Spoiler
Probably at the hardware store picking up more Phillips head screws.
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i love how the head in the before picture is ALREADY stripped
And half the time it came from the factory like that.
If it comes from the factory with such pronounced corners, chances are its a Phillips/Square drive combo. In which case you can use a square drive bit which will drive it without slipping (IIRC square drive has similarly high torque before cam-out as torx). There are a ton of different kinds of screw drives though, the phillips-adjacent ones are under cruciform here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives
How in the world does such a comprehensive article not include JIS? It looks like it was once included but then it was removed due to poor citations. Wtf why was it not added back? It is very distinct from Philips and if you use a Philips driver on a JIS screw, it strips the shit out of it.
JIS screws are denoted by a small dimple in one of the corners of the + on the screw.
Stripped for Your pleasure!
If I were a senator, I would make the Torx head a mandatory industry standard, and phase out Philips and proprietary screws in commercial products over ten years. Furthermore, introduce a mandatory minimum quality material to be used in its manufacture so it doesn’t rust or corrode.
Phillips is bad enough to start with, but then they started making Pozidriv, which looks almost identical but isn’t actually compatible - making it even more likely to tear out.
I wonder why Canada seems to be the only country in the world that understands Robertson screw head supremacy?
Robertsons are the Pinnacle screwhead. Torx and hex are also acceptable
Not Hex, I’ve stripped those a few times.
Yeah, hex is only a few obtuse angles away from being a circle. And that means it strips into a circle surprisingly easily.
When a hex goes circle it’s time to break out the triple squares and a hammer! Poor man’s extract set lmfao
Robertson wanted to be paid for his good design. Henry Ford didn’t want to pay, even if it was a tiny amount.
Ford was willing to use an inferior screw design that could cause production issues rather than pay a license to use the superior design. And, even though the patent expired a long time ago, these decisions have momentum.
I would bet that Torx is more popular than Robertson even though it’s a much newer design. Is it a better design? To me, Robertson seems to have the edge when it comes to simplicity, but Torx could be better for industrial applications because multiple lobes that have a surface perpendicular to the direction of torque probably gives it more control. Also, thanks to Ikea, I’d bet that hex-head bolts are incredibly common. They share most of the benefits of Robertson. I suspect they’re a little less efficient though because the closer you are to a circle shape, the less the faces of the screwdriver tip align with the direction of torque. I wonder if there are advantages of hex over square, since you see hex so much more often.
I’ve learned recently, by buying pozi head screwdrivers, that they’re not so bad. But it is unnecessary. Torx or Robertson please.
Get a drill!! You can do this twice as fast with half the effort
Better make it an impact driver, just to be sure.
I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure phillips head originated for use in screwable rivets and large screws on automobiles where it was implied that the screw action was a one time deal using your hydraulic/pneumatic screw gun on the assembly line.
If you were to unscrew it, you probably should be using a fresh screwed rivet to replace it.
Of course those days are long gone because of superior non screwed riveting and pretty much everything removable in automotive being replaced by hex for the same reason of phillips being easily strippable.
The standard just stuck around because it was cheap.
Phillips in electronics is what needs to die. They’re always stupidly small and strip so easily
just bought a bike from an american dude up here in Canada and I don’t think he owned a metric hex key set, judging by how every other bolt is stripped to fuck
I’d ask how, but I bought my nephew his first set of tools for his 25th birthday. He doesn’t exactly know how to use them (I’d gladly teach if I lived closer) but none of his blood relatives are mechanically inclined.
Still, better to have a plunger and not need one than to need a plunger and not have one.
Just bought a bike from a Vietnamese dude here in Vietnam and Holy shit who the fuck thought it was a good idea to put steel Philipshead screws into soft aluminum.
Unrelated, but making both metric and imperial hex was a mistake.
Edit: Turns out everyone in vietnam intentionally replaces JIS with philipshead because its easier to find.
Nah I’m buying hex screws/bolts or flathead ones. It is a feature, the feature is: the screw sucks.
I’m buying… Flathead…
Now see flathead is number two on my list of fasteners designed by dark forces.
It’s even worse than Philips for power tools.
Hex isn’t much better in my experience. Torx is great though.
I’m sticking with Robertson where I can. It’s so much better
I recently got my first pocket hole jig. Pocket hole screws are, for whatever reason, square drive. They’re perfect for wood, I luv them.
Robertson drive thank you very much, that’s the pride of Canada right there.
Mmmmm, this will go splendidly with my Maple Syrup and Poutine!
I’ve got my problems with Canada, but y’all sure know how to screw.
Don’t feel bad, it’s the PH design who’s at fault. For some reason, someone decided PH should have tapered flanks, so that the bit has a constant tendency to slip out of the screw unless you push the bit into it with absurd amounts of force.
The one on the right is actually “Pozidriv” (PZ), which is a little better than regular Phillips at least.
You’re right, I should’ve mentioned that PH is the one on the left. The pic is from a Wikipedia article that compares PH with PZ.
Get a Step Bit. Then drill into the screw head until it pops off. I deal with contractors that over torque bolts on a regular basis.
Help me step-bit, I’m stuck and stripped!
Do they make those in a reverse direction so once it gets a bite it can just unscrew?
No, this is not the intended use for this type of bit.
And this is why I buy torx acres for anything I’m building myself. Unfortunately most premade things I buy have this crappy screw type.
The screws included with some items are such pot metal rubbish that they practically strip themselves out. I bought a few assorted packs of hex head cap screws and torx head wood screws so I can replace the included screws when they actually matter.
Phillips is meant to slip, on purpose. It is designed so factory workers in the past, who used manual drives, could quickly assemble things without over torquing the screws. Just go firm and continuous until the thing slips, then switch to the next step, if you have to use force to avoid slip, you are doing too much. It was simple and easy. Pozidrivs are meant to withstand and impart way much more torque, but, they are supposed to be used with a torque limited electric drive. So assemblers, and even robots, can do the job fast and to exact torque specifications. The result is that people use PZ drives on PH screws and immediately obliterate them, because the drive has too much grip. While the PD drive fits PZ screws but won’t grip and will slip much more, causing a ton of damage to both screw and drive. It is not entirely the material’s fault. Using the wrong drive or choosing the wrong screw head is what usually leads to failures.
screw that
Now it’s time to turn it into a flathead screw with a dremel!
Flathead gang for life phillips can kick sand
If i never see another flathead screw for the rest of my life ill die a happy sparky
Yea what’s with flatheads being the default finish screw on panel covers?
Cheap, easy to clean, only gets opened like once every ten years, cheap and takes paint well.
Also cheap
And a kid can easly open it with whatever they have around!
No seriously, it never happened to anyone i know, but i am sure some kid, somewhere opened it using some random shit they found around and made a disaster
I think you forgot to mention that it’s cheap
Nah, they never mentioned how cheap it was, someone would have noticed
You found one that is objectively worse than Phillips. (Because it’s just the worst, period.)
The only one worse than Phillips, even.
OTH, you can make a flathead screw with a rod, a hammer, and a hacksaw.
At that point, make a second groove for a cross head and saw the tip off a Philips driver. That way, it doesn’t cam out easily or slide out the side.
