Where the hell do companies even find these super cheap, shitty screws that strip so easily? When I buy screws at a hardware store, they don’t ever get stripped unless I use an impact hammer drill with the wrong size head and the screw is really stuck in something (and it sometimes also just twists and breaks the entire screw at that point). But screws already in a thing I bought almost always get stripped hella easy using a hand tool.
I think it depends on the screw, what it’s for. Softer ones can bend without breaking, very important in most cases.
And + sucks, * superiority.
Drywall screws are hard because drywall is hard (as in like sandpaper) and doesn’t flex.
PS Skill issue.
I’m no mechanic, so anytime I work with a drill, it’s to unscrew someone’s pervious work. I just jam the plus shaped head into the plus shaped hole and pray, just as the lord intended.
I bought a precision screwdriver set to replace the failing RAM on my thin lenovo laptop, which has super tiny screw on the ram slot, withing the first few turns of the screwdriver, I stripped that screw. Fucking thing would not budge, tried the rubber band trick, tried to even find somewhere I can borrow a dremel to cut a line on the head for a flat head, finally had to take it to the repair center at a Micro center and they somehow got it out. Never buying a thin laptop again, and will always check online for repair ability
Blame Henry Ford. The superior screw head style was available to him, but he refused to use it.
You had me at blame Henry Ford.
Security screw with the oval drive.
Fuck that, Robertson, hex or torx.
Robertson is incredible, in Canada it is often used to build outdoor patio for instance, it’s magical to use, I love those screws
In new build stuff, I’ve actually been seeing a lot more torx.
I can snap the heads of cheaply made screws or ones made from softer material like “brass” with a screwdriver let alone an impact driver.
If I am doing something with a lot of screws, say decking, then I will spend more on my screws simply because I want better quality if I am going to be fitting a few hundred in a day. I also want to know that if I come back to it in a few years that the screw will unscrew quickly when I come to it. Sure it can be a significant cost increase but the time and frustration saved makes it back.
Quality screwdrivers like Vessel Megadora or Wera or Swisstools or similar tend to cam out less than the pack of ten you got from the dollar store. Same with the hex bits for your impact or drill driver.
Last test I heard had Roberson above Torx for reducing cam out, but if you camming Torx that easily I would just switch to an actual hex headed screw if it needs that much torque to tighten.
That looks like a really shitty screw to begin with.
Actually looks like an anti removal screw. The inner edges of the plus are sloped, but only in the direction to unscrew.
mood
If it needs to be tight, Robertson or Torx is the only way. The benefit of Robertson over Torx is that it is pretty much immediately clear if the bit fits properly or not. I have stripped too many Torx that were in a place that required a human with an extra elbow and a second wrist to reach, that I thought were t20 but were t25, for example. I keep thinking I’ve learned my lesson.
I keep meaning to buy sets of Phillips, Pozi, and JIS, but never manage to time a stripped screw with a tool sale.
The only thing worse than + is -, and even that is situational.
If you do this you have two options. Either put a piece of rubber from a balloon, latex glove etc between the screw and the screwdriver. Or use a hacksaw to put a slot in the top of the screw and use a flathead screwdriver.
Arrooooo
There is a third: manual impact driver
am i the only person with a set of screw extractor bits?
I never even knew it was a thing. I’m assuming most people don’t have them.
I see sales for them all the time at hardware stores.
Forklift Mechanic, here. It indeed is, a thing.
I got a set, tried to use them twice and they failed both times. In the first try the bolt metal was too hard for the extrator to bite in in any reasonable time drilling and the second time the screw was too soft and the extractor stripped the hole the extractor makes attempting to extract.
Another option for smaller screws is just to drill out the head, it will let go.
Had to do this on a buddies Harley… Tried the ‘cut a slot’ method for a flathead too…broke the screw head in half trying to take it out. Drilled it out, head popped off, and was able to take the shaft out by hand. Those screws are made of play-doh…not metal.
First oil change on a new to him bike but some numbnuts but the crank case cover bolts in like a gorilla…torque spec is 7 ft-lbs(9.5 Nm). That’s like a quarter turn past finger tight. It just needs to compress the seal so oil doesn’t spill out.
I thought all my stripped screw troubles would end when I found this tip and seeing how much it’s suggested. But all that ever happens is I pierce the gripping medium due to the force required. Maybe there is a quality option that can withstand this but I’m probably buying extractors if I’m spending money at that point.
YES BECOME FLATHEAD. ive also used torqx and pounded them in. Like a poor mans easy out, works about 20% of the time
i hope i don’t need to do maintenance in my motorcycles front end again anytime soon. its gonna be a removed to remove those screws without ruining it.
A removed to remove you say? Sounds like a pain in the removed
Use JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screwdriver and bits. If you own a Japanese automobile, motorcycle, etc., you better use them.
JIS is definitely a step up from Phillips, as long as you have the right bits and can tell them apart. I run into JIS a lot in bicycle maintenance. But neither of them hold a candle to metric hex. It’s really hard to strip a hex bit until you’re being a total idiot.
I’ve done it. It was a grub screw - so the hex was entirely within the shaft - that was surrounded by loctite, and frankly I never had a chance to get it out. It went circular immediately, just with hand pressure. I ended up having to use a screw extractor.
I was told this was a common problem on ARRMA vehicles and that I should get a more precise type of hex driver. They were expensive but I haven’t had the problem since.
OK yeah that sucks. I’ve run into hex grubs screws before, but on brake levers which I’m pretty sure have to meet compliance stuff like ISO safety standards so the hardware was higher quality.
I know what you mean. I have a few older Hondas and there is jis everywhere. I’m talking jis on the dash, jis on the cluster, jis on the sunvisor, seat track, sunroof… Jis on the gotdamnt headliner. The things are practically covered in jis.
Visit the Vessel (Made in Japan) website. I know how you feel, I have a Nissan Leaf.
It took all the way till the last sentence before I got the joke.
I was hoping it would be dry laugh creeper.
Phillips is identified, in muricuh, by just the cross pattern hole.
JIS is a cross patterned hole, with a separate round indentation in one of the cross corners.
They are very close to each other, but not exact, and can round eachother out.
I have yet to strip any Phillips head screws with my Vessel bits.
“Failed to load media”
Bummer. Mobile using the Voyager app, if anyone else has the same issue.
Same, but mine loaded fine. Android.
I hate Phillips screws. For this very reason.
You just need the right size screwdriver
You’re right that phillips screws are prone to cam out if theres a size mismatch, but it doesn’t stop there. Apply too much torque or have a misshapen screw head or bit and you’re out of luck.
Get a JIS screwdriver. Life changing.
Looking at this makes me physically ill
worse when it happens to small screws in electronics. shit like this makes you want to just smash your laptop
FRAMEWORK. FRAMEWORK LAPTOPS. WHY MUST THEY MAKE THEM SO WEEEEEEAAAAAAKKKKK
Canadian look of superiority
You can still mangle a Robbie if you have the wrong size but you do have to work at it.
Also those combo Robertson/Slot screws made with Chineseium can round out pretty quick.
