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10-02-2020, 09:51
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#46
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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
PS
And I have a set of Pozidrive screw drivers...
__________________
Steve D'Antonio
Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc.
ABYC Certified Master Technician
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10-02-2020, 09:59
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#47
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Upstate, SC USA
Boat: Looking
Posts: 389
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Remember, if it comes from Japan the screws are not Philips, they are JIS and very different.
__________________
Go with Flo. She's Progressive.
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10-02-2020, 10:29
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#48
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Anacortes
Boat: previous - Whitby 42 new - Goldenwave 44
Posts: 1,835
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
As a tech, I loved the Robertson head screws. I was always trying to put a screw in with only access for one hand. You cannot keep a Phillips (or a slotted) screw on the end of your screwdriver unless in an upright position or with tape or something. You could jam a square head screw on to the tip of your driver and it would (usually) stay on until you got it started. Anyone who has worked on boats much as lost a lot of screws in to the bilge or behind bulkheads or cabinets. I found square heads to be much less likely to strip too. The first time I saw them and started using them I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. The two local hardware stores in our heavy marina town have huge selections of the square heads in stainless. I kept a selection of Philips to match screws in an assembly at times. In a luggage case of 40 compartments, two were for Phillips. I have backups to backups of driver heads from 00 to 3 square/Robertson.
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10-02-2020, 10:32
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#49
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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 svmariane
Why are sailboats and furniture constructed with Robertson screws while automobiles and airplanes use Phillips screws?
Why are Canadiens (mostly) addicted to the Robertson when so much of the rest of the world (mostly) is obsessed with Phillips or the flat-head?
If you're guessing that it has nothing to do with Henry Ford, Peter Robertson, the Russian Revolution, and two World Wars then you'd be wrong.
Watch, learn, and sleep well tonight. 
Presenting:
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Love this story, and agree the Robertson has definite advantages over Phillips. There's a great book about the history of the threaded fastener called, "One Good Turn", a short good read if you like this stuff as I do, I'm a bit of a fastener geek, see https://stevedmarineconsulting.com/w...ners117_04.pdf This article just scratches the surface about what could be written on this subject. A few months ago I had the good luck to visit a factory where nut, bolts and screws, as well as the machines that make them, are manufactured in Taiwan. I was like the kid in a proverbial candy store.
__________________
Steve D'Antonio
Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc.
ABYC Certified Master Technician
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10-02-2020, 10:45
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#50
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Marine Service Provider

Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, BC Canada
Boat: Uniflite 31, 1973
Posts: 257
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
I've come to prefer Robertson over all others. Back in the day when I first saw them (in the US) they were used all over Hatteras boats, and we called them 'Hatteras screws' (also 'silly square-head screws'). Had to search far and wide to find bits, couldn't get a screwdriver at all. Now everybody's got them (drivers and bits). A new Rob screw will stay on the tip of a good bit or driver in a horizontal position while you put it in place.
In my kingdom I would ban slotted heads on all but wood screws. Old time shipwrights prefer these because finishes can easily be pushed out of the slot for removal. I would also make proper size pilot and clearance holes mandatory.
__________________
Experience develops good judgment; bad judgement develops experience.
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10-02-2020, 10:50
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#51
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 31
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Robertson fasteners (and Torx and Allen heads and 12 point heads) all are used because they exhibit a reduced tendency to cam out (the tool stays put while you are driving the fastener home). This generally fits into the class of things called "good ideas."
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10-02-2020, 11:37
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#52
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Gibraltar
Boat: Jeanneau 49DS
Posts: 334
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
What about Posidrive screws?
They seem to be a development of Phillips but, unless you look very carefully, can be easily confused with them.
Advantages?
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10-02-2020, 13:11
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#53
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West Sussex, United Kingdom
Boat: Tradewind 33, 33 foot, Parker 27 , 26 foot
Posts: 496
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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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I'm with you on that Mike. Here in UK (and the rest of Europe,) Phillips are mostly a thing of the past unless an item comes from the US. Pozidrive has superseded Phillips and are generally better (larger squarer driving faces) They are distinguishable from Phillips by having an extra small cross at 45º to the main cross and the drivers have an extra bit between the driving faces. Doesn't do anything except distinguish between Pozidrive and Phillips. DO NOT TRY to use either a Phillips to Drive a Pozidrive or vice versa, will strip the screw head and cause much angst! (don't ask me how I know)
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10-02-2020, 13:50
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#54
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: New Zealand
Boat: Custom sailing catamaran
Posts: 188
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Robertson or the similar square drive do not torque out easily and make screws easy to drive and undo often, either by hand or electric/air screwdriver, as us boaties do.
Torx, Phillips and pozi were all designed for assembly lines with a machine. Easy repair was not part of the consideration. Torx, in particular was meant to discourage your own repairs. Manufacturers are, of course not concerned with ease of repair. The really stupid ones are the electronics screws, which are designed to screw in only.
Why the aircraft industry persists with Phillips, given the frequency they have to take things apart, I don't know.
Certainly on a ship the we are always using easy outs for the above named annoying screw heads. Wish they were all a square drive.
Does anyone still use slotted screws?
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10-02-2020, 14:10
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#55
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 21,521
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
There are of course many other options to choose from. Try some of these Phillips, Slotted, Torx, Torx Plus, Torx Tamper Resistant, Torx Plus Tamper Resistant, Pozidriv, Sel-o-fit, Quadrex, Frearson, B.N.A.E., Socket Head, Square Recess, Torq-Set, MorTorq, Tri-Wing, Hi-Torque and Triple Square.
If that is not enough, remember the socket head are available in SAE and metric sizes.
See here for some pictures of the different types https://www.apexfasteners.com/fasten...ner-tools/bits
__________________
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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10-02-2020, 14:15
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#56
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 21,521
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by KJThomas
.............
Does anyone still use slotted screws?
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Yes, on exposed grain woodwork when using an exposed head fastener - no other type can be nicely aligned with the grain; otherwise, not so much  .
They also make live easier for those who have to remove the fastener when it is used under a wooden plug.
__________________
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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10-02-2020, 15:51
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#57
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Melbourne Australia
Boat: Paper Tiger 14 foot, Gemini 105MC 34 foot Catamaran Hull no 825
Posts: 2,912
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wotname
There are of course many other options to choose from. Try some of these Phillips, Slotted, Torx, Torx Plus, Torx Tamper Resistant, Torx Plus Tamper Resistant, Pozidriv, Sel-o-fit, Quadrex, Frearson, B.N.A.E., Socket Head, Square Recess, Torq-Set, MorTorq, Tri-Wing, Hi-Torque and Triple Square.
If that is not enough, remember the socket head are available in SAE and metric sizes.
See here for some pictures of the different types https://www.apexfasteners.com/fasten...ner-tools/bits
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Now your really confusing the issue, Hahahahaha
I use screwdrivers with magnetic heads, The screws stay on the end of the driver,
It also makes it easier to get lost screws out of difficult places, as they stick to the head of the screwdriver, At any angle,
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10-02-2020, 18:02
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#58
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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: 21,571
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr B
Now your really confusing the issue, Hahahahaha
I use screwdrivers with magnetic heads, The screws stay on the end of the driver,
It also makes it easier to get lost screws out of difficult places, as they stick to the head of the screwdriver, At any angle,
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Err, Brian, some of us use stainless and bronze fasteners...
Jim
__________________
Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II, lying Port Cygnet Tasmania once again.
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10-02-2020, 18:07
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#59
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 21,521
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Cate
Err, Brian, some of us use stainless and bronze fasteners...
Jim
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Err, Jim, some of younger fellas us use a bronze magnet when using bronze fasteners.
Yeah I know they are expensive buggas but I have a couple of old ones that I no longer use and I can let you have them at mate's rates. Pretty sure they still work... The SS ones weren't much chop.
__________________
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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10-02-2020, 18:52
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#60
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: New Jersey
Boat: Pacific Seacraft Crealock 37
Posts: 28
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Re: Robertson vs Phillips headed screws
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptTom
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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The slots on my boat are not merely "consigned to the deep"; they are HURLED vertically downward to get the bottom muck as soon as possible. The reason for this is to minimize the chance that a passing fish will notice the slot and think it a clever idea; then after it evolved into a new human a billions years later, the notion would be transferred to a new civilization.
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