Slotted Screws

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Even the best can slip sideways in (out) of the slot...

SnapOn's have wedge shaped tips as are Hazets (the latter have or had a nice anti-slip grind or coating on the tips)

PB Swiss uses a parallel sided tip - like a hollow grind on gunsmith's screwdrivers

Zeke, I hadn't heard the criterion in post 12


Brownie points if you can guess where slotted screws are used on 911s...

What do you need to know? It's basic mechanics. If the blade can wiggle in the slot then there are only 2 points of contact. If the blade is wedged in the slot, the contact is as much as 2wice the width of the blade. Ideally one would chose a screwdriver for a slotted screw that would equal the width of the slot at the bottom and fat enough to not quite reach the bottom.

I suppose the thinking behind the Phillips head was more contact. And I will submit that a brand new Phillips driver in new screws that are properly made (and assuming ones knows a #2 head from a #3) is a very good system.

Better systems have come along but I have no reason to throw away hundreds of perfect good Phillips screws.

Let's face it — some people will never understand the dynamics of the simple screw and abuse every single one they encounter. Give them idiot proof screws, I don't need them.

What I do have frustration with is screws designed to use different driver bits. Dedicate the GD screw to one design and be done with it. A lot of screws found in electrical work have this so called multi bit adaptability and I have more trouble with them than any kind of single drive design.

.....................................

Lastly, I had to learn how to use and reuse slotted screws because no one wants to see a boogered screw head in their 18th Century whatnot. I don't use anything but what any project coming across my bench came with originally often throwing away in appropriate fasteners in favor of the original. That's mandatory. So I deal with slotted screws every day.

[GH85Carrera]

We recently hired a pro crew to come in and put up all new 8 foot stockade fencing in our back yard. They were locally made from cedar panels that are all screwed together with torx bits and not one nail. They were hung on the steel T shaped posts. The fence should out last us.

[vash]

those fancy square head and torx drivers..you cant open a paint can with it.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by RWebb

....
Brownie points if you can guess where slotted screws are used on 911s...

Valve adjustment screw. Where's my brownie

Despite my OCD .... those aren't verticle either.

[Mike Andrew]

Wrestled with removal of several just this morning. They will be replaced with Torx upon reassembly. All I use at my place up north is Torx and they are great. They even come out of treated without cursing.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by KC911

Valve adjustment screw. Where's my brownie

Despite my OCD .... those aren't verticle either.

I like to make them look neat and tidy by lining them up so they are all vertical. Sometimes to switch it out I make them all horizontal. It's the details that count.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I like to make them look neat and tidy by lining them up so they are all vertical. Sometimes to switch it out I make them all horizontal. It's the details that count.

Your car will run better if they are all alligned vertically! Horizontal is just asking for trouble imo. Another OCD pelican pointed out years ago that horizontal slots are prone to collect dust ....

But it's yer car I suppose

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

An additional question...has anyone ever successfully dressed a straight slot blade after it has been rounded? I have several OLD screw drivers whose shanks and handles are still in great shape but need the blades to be dressed.

Yes, i've done that, but I have also made a scratch-all out of them, or bent them as needed for a particular job.

[Zeke]

Yes, you can easily reshape a flat blade on a bench grinder or with a good file. They aren't that hard (most) or they would snap too easily. You MUST dunk the blade in cool water often. If you see the tip change color from anything but a light blue haze, it's done.

I have dressed a Phillips head driver by blunting the tip a tiny bit followed by just kissing the four blades to make them more flat (with definite edges as opposed to all rounded over). They work better but not as good as new.

Speaking of new, the lowly screwdriver is one tool you should spend more on. Anything included in a set of economy tools is garbage waiting to booger a screw.

[1990C4S]

The world needs more filister head screws.

[RWebb]

what a cheesey post!

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Zeke

......
Better systems have come along but I have no reason to throw away hundreds of perfect good Phillips screws. .......

I toss slotted almost instantly, except for colored wall-plate screws.

I will still use Philips for drywall, but I've scratched my last cabinet. I carry a nice selection of torx and square drive screws now.

Even newer electrical connections (breakers and receptacles) are square drive now.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

We recently hired a pro crew to come in and put up all new 8 foot stockade fencing in our back yard. They were locally made from cedar panels that are all screwed together with torx bits and not one nail. They were hung on the steel T shaped posts. The fence should out last us.

Nice.

I was chatting with a fence contractor several years ago and this was one his comments - instead of nails - use torx headed screws for wood fencing.

I started doing this and have to agree they are the bees knees. I use Deckmate brand and have every length they offer.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by dad911

I toss slotted almost instantly, except for colored wall-plate screws.

I will still use Philips for drywall, but I've scratched my last cabinet. I carry a nice selection of torx and square drive screws now.

Even newer electrical connections (breakers and receptacles) are square drive now.

Actually called "combo tip." And there are screwdrivers to match with a square drive in the center with 2 wings that fit the outboard slots. They come in sizes just like Phillips # 1, 2 & 3.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by KC911

Your car will run better if they are all alligned vertically! Horizontal is just asking for trouble imo. Another OCD pelican pointed out years ago that horizontal slots are prone to collect dust ....

Au contraire mon frere, that is what the maids are for!
(I double-check their work with a HD surface-analyzing magnifying camera just to be sure it has been done)

As so many architectural masters throughout history have noted, vertical alignment creates a tension similar to jail bars and an atmosphere of enclosement. Try them horizontal. It creates subliminal messages in women as well which they can't resist. Plus the room actually physically widens several feet as a result.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Actually called "combo tip." And there are screwdrivers to match with a square drive in the center with 2 wings that fit the outboard slots. They come in sizes just like Phillips # 1, 2 & 3.

Didn't know that, thanks.

[javadog]

The secret to screws is matching the driver to the fastener. It would be nice if there were only a few sizes and much greater standardization, but that’s not going to happen. The best you can do is buy quality screwdrivers from the better companies. I probably have in excess of 100 screwdrivers, not counting the ones with interchangeable tips.

I will say this, though. Anytime I’m going to drive a three or four inch screw, I’m going to use an impact driver and a screw that requires a torx bit. I never strip those, once you use one you’ll never go back.