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As someone who has just remodelled an old house with loads of flatheads: you've got to be kidding me. I hate those things with a passion. Flathead screws only
by micheljansen 8y ago
As someone who has just remodelled an old house with loads of flatheads: you've got to be kidding me. I hate those things with a passion.
Flathead screws only restrict the movement of the screwdriver in one dimension and allow it to move in the other one. This leads to the screwdriver to keep sliding out when you put force on under even the slightest angle.
Phillips screws improve on this design by restricting movement in two dimensions and force the screwdriver to always be in the center, but they slip easily and wear quickly.
Torx are superior because they fit much more "snugly", though at the (minor) cost of being less forgiving of using the wrong size of screwdriver.
- blhack 8y agoYeah that's fair. I guess I was thinking of flatheads as small machine screws and things like that, where only a few rotations are actually necessary.
- kbrosnan 8y agoAn advantage of flathead is that it is easy to unfoul the screw head. A minute with a utility knife or a flathead screwdriver will clear the channel of dirt or paint. I would not want to deal with a torx that has several layers of paint dried into it.
- micheljansen 8y agoI have fortunately not had to experience that. I guess a special screw extractor tool might be the only option then.
- dalore 8y agoBreak out the drill and drill a tiny hole down the centre to crack the screw. Now pull it out and can put in a new clean one.
- atom058 8y agoUsing a reverse drill (if you have one) might also be helpful The drill will bite into the screw and start unscrewing it
- magduf 8y agoI think a better solution to this problem is a different tool: a bulldozer.
- heavenlyblue 8y agoUse a needle or a knife.
- stinos 8y agoAs someone who has just remodelled an old house with loads of flatheads: you've got to be kidding me. I hate those things with a passion. Came here to say the exact same thing. Rusty flatheads, ah, such joy. Literally lost hours because of it.
- lostlogin 8y agoI’m sure you have worked this out but my technique is to scrape all the paint off very carefully, then crack the lock by turning the screw in the wrong direction. Sometimes I hit the screw driver with a hammer too. After the lock is broken, turn the screw the right way. This way, stripping the head isn’t such a problem as it’s burring off the head in the wrong directions, saving the important edge for actually getting it out.
- micheljansen 8y agoYes, I also quickly developed some skill with a utility knife, getting the paint out and creating space for the screwdriver head, but I never found a good way to prevent the screwdriver from sliding sideways. Especially with large screws that require a lot of force to remove.
- lostlogin 8y agoHeat and then a crack with a hammer have been my method. Always using the absolute tightest getting screw driver. I still snap the screw maybe 1 time in 5 due to the torque I can get on it. I’m repairing rusted out 1940s window hinges, and it’s truest awful. Have got about 100-150 to go, but I’ve done maybe 300.
- olivermarks 8y agoI use a cheap chisel the same width as flathead screw, thoroughly clean out the slot with it and use as a screwdriver with very heavy pressure as I turn. This was for very old (circa 1900) screws in old growth wood.
- 24gttghh 8y agoIf I was in charge of these things, I would enact a 'Fahrenheit 451'-style policy, except for Flathead screws instead of books. Any of the other myriad style of screws is preferable to those ancient fasteners.
- Karunamon 8y agoAgreed. There are two things that I feel should be destroyed and replaced on sight for the betterment of humanity: flat head screws/drivers, and network hubs. It would probably even cause a measurable increase in lifespan due to removal of a significant stress source. But I can dream...
- alex_duf 8y agoI see your point, but if the remaining problem to solve in our civilisation is what type of screw heads then we're doing pretty good :)
- tlb 8y agoDo you mean in the strict usage of a Ethernet repeater hub, as opposed to a switch? Where do you still encounter those dinosaurs?
- Karunamon 8y agoEverywhere in large/old enterprises. I swear they multiply when nobody's looking, and they tend to cause massive headaches when they're plugged in by the unaware. Hence: Kill on sight.
- bluGill 8y agoYou probably have a cheap flathead screwdriver which has tapered edges. They are significantly more expensive, but a good flathead with edges that are square to the screw slot works much better. (I'm not sure if I described that well) To make them work even better you can burnish a slight edge one the blade which will dig in and stop slippage.
- zrobotics 8y agoThey don't even need to be expensive. I have no clue why these aren't more common, but keep a cheap set of gunsmithing screwdriver bits around. Never seen them in a hardware store, but they are far superior to regular flathead bits with a chisel shape. Or just regrind all your screwdrivers when you buy them, which also makes it really easy to identify which flathead screwdrivers are reserved for hammering/prybar duty.
- skykooler 8y agoAnother issue with torx is that the driver has to go in mostly square. Flathead or phillips screws can be turned if there's an obstacle directly behind the screw and you need to put the screwdriver in at a slight angle.