*
Okay we’ve got some one in the White House who can really help us.Nows the the time! Ban all slotted head screws and especially brass ones. Why do they still make them.With 1 micron deep slots,slot width impossible to find right driver. God pless you Mr. Phillips and Mr. Square.And while were at it what about banning those bastard little srews in side can lights..Plaese!!!!
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Learn how to fight wood-boring beetles and prevent home infestations with expert advice from Richard D. Kramer, an authority in pest control.
Featured Video
Video: Build a Fireplace, Brick by BrickHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
*
Disagree with you Ken, but I assume your topic was tongue in cheek anyway. Furniture restorers for one often need to use slot head screws. Sliante, RJ.
*Mr. Robertson, a Canadian, received a patent for the socket-head screw in 1907 at the age of 27, after inventing an improved corkscrew, a new type of cuff links, and a better mousetrap. His business in Milton, Ontario, was going gangbusters supplying parts to Fisher Body Company, but then he expanded too fast, to England, and both businesses suffered. Henry Ford was very interested, as the use of the Robertson screw saved $2.60 per car, but the two control freaks couldn't put their heads together, so Ford stuck with slotted and Robertson lived out his days in proud obscurity. Henry Phillips from Portland, Oregon, was not so stiff-necked, preferring to make his money off licensing instead of manufacture. After the improved screws were tested in the 1936 Cadillac, the Phillips screw became the international socket screw. When the patents expired in the mid-60's, there were more than 160 domestic, and 80 foreign licensees.(Lightly lifted from One Good Turn, a Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw, Witold Rybczynski, a fine read by one of my favorite authors.)
*And I suppose everyone Loves the Torx type screws? wanna know how many stripped out T-8 drivers I have??
*Once Robertson heads take off in the States, Canada will finally become a world superpower. First you get the screws, then you get the power!
*The Robertson is definitely better than the square-reccess (tapered sides versus straight sides. I very much like the Torx; however, ergonomic tests have indicated that it's too precise for most American workers and won't expand beyond assembly lines.
*I've been calling slot headed screws 'the screws from the dark ages' for some time. My Uncle Jim who mentored my mechanic and carpentry skills disagrees strongly. He was an IBM mainframe tech for years and said that IBM felt that greater torque was possible with slotted heads. Well i wonder if IBM has come around yet.joe d
*I use nothing but tapered slot-head wood screws in furniture (I try to avoid using any fasteners at all, but in some situations screws are necessary). More torque can be placed on the screw since the bearing points are on the circumference instead of near the center. Also, tapered screws require only a couple of turns to set. They're thicker so they're stronger. The hole can be properly drilled with one combination tapered bit and countersink. I buy cheap flat-blade screwdrivers and grind them to fit the screws I'm using. For small screws, I can use an awl or a gimlet to make the hole.For machinery and rough carpentry I agree that they're a PITA, but for fine woodworking I would miss the traditional wood screw.
*When/where was this ? I did my thirty years at IBM, including 7 in manufacturing, and we were an early adoptor of 6-point and a big user of Phillip's. Now, they did use slot-head machine screws in some precision assemblies, which is still a common practise in the US; but, the number of those assemblies is miniscule. I recall they did use slot-heads in the Hudson Valley up into the late '70s; however, they also all had buzz-cuts, full trouser cuffs, and Johnson wing-tips; so that doesn't count.
*Ken, You started out wrong from the get go. Someone that can really help us in the white house now? Hes screwing us royal !!!!Andy
*Screw historians: Whatever happened to clutch head screws as used by GM and other auto makers till sometime in '60s? I get a kick out of the torx with the "pin in the center" and other "tamper proof" that tries to deter DIY - who do they think they are stopping?
*Um, Allen heads? Hex heads? Square heads? These are all used in machine screws. Allens in particular are nice for torque transfer, resistance to cam-out, and prevention of slipping and gouging. Can't remember ever seeing one on a wood screw, though.-- J.S.
*When your talking screw heads, I can't imagine a more screwed up head than in the white house now. With Chewy's heart problem he have 1/2 a brain and 1/2 of a heart. Grab your gasoline, cause your getting screwed and don't know it yet. Remember our last bush?Anyway, I do agree that slated screws are a relic or highly specialized and do not belong in most applications
*A cheap electric space heater died on me last fall. I thought I might take a look inside and see what I could do. No go. It was put together with screws that required a triangular shaped bit. Now that, I have never seen before.
*Louis, Thats Japanese High Production. You see those same screws used on Kids toys from MacDonalds (I have a four year old - She gets the toys so I have something to do while she eats). Torx and allen screws are Machine screws. A 3/32's Allen screw will last me approximately 3 months at work, and the Torx drivers are worse (I run a CNC lathe). Allen screws are used on furniture though - at least at IKEA they are.
*I've seen a mahogany runabout (Chris-Craft type) so perfectly detailed that all the slotted brass screws in the deck had their slots aligned. I'd allow them there, but otherwise, I'm in total agreement, especially in the realm of machine screws. There's no place for a slotted machine screw anywhere in my book.did
*I've screwed woods parts together on a bench with brass screws and did something similar later on a drop-front desk, then sanded off the slotted part--looks decorative and has some holding power, too.
*Frank Lloyd Wright's houses, I read somewhere, had the same attention to detail. The slots were supposed to be horizontal - Prairie houses, right? Of course, that meant that some would be loose and some others too tight, but what's that matter when unity of design is at stake?
*Now, my Dad wants to ban all Phillips screws. His background is in precision machine work. There are diffeerent spokes for different folks. Torx screws are actually much better than square drives for the same things; they really accept more torque than Phillips heads and don't cam out. When my tips get worn a little I can hit them on the grinder about twice before trashing them - try that with a Phillips. GRK of Canada makes these for wood and they are the best screws in the world for builders.For those who can't make up their minds, I really like the multis that have a regular straight slot, superimposed on a Phillps with a deep square seated under it. They come with a lot of Chinese junk that has to be assembled.Of course, we all know that exterior slotted heads have to be aligned such that the slots are vertical so the water can all run down out of them. Oh, and don't hold your potable power driver up-side-down or all the electrons will spillout.And Bush is the screw that will hold things together. Be good now!:)
*I agree that slotted screws should be banned. They have no place on a modern construction site. I sent a message to the President of Steel City, a major manufacturer of electrical boxes and he said they were trying to weed them out. If you receive any product with slotted screws, return them to your distributer as "defective". The only exception maybe the little oval head screws used to hold electrical cover plates on. These must be set vertical and it is impossible to tell which arm of a Phillip's screw is the correct one to set vertical. As for the combo heads, I have found that the square hole reoves so much metal from the Phillip's part, that the Phillip's slot is too esily stripped. Has any one else experienced this problem?--Peter
*I'm glad to see the Robertsons are finally making their way south. About 15 years ago, I worked for a fixture company. We used Robertsons for our knock-down products. Every time we shipped to the US we had to send a screw driver along. Apparently, Robertsons were used for vandal proofing in the States at the time. It was a nightmare for our customers to find screwdrivers!One weakness of Robertsons is the head is weakened by the large square hole. Phillips are supposed to be stronger on this front.
*
Okay we've got some one in the White House who can really help us.Nows the the time! Ban all slotted head screws and especially brass ones. Why do they still make them.With 1 micron deep slots,slot width impossible to find right driver. God pless you Mr. Phillips and Mr. Square.And while were at it what about banning those bastard little srews in side can lights..Plaese!!!!