude from the surface because the bit grabs the outside, which means you can also grab it with pliers. Not the best feature for a "security" fastener.
Omg you're right!! I didn't think about that at all... It'd be difficult but certainly doable.
You could reverse it so the socket is on the screw instead, but then it might be slightly more obvious that it is a screw. Also nobody makes those, to my knowledge.
you take that back about the square drive and pin that shit on the phillips head
context: the square drive was designed as a universal open standard for affixing things to other things. the phillips head was designed as a cheap alternative to torque wrenches
Designed as? No, it was a happy accident. The original patent mentioned nothing about it, and then when they realized they could make that claim the patent was updated.
Fuck phillip head everything.
Square bit as the go-to general purpose bit is the correct opinion. Every time I have to pull my square bit off to put a Philips on I am just disappointed.
You didn't add the new BMW screw
There is absolutely nothing anti-tamper about this screw either. Seriously. It’s just an annoying inconvenience and will be replaced with a standard screw with the same thread by the first mechanics to see it.
I suspect that’s the real reason BMW is pulling this. They want to pull a warrantee void if seal is broken end run around magnussum-moss and will need to be slapped around again.
Yup. Has to be some bullshit to charge more for service, and prevent self maintenance.
Screw BMW.
Bowel Movement Double-Screw
Screw BMW.
JIS > Philips and this is a hill I will die on. Philips #2 strips so quickly its quickly garbage.
This article I came across convincingly disputes the idea that JIS is meaningfully different from other cross head standards. I do not have access to the standards myself to corroborate.
That’s the point of Philips. They’re for assembly line manufacturing designed to torque out when they’re tight.
They’re awful.
The problem with JIS is that most people don’t have a JIS driver.
Wikipedia disputes the claim of cam out being deliberate
The design is often criticized for its tendency to cam out at lower torque levels than other "cross head" designs. There has long been a popular belief that this was a deliberate feature of the design, to assemble aluminium aircraft without overtightening the fasteners.[15]: 85 [16] There is no good evidence for this suggestion, and the property is not mentioned in the original patents.[17]
What's jis look like
Philips apparently got adopted because it strips so easily. Back in the day, torque limiters didn't work well and camming out was considered preferable to applying too much torque
Treat yourself to some good drivers from Vessel and you are living the high life. Or don't and strip every screw you look at on old Japanese motorcycles.
Kinda surprised this wasn't a gender comic. I half expected the corpo propaganda label to be mental illness lol
And torx is the tastiest screw, fight me
I won't fight you brother, I will join you, torx is the best screw, doesn't strip, Philips is literally built to slip under pressure
I love torx, but posidrive, triangle, and even spanner all hold a special place.
Robertson and hex are fine. In the far reaches of the world those can be quite common.
Half of those screws are Robertson if you're in a pinch.
Slotted screws belong in the trailerpark
If a screw is totally stripped it’s nice to use a Dremel to just cut a slot and then be able to extract the screw.
The argument being: if it wasn't a slotted screw before, it is now?
The thing with slotted screws is that the screw itself is awful, but a flathead screwdriver in and of itself is such a useful tool you're always gonna have one, so the screw kinda hangs around.
For me, there are just 3 types of screws: Plus, minus and "shit, I don't have a tool for this"
I prefer torx to Philips. Philips strips too easily
6-lobe tamper is great for acute psychiatry and corrections where you're dealing with violent and self injurious behavior. You don't want people pulling screws out to make shivs / lockpicks / things to slit their wrists with or pulling utility plates off the wall to access wiring for fire setting or expose studs or plumbing to anchor a noose on. It's a lot harder to improvise a tool to remove a 6-lobe than it is a flat or even a Phillips.
A narrow flat blade, like 3/16 or 5/32 will go between the lobes and center piece and allow the screw to be backed out. Done it with loads of HP SAS that insist on T10 security screws.
“Square”
Username checks not out. Maybe some day they'll make a booby-shaped screwhead for you (see picture below for reference).
This bird is probably a virgin.
Pozi and Torx are my jam. They all taste the same though. Yup, I keep 3 or 4 on the side of the mouth when I'm working on a ladder. Nothing beats nails if you want taste.
Nah, I love me some Torx (especially T15 or T20), and maybe Pozi, if you need a cross-slit screw head, but plain PH? Miss me with that.
It's missing the cursed Apple pentalobe.
I like Philips with slot because it's useful for when it strips and it will strip.
Those tasty screws are the least useful and easiest to strip. I like robertson (square) but it's still easy to strip if you use the wrong size bit. It is a little silly that there are dozens of types, but that's what you get with patent laws in a money driven evonomy, a hundred ways to do the same thing.
easiest to strip -> easiest to nibble on
Both Phillips/slotted hybrid and Hexagon should not be in corporate propaganda as they have valid use cases.
Genuinely curious as I had absolutely no clue hexagon even existed, what is the use case for them? And for the combo slotted/Phillips?
It’s used for Allen/hex keys, a cheap and easy to ship version of screwdrivers that are especially popular with assembly kits such as Ikea furniture.
You’ve never assembled ikea furniture?
Most screws on bicycles are hexagon.
I don't like philips. They wear out fast and leave behind a rounded cavity that makes the screw useless.
The only screws Phillips makes are when screwing their customers over.
Wow this troll post worked excellently
I'm pretty sure most comments ignored the fact that the first two screws are classified as “tasty screws” rather than “good screws,” as I only saw a handful of comments mentioning the taste of the screws.
Taste is much more about the grade, this is more of a texture situation. Personally the S type looks fun to lick.
Nah, fuck Phillips, every time I use it, even with the perfect sized bit, it strips, and I put just enough torque to fully screw it in and make sure it’s a little tight, and I put enough pressure so it doesn’t twist itself off, but holy hell it is the only screw type I’ve tried which has stripped. I honestly wish hex or square were used for tech instead of Phillips, would’ve been so damn easy to clean the dust out of my laptops if so.
The credited inventor of the Phillips screw was John P. Thompson who, in 1932, patented (#1,908,080) a recessed cruciform screw and in 1933, a screwdriver for it.
Biography
After failing to interest manufacturers, Thompson sold his self-centering design to Phillips in 1935. Phillips formed the Phillips Screw Company in 1934. After refining the design (U.S. Patent #2,046,343, U.S. Patents #2,046,837 to 2,046,840) for the American Screw Company of Providence, Rhode Island, Phillips succeeded in bringing the design to industrial manufacturing and promoting its rapid adoption as a machine screw standard. American Screw then spent $500,000 originating a method of manufacture. One of the first customers was General Motors, who used the innovative design in 1936 for its Cadillac assembly-lines. By 1940, 85% of U.S. screw manufacturers had a license for the design.Due to failing health, Phillips retired in 1945. He lost his patent in 1949. He died on 13 Apr 1958 at age 68 in Portland, Oregon.
To add to this, the Phillips screw was designed to be self centering for use with motorized screw drivers on assembly lines, with an added benefit of easy cam out that prevented over tightening by said screw drivers. All that is kinda obsolete now and actually disadvantageous, so Phillips is probably the most entrenched and enduring corporate propaganda screw.
How did people tighten or loosen the screw between 1932 and 1933?
With a screwdriver.
Both amazing, and it sucks that so many people in history bring about incredible ideas and creations and end up getting nothing for it in the end. At least Phillips got his name stuck to it, I suppose. My wife still insists on asking for the star screwdriver, and I correct her every time. "It's Phillips!" You know what they say, you never truly die until people stop remembering you. Live on.
Also, while I understand its history being a simple to make design, the slot can die as far as I care. I HATE it, and whenever I find it in older places doing repairs I swear up and down. The worse is the slot that is a very shallow cut. Like, how am I supposed to put any torque on this without it slipping????
Reject screw. Return to nail.
Whoever designed the Phillips/Square combo screw shall burn in the seventh circle of hell. That thing is a disaster.
I hate it because it strips, if you look at it funny... any other reasons I should hate it?
Correction: they're a disaster if you use them with a Philips driver. Try a Robertson next time.
you probably shouldn't eat skrews
Pica pica pica-chew
tag yourself i'm tasty screw
spanner is pretty tasty usually for me but phillips and slotted depends on where it was. id argue thats propaganda since its seen everywhere. specialized screws i think are usually upkept well enough to be tasty.
Ehh the s type screw is pretty nostalgic for me. It takes me back to the days in school drawing that cool S all over my notebook and then eating the page.
Half of these look like anime eyes.
Where is the infinite tsukuyomi head??
Torx is superior and you can't change my mind
Slotted is absolute garbage, shit, cockpiss, analfart, stinky rotten penis breath.
Most of the weird ones exist specifically to keep the casual vandal from fucking with them.
is that some kind of black magic shit i am looking at?