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03-02-2020, 16:32
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#31
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: New England. USA.
Boat: McCurdy & Rhodes Custom 46
Posts: 1,485
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Cate
.......
And finally, I've often cursed the similarity between Phillips and Pozi-drive... I still can't tell them apart visually.
Jim
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Pozidriv have these little extra hash marks between the slots.
Look on your Lewmar winch tops if you have a certain vintage.
At least we are mostly free from the JIS standard screws found in small sizes in electronics.
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03-02-2020, 16:53
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#32
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2007
Location: On the hard due to wife's medical condition.
Boat: Sold, alas, because life happens.
Posts: 1,829
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Screw head types? Redefined: screw up my head types.
s/v Mariane was built in mainland China back in the late 80s. Everything below decks built by the mfr was Robertson. The motor/drive train had Imperial cross point screws or Imperial bolts. Above decks was all metric for installation, with the off-the-shelf items themselves being American with Phillips crews. Flexible tubing (black/grey water, bilge pumps) was metric; through hulls were US standard. Comms gear USA; WXR instruments British. And so forth.
So I was working on something one day and asked my wife to hand over a screwdrive. Told her what I needed and that it was RIGHT THERE in the green pouch. She dug for a bit, dumped the pouch out on the deck, rummaged around, and then soft-shoe-shuffled the mess to me and said "here you go".
We can agree on the speed of light; we can send people into Earth orbit; we can develop engineering plans to send people to Mars- but we can't agree on one type of screw head.
__________________
"Being offended is not the same thing as being right." Dave Barry.
Laughter is the salve that keeps reality from scaring.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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05-02-2020, 13:01
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#33
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Southern California
Boat: 1979 Union Polaris 36'
Posts: 360
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Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr B
I also prefer Allen key heads, Whether socket heads or counter sunk,
They dont fail in the slots like the Phillips heads do,
In Stainless or high tensile, They dont come loose either,
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+1 for the hex drive style.
They don’t use Phillips or slotted/flat head on bolts...
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05-02-2020, 13:13
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#34
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2008
Location: cruising SW Pacific
Boat: Jon Sayer 1-off 46 ft fract rig sloop strip plank in W Red Cedar
Posts: 21,561
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Another benefit of the Allen head: using a ball driver, one can operate them well off-axis, something none of the others can do (at least those with which I am familiar).
Jim
__________________
Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II, lying Port Cygnet Tasmania once again.
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05-02-2020, 14:57
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#35
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 21,514
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Cate
Another benefit of the Allen head: using a ball driver, one can operate them well off-axis, something none of the others can do (at least those with which I am familiar).
Jim
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There are "wobble" bits available in Phipps and Pozidrive variants that has roughly the same degree of "off-axiness" but then again the Allen head never really slips
__________________
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangereous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. T.E. Lawrence
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05-02-2020, 15:30
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#36
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Texas
Boat: Baba 35
Posts: 389
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by slug
Also application
Flat head screws. Are superior in application which paint over or fill in the screw head
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I wish you would have told that to the PO of my boat. I must have drilled out dozens of Philips head screws with crap caked in them.
In fact I somewhat suspect the monster put epoxy over every single Philips screw head he ever saw in his life.
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05-02-2020, 18:31
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#37
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,075
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake-Effect
Just about any decent drill has a clutch setting for limiting the torque. An experienced human wrist can also sense torque.
Any fastener design which relies on the threshold of damage to the screw-head or driver-bit to limit torque is arguably inferior. 
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Meh. The initial clutch setting is typically a guess, and I'm really good at that guess. Not so much for my helpers. They sometimes over-torque, especially when switching back and forth from drilling to screw diving. A Phillips head or bit is rarely damaged when serving as crude torque-limit with a cordless drill in my experience.
Now, hand-turning, sure- I'll take Robertson please.
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05-02-2020, 18:52
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#38
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2018
Boat: Allied Princess 36 MKII
Posts: 490
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
I prefer torx wherever I can use them. Anyone in the U.S. who has had a camper, rv, mobile/manufactured home from 1960's onward should be intimately familiar with Robertson head screws, especially in prefabricated cabinets. I have turned 5in rob screws out of some of the prefab units.
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05-02-2020, 23:22
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#39
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Boat: Beneteau Idylle 1150
Posts: 694
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike OReilly
I prefer Robertson, although Phillips is usually fine most of the time. But there is a special place in Hell reserved for the creator of the slotted head, and to any manufacturer who uses these damnable things   .
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When we had the standing rigging on our boat replaced the first time about 12 years ago, the riggers used slotted screws for some of the fittings that we added. I questioned their use because I hate them and was told that in their view, they are easier to repair when damaged. I believed them at the time but now believe that pretty much any screw head can be turned into a slotted version if damaged. And until a Robertson or Phillips screw is damaged and needs to be rebuilt, it is much easier and more dependable to use than a slotted head.
So I agree.
__________________
Desolation Island is situated in a third region, somewhere between elsewhere and everywhere.
Jean-Paul Kauffmann
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06-02-2020, 06:52
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#40
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southern Maine
Boat: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Posts: 3,374
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
This debate could get more interesting than anchor types!
I saw that video earlier, and it was fascinating. It does help to make sense of the current mess of options.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike OReilly
I prefer Robertson, although Phillips is usually fine most of the time. But there is a special place in Hell reserved for the creator of the slotted head, and to any manufacturer who uses these damnable things   .
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My PO is destined for that special place you mentioned. Old slot-head (as I affectionately call him) has caused me to utter many bad words, trying to remove all the slotted screws he used. They are all immediately consigned to the deep.
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06-02-2020, 09:17
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#41
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Lake Ont
Posts: 8,582
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyan
A Phillips head or bit is rarely damaged when serving as crude torque-limit with a cordless drill in my experience.
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I find that my Phillips bits wear out the fastest, so that spinning out has consequences, even in (semi-)skilled hands. But yeah, if a screw isn't going to be worked regularly, one or two spinouts won't destroy it. Now, THREE spinouts...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marathon1150
When we had the standing rigging on our boat replaced the first time about 12 years ago, the riggers used slotted screws for some of the fittings that we added. I questioned their use because I hate them and was told that in their view, they are easier to repair when damaged. I believed them at the time but now believe that pretty much any screw head can be turned into a slotted version if damaged.
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Yes, as a last resort one can use a Dremel tool with a small wheel to cut a slot into almost any screw/bolt head.
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08-02-2020, 01:30
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#42
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 48
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
I think in the grand scheme of things, I’ve had far more trouble with poor/cheap screw material than with the design of the driver head itself.
Screws made out of Swiss cheese turn into a swarf filled mess regardless the design. That’s probably why many here prefer newer proprietary designs.. they are probably made in fewer factories with stricter quality controls compared to their generic brothers and sisters of questionable lineage.
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08-02-2020, 03:31
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#43
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Ocala FL
Boat: 1979 Bristol 35.5 CB
Posts: 1,984
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Only one mention of the nightmare of Whitworth.
I have heard that many of our "Phillips" have actually been replaced by JIS, a slight refinement..
__________________
John Churchill Ocala, FL
NURDLE, 1979 Bristol 35.5 CB
Currently hauled out ashore Summerfield FL for refit
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10-02-2020, 08:37
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#44
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Pacific NW.
Boat: KP 46
Posts: 792
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
I have started using these.. "Dual-Torq Drive" they take either Phillips or Robertson drive.
pretty handy!
M
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10-02-2020, 09:50
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#45
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Virginia
Posts: 109
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by slug
And many of those fasteners that look like philips and not
They are pozidriv
Be alert
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Agreed, my British car uses PoziDrive, you can tell them apart because the PD has a small X transposed across the drive X.
__________________
Steve D'Antonio
Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc.
ABYC Certified Master Technician
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