The Medieval Housebook of Wolfegg Castle , the oldest known written reference to the tool, has a hazy publishing date somewhere between and Considering the invention likely predates the book by at least a few years, the mid to late 15th century is about as exact a birthday as it gets. For about years, the persistent presence of screws is the only solid evidence that screwdrivers even existed. Then, suddenly, documentation of screwdrivers exploded across Europe, particularly in France. Early screwdrivers had pear-shaped handles and were made for slotted screws.
Metal screws as we know them today have been in use since at least the 15 th century for cabinetry work and to secure plates on jousting armor. These early metal screws were prohibitively expensive. This increase in popularity, of course, led to the refinement and diversification of the screwdriver.
The tool took on many different shapes and sizes, though for a long time every version was still for flat slotted screws, which were the only type around. This changed in , when Canadian P. Furthermore, slotted screws are less prone to stripping than Phillips screws, resulting in long service life.
Flathead screws are also a great choice for applications that require the fastener to be seated flush with the material, most for decorative purposes. Slotted head screws boast a simple design, with just one slot going across the head. But the downside to the design is tightening slotted screws with an impact can be a bit of a challenge. Both the Phillips screw and Phillips screwdriver are named after Henry Frank Phillips , and were invented in the early 20 th century.
The head of a Phillips screw features pointed edges in the shape of a cross to accommodate neatly into the cross slots of a Phillips screwdriver. Compare to a slotted screw, Phillips screws offers provide a tighter fit, which is why they are one of the most common screw drives used today.
Phillips screwdrivers feature an angled tip, which makes it easy to fit into the deep Phillips drive head, which greatly reduces the risk of the blade sliding out sideways. One of the biggest reasons why Phillips drives are increasingly popular today is because they work really well with power drivers. Additionally, unlike flathead screws that can even be tightened with a coin, Phillips screws must be tightened with an impact driver with a Phillips bit or a Phillips screwdriver.
Even though Phillips drives will never replace flathead drives, they are used in almost every field ranging from furniture to appliances. Phillips drive sizes not to be confused with screw sizes are designated are designated , , 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, and are commonly marked with PH. Hex screw drives are tightened or loosened with a hex key, Allen wrench or Allen key. Torx should not be confused with tamperproof.
That's a whole other thing. I always wind up stripping Phillips head screws when I use my power drill. I believe most screws on quality guns are still flathead, or used to be forever, anyways.
Quality screwdrivers are critical to stuff like gunsmithing - a proper driver will let you twist the heads off screws wayyyy before it fails. I have wood chisels for that.
You've successfully justifed the flat head screwdriver. That wasn't the question. So say um But this month you don't. What to use that darn tool for? Ah so! I do have to agree that phillips screwdrivers don't draw blood like flat-heads I'm thinking regular use; not prison homicides.
Pro-zak, remember the crooked pointer finger. I fucked it up getting stabbed by a flat head screw driver. Regular screws are junk And I have stripped out so many torx screws it isn't even funny. The cheaper torx bits aren't made to spec because they commonly round out and the better Snap-on, Craftsman, Mac Torx bits shatter under a higher torque application.
Allen heads are also commonly stripped out during attempts to properly torque the fastener to spec. Robertson or Square bits are fine until the screw or fastener start to wear out then you end up with stripped out Robertson or Square Head bits or Fasteners especially when they are the countersunk variety which now have the head ground off and then you get to drill the remainder of the fastener out and re thread the whole to a different size So I propose one screw to rule them all!
I present, The computer screw! Actually Torw-Plus is the new thing and will replace torx over the next few years. Juxt in the last year I have begun to see the disapperance of Trox fastners and their replacments with Torx Plus. Also to facilitate replacment int eh market you can use existing Torx drivers on TP fastners you just don't get TP strength.
So expect this to replace Trox. FYI trivia the cruciform drive aka phillips was invented my Cadilac to facilite automated assembly and power drives on assembly lines. As many have mentioned it's hard to use a power driver with stright screws. Flat head screws are worthless. Contrary to JasonF's statement, they are horribly inferior for use in wood because they cannot be power- driven effectively and they offer no tracking support for the driver either hand or powered , thus you are much more likely to slip and damage either a finger or worse, the piece of furniture that you've been building for 4 weeks.
Tightened by hand you "feel" for proper set. Powered you use the friggin' clutch man! Flat heads further aggravate the process of setting by hand because you are focusing more stabilizing muscles to control the driver instead of tightening with finesse.
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