Phillips/square? You mean pre-half-stripped and here I come with a too small screwdriver to finish the job.
Philips/Square/Slotted (all three combined) is really common in North American electrical. Switches, outlets, breakers; all commonly use them for terminal screws.
Great for lower torque applications; you certainly wouldn't use them for like a deck/structural screw.
You can torque a Roberson until either the screw, driver, or motor break
i don't always strip my screws to death but when i do, what the hell do you mean they got the job started for me?
What is this square?
It is called a Robertson not a square.
Technically Robertson has a taper to it, while square drive doesn't. Though nobody really differentiates it in common usage.
At least with star drive, while they are the same, pretty much everyone calls them Torx.
Never heard of Phillips the screw before. We call it Kreuzschlitzschraube and the tool for it is a Kreuzschlitzschraubendreher, and I think that's beautiful.
But it's absolutely fascinating that torx on the other hand is here with its generic name.
Although in my opinion there are three slots only: torx, hex and wrong.
Screw drive arguments are my absolute favorite, thank you OP for posting such divisive content!
also relevant Bonus xkcd
I worked as a supervisor where my predecessor thought square/Robertson were superior without listening to the others who were used to torx. I very quickly changed back to using torx.
Torx torx torx torx!
I use exclusively torx or tamper-proof torx for my projects and I love it so much.
Calling it a square not a Robinson makes me doubt everything else on this including the ones I know are right.
Same with 6 lobe instead of torx
Torx is a trademarked name, 6 lobe is generic Torx.
Like how everybody calls a tissue a Kleenex.
What is labelled "flat" here I've only ever heard of as "countersunk" and what's labelled as "slotted" I've only ever heard of as "flat head". Also wtf is "PF"?
I had the same thought! Also I’ve only ever heard “torx” instead of “six lobe” although I’m guessing torx is a brand name.
A square screw is a Robinson, fyi.
There's some anti-Canadian bias in this chart for sure.
Don't call Philips after the inventor but Robertson after the shape.
"Square"? "SQUARE"??!! Excuse me, we fought a patent war over Robertson drive, and WE FUCKING WON.
This guide is trash, they don't even know the proper names.
And if you lack the screwdriver. So long as the head is not the flat style and you have room. Angle grinder/dremel and everything turns into a slot head screw.
I hate phillips head screws with every fiber of my being. All they are good at is becoming stripped.
Slotted screws should have gone away after the 1800s. God, I hate them so much.
I'd like to go on record as saying six-lobe tamper can die in a fire.
Use a hammer and punch to break off the pin.
Okay, now I'm really confused. I was going to comment that the six-lobe shape is known to me as star bits, and then I did a search to see if anyone else uses the name, but these sites say they're 5-point bits, but they're star-shaped, not pentagons. The star bits in my security bit set all have six points, and I've not come across a five-pointed star screw because I'd surely remember being pissed off about them not working. Where/when are five-pointed stars used?
6-lobe, star, and Torx are all names for the same somewhat common screw type. Torx is a trademarked brand name however.
Separately there's a 5-lobe screw called 'pentalobe' that's looks just like the 6-lobe but with, well..., 5 lobes. It was developed by Apple iirc, to keep people out of their products and make repair harder.
The common hack makes it easier to remember: the common star, or brand name Torx, is the same as a hexagon. If you have a full set of both SAE and Metric star drivers, there is a star that will fit tightly into nearly all hexagon cap screws. If you strip a hexagon screw cap, using a star driver will often work to remove it. This only works because it is the same number of points.
There are many other types, but the common star is the 6 point.
Anyone know what the heck the Pozidriv/Round Hole combo is for?
psychopaths
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