Who the hell invented ?

**Jay Smith** · 01-26-2019, 03:37 PM

What idiot invented the Phillips headed screw ???

My wife gripped me out because the amount of hunting boots accumulated around the back door . She had a grand idea of building a rack to place the boots on , well we live in a log cabin and have scraps of treated logs here and there , I built one to her specs that I admit was a cool idea but my purpose of the rant and rave is the only screws that I had was 4” Phillips heads . Now this is thick at the apex treated pine I started with new bit and had hell getting one to make it the distance without stripping and sounding like a machine gun , Believe e me I normally use the star bitted screws with GREAT success, these were bought buy mistake , these were deck screws but I love to see someone put in a box full of 4” ers without stripping half of them ...

Mr. Phillips your screw head sux !!!

Jay

**Dave S** · 01-26-2019, 03:51 PM

Just one fella i hell......and a hex of a fella.

**CDave** · 01-26-2019, 05:35 PM

Oddly enough it was John P. Thompson.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_F._Phillips

**XstreamVking** · 01-26-2019, 05:44 PM

My fav was the old robertson head screws. They would break a bit before stripping....

**idvette** · 01-26-2019, 06:28 PM

Pretty much all screws are Robertson here, besides drywall screws and some specialty brass or stainless. Certainly a better design. I worked at a furniture factory where we got all our hardware from Europe and the phillips hardware would strip if you used a North American screwdriver, so we ordered a handful of screwdrivers with every hardware shipment.

**RiverRat71** · 01-26-2019, 07:19 PM

I am with you on the Phillips. Personally, I like the square drives. Metal, wood or whatever they seem to hold up well. RR

**powerabout** · 01-26-2019, 07:49 PM

posi are phillips designed right, lots of posi on Merc and OMC engines

**idvette** · 01-26-2019, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by powerabout

posi are phillips designed right, lots of posi on Merc and OMC engines

That was the name, I had forgotten, been about 15 years..

**rock** · 01-27-2019, 08:45 AM

While Phillips is not perfect it was one hell of an improvement over straight slots.

Rock

**Markus** · 01-27-2019, 09:12 AM

The Phillips head was designed back when automatic tools for screwing in screws were rather inexact. Therefore, the head is designed so that the tool will slip out before it has damaged the threads.

Modern assembly tools are much more precise, and the problem of overtorquing often does not exist. Therefore, the Torx head, from which is nearly impossible to slip out, was designed.

They each have their applications...

**Ted Stryker** · 01-27-2019, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by rock

While Phillips is not perfect it was one hell of an improvement over straight slots.

Rock

Yeah, being in the electrical trade I’ve had to hand crank about 14 bazillion of the old flathead screws from the 1940-50’s while removing old devices. A lot of the slots were no more than maybe .020-.030” deep, usually having to finish them off with the snout of lineman pliers. I’ve cussed the makers to no end.

As for driving standard Phillips-heads to be effectively sunk in deep board, the best remedy for sure is an impact-driver drill, it maintains bit bite far better than a standard drill motor. Still falls way short of a star-head deck screw though.

**Jay Smith** · 01-27-2019, 01:18 PM

I vote for the star headed screws myself ! Many Many moons ago I owned a screw driver that OMC made for removing reed attachment screws it was a mix of star and flat head that mated to both the slot and star at the same time giving you a bunch more removing power without any stripping issues that thing got away from me and I called every friend in knew that was OMC dealer and no body knew what I was talking about the one I had was the only one I have ever seen , I now use nut driver impact for removal with no issues and try to educate the masses NOT to use Red on those threads !!! Morning

Jay

**Dave Strong** · 01-27-2019, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by powerabout

posi are phillips designed right, lots of posi on Merc and OMC engines

Posi drive are also used in many auto and other carbs, the tip is flat vs pointed on the Phillips. Snap On made bits that had serrated lines on area that contacted the screw slots, helped to keep tip from backing out of the screw.

Dave

**Dave Strong** · 01-27-2019, 01:59 PM

Jay although more time consuming than a impact driver you can heat the screw head with a good soldering gun, I have a Snap On one that has 3 different tips. This will heat the Loctite enough to let you remove the screws, depending on how much is on the threads you will sometimes se a tiny puff of smoke when hot enough.

Dave

**W2F a V-King** · 01-27-2019, 02:27 PM

I like the inverted torque fasteners, not really a screw per say and you need yet another set of sockets. But they grab and hold without slipping really well.