Torx ftw
Just yesterday I stripped a T25 because I only had a T20 bit on me and underestimated how tightly it was screwed in. Even though it was completely stripped with the T20, the design is so good that using my drill and pressing down with the proper T25 got it out. No screw extractor required!
It’s kinda funny that a screwhead intended to solve one problem went on to create an arguably worse problem for many applications.
Shoulda just payed Robertson.
Torx needs to become the standard for screws. They are just better in every way.
In wood yes. But please keep them off my bike. You suddenly really start to enjoy the ball end of your Allen keys when working in tight spots and torx has none of that (and some brand are starting to use more and more torx on their models)
The Nordics are far ahead in this. Torx everywhere.
Ironic, IKEA is married to PZ2. Which to be fair is a fine standard (aside from the fact that unaware people tend to confuse it with PH2 then wonder why their screws are stripped), it’s just annoying that I have to switch my drill from T20 to PZ2 to build IKEA furniture.
Torx is better but it can still get stripped. Having a set of extraction bits prepared can’t be a bad thing.
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.
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.
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
If people don’t know the trick above then they definitely don’t know what easy out is lol. It does work and is under rated.
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.
There is a third: manual impact driver
Arrooooo
I hate Phillips screws. For this very reason.
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.
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.
The only thing worse than more is less, and even that is situational. Sounds cool.
Phillips? JIS? Only way to find out is to ruin that screw!
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.
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.
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
The main problem wthe the X shaped model is that there are so many different versions with different angles and points oe lack thereof that it can be hard to tell which is which at a glance, increasing the chance of stripping if you don’t check for proper fit.
Not to mention you might be working on something where the prior person mixed and matched different screws head types on the same project!
It’s not an X, it’s a +. I will die on this hill.
You are technically correct, whoch is the best kind of correct!
I just hadn’t woken up to remember keyboards had a plus sign.
There’s half-dozens of us!
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
Use JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screwdriver and bits. If you own a Japanese automobile, motorcycle, etc., you better use them.
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.
It took all the way till the last sentence before I got the joke.
I was hoping it would be dry laugh creeper.
Lol mission accomplished
Visit the Vessel (Made in Japan) website. I know how you feel, I have a Nissan Leaf.
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.
Congratulations.
Your ribbon is in the mail.
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.
Also though these are RC size, 5mm screws, so much easier to kill. Apparently the issue is most hex drivers are slightly undersized, and ARRMA like to loctite their axle grub screws to hell.
This literally happened to a screw I have in my literal body
Jfc that is not something you want to hear. When your doctor has to call for handyman Hal there is a problem
