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I've always wondered if there is a way to gauge overall quality of screws? I tend to do electronics refurbishment and restoration as a hobby and I have no way o

I've always wondered if there is a way to gauge overall quality of screws? I tend to do electronics refurbishment and restoration as a hobby and I have no way of gauging the overall quality of screws and any scraps of info seem to be buried across various forums. Also a dumb question, is there a way to identify the exact size of a driver that was meant to turn a particular screw? For example, you can use various sizes of Philips to turn a philips screw. Some might be slightly too small and others might be slightly too big and while the screw turns it may be damaging the screw even though it is not apparently visible at the moment. This also goes back to my original question about quality. I find a lot of screws seem to be really soft metal. Is this a quality issue or is that by design? Wish there was some central resource I could learn all about screws from instead of having to scrounge random forums.

convolvatron 4y ago
its a quality issue. machinery's handbook covers basic thread geometry, but it depends what you want to do
jacquesm 4y ago
Fastener quality can be all over the place. To the point that if you buy a batch at the local building store that you can get excellent quality or stuff that isn't usable at all. It can be pretty tricky to determine what you've got without opening the box, but looking carefully at the finish of the threads on bolts and screws will tell you about the quality. As will length variation, the presence of blinds (screws that have no thread), heads that look sloppy or that have varying distance to the start of the thread and so on. A typical screw or bolt needs three to five threads to reach maximum strength, if you just screw a screw into a plate or sheet of wood for three to five threads you should be able to torque it down to under it's sheer strength (which for almost all fastener dimensions and materials is specified). If it breaks then you can consider the whole batch faulty. The easiest way to ensure that you get good quality is to go for the premium brands of fasteners, it won't be cheap but at least your stuff won't fall apart when you need it most. Avoid retail outlets, buy where the professionals buy.
zrobotics 4y ago
For electronics, a ton of screws are of the poorest quality since they are only intended to be used once for assembly. For your question about screwdriver fit, unfortunately that ends up being a judgement call. Be forewarned that for 'phillips' there are identical looking JIS screws [0], it takes a bit of experience to identify what driver to use. Some basic guidelines are, to use the biggest driver that will still bottom out at the tip in the screw, and if the product is of Japanese origin to use JIS drivers. It's very hard to measure, but with experience it isn't hard to tell what but a screw uses. Fit a good quality driver into the screw, and visually check if the flutes of the driver engage all the way to the end of the screen's flutes. Note that you need to use a good screwdriver here, I've seen the cheap screwdrivers ground at 15 degrees off of the correct angle. And if you want all the specs on a particular screw, picking up an older copy of Machinery's Handbook will give you more detail than you were aware existed. Although from your question, it seems like you are working with poor quality screwdrivers. Cheap screwdrivers make any screw feel like garbage and strip out stuff, it's worth it to invest in good ones. Surprisingly, harbor freight [1] has a set that I own and I would recommend over my Wera drivers, they are not bad at all. If you want to buy once and be done, Snap-On makes by far the best set [2],although keep on mind that $200 price tag will also need to be supplemented with another $50 Phillips #3 driver. Or, if you don't need to access screws down deep wells of plastic and can use them, the Bosch replacement bits for impact drivers commonly available at hardware stores are fairly decent, although they aren't as good as the Harbor Freight Icon set linked as the cheaper option. This is one thing where quality costs, and you need to determine if you want/need that quality. But if every screw is feeling soft and stripping, it is almost certainly your drivers. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Hozan-JIS-4-JIS-Screwdriver-3rd/dp/B00A7WAHTU/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=jis+screwdriver+set&qid=1676782568&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Hozan-JIS-4-JIS-Screwdriver-3rd/dp/B0... (I don't have experience with this particular set, I have a Vessel set that is OK but not good} [1] https://www.harborfreight.com/professional-mechanics-screwdriver-set-8-piece-56508.html https://www.harborfreight.com/professional-mechanics-screwdr... [2] https://shop.snapon.com/product/Instinct-Soft-Handle/8-pc-Instinct-Soft-Grip-Combination-Screwdriver-Set-(Red)/SGDX80BR https://shop.snapon.com/product/Instinct-Soft-Handle/8-pc-In...
walterbell 4y ago
> I have no way of gauging the overall quality of screws For woodworking, GRK and SPAX screws are high quality, made in Taiwan and ship with a matching driver bit. For machine screws/bolts, grade should be stamped on the bolt, https://www.aftfasteners.com/grades-of-bolts-bolt-grade-markings-bolt-strength-chart/ https://www.aftfasteners.com/grades-of-bolts-bolt-grade-mark... Monster Bolts in Florida sells small quantities of quality screws/bolts, with accurate metal-grade metadata and fair prices, https://monsterbolts.com https://monsterbolts.com > Is there a way to identify the exact size of a driver that was meant to turn a particular screw? Mini Thread Detective gauge can identify small electronics screws, https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Detective-Identifier-Mini-Metric/dp/B01N3U8AAP/ https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Detective-Identifier-Mini-Metr... PicQuic in Canada sells handles with an extensive range of 1/4" driver bits that also work in power tools, see eBay and http://picquic.ca/bits-and-accessories/ http://picquic.ca/bits-and-accessories/ > Wish there was some central resource I could learn all about screws from instead of having to scrounge random forums Good intro video on fasteners, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7qkHxG1v1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7qkHxG1v1E

convolvatron 4y ago

its a quality issue. machinery's handbook covers basic thread geometry, but it depends what you want to do

jacquesm 4y ago

Fastener quality can be all over the place. To the point that if you buy a batch at the local building store that you can get excellent quality or stuff that isn't usable at all. It can be pretty tricky to determine what you've got without opening the box, but looking carefully at the finish of the threads on bolts and screws will tell you about the quality. As will length variation, the presence of blinds (screws that have no thread), heads that look sloppy or that have varying distance to the start of the thread and so on. A typical screw or bolt needs three to five threads to reach maximum strength, if you just screw a screw into a plate or sheet of wood for three to five threads you should be able to torque it down to under it's sheer strength (which for almost all fastener dimensions and materials is specified). If it breaks then you can consider the whole batch faulty. The easiest way to ensure that you get good quality is to go for the premium brands of fasteners, it won't be cheap but at least your stuff won't fall apart when you need it most. Avoid retail outlets, buy where the professionals buy.

zrobotics 4y ago

For electronics, a ton of screws are of the poorest quality since they are only intended to be used once for assembly. For your question about screwdriver fit, unfortunately that ends up being a judgement call. Be forewarned that for 'phillips' there are identical looking JIS screws [0], it takes a bit of experience to identify what driver to use. Some basic guidelines are, to use the biggest driver that will still bottom out at the tip in the screw, and if the product is of Japanese origin to use JIS drivers. It's very hard to measure, but with experience it isn't hard to tell what but a screw uses. Fit a good quality driver into the screw, and visually check if the flutes of the driver engage all the way to the end of the screen's flutes. Note that you need to use a good screwdriver here, I've seen the cheap screwdrivers ground at 15 degrees off of the correct angle. And if you want all the specs on a particular screw, picking up an older copy of Machinery's Handbook will give you more detail than you were aware existed. Although from your question, it seems like you are working with poor quality screwdrivers. Cheap screwdrivers make any screw feel like garbage and strip out stuff, it's worth it to invest in good ones. Surprisingly, harbor freight [1] has a set that I own and I would recommend over my Wera drivers, they are not bad at all. If you want to buy once and be done, Snap-On makes by far the best set [2],although keep on mind that $200 price tag will also need to be supplemented with another $50 Phillips #3 driver. Or, if you don't need to access screws down deep wells of plastic and can use them, the Bosch replacement bits for impact drivers commonly available at hardware stores are fairly decent, although they aren't as good as the Harbor Freight Icon set linked as the cheaper option. This is one thing where quality costs, and you need to determine if you want/need that quality. But if every screw is feeling soft and stripping, it is almost certainly your drivers. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Hozan-JIS-4-JIS-Screwdriver-3rd/dp/B00A7WAHTU/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=jis+screwdriver+set&qid=1676782568&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Hozan-JIS-4-JIS-Screwdriver-3rd/dp/B0... (I don't have experience with this particular set, I have a Vessel set that is OK but not good} [1] https://www.harborfreight.com/professional-mechanics-screwdriver-set-8-piece-56508.html https://www.harborfreight.com/professional-mechanics-screwdr... [2] https://shop.snapon.com/product/Instinct-Soft-Handle/8-pc-Instinct-Soft-Grip-Combination-Screwdriver-Set-(Red)/SGDX80BR https://shop.snapon.com/product/Instinct-Soft-Handle/8-pc-In...

walterbell 4y ago

> I have no way of gauging the overall quality of screws For woodworking, GRK and SPAX screws are high quality, made in Taiwan and ship with a matching driver bit. For machine screws/bolts, grade should be stamped on the bolt, https://www.aftfasteners.com/grades-of-bolts-bolt-grade-markings-bolt-strength-chart/ https://www.aftfasteners.com/grades-of-bolts-bolt-grade-mark... Monster Bolts in Florida sells small quantities of quality screws/bolts, with accurate metal-grade metadata and fair prices, https://monsterbolts.com https://monsterbolts.com > Is there a way to identify the exact size of a driver that was meant to turn a particular screw? Mini Thread Detective gauge can identify small electronics screws, https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Detective-Identifier-Mini-Metric/dp/B01N3U8AAP/ https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Detective-Identifier-Mini-Metr... PicQuic in Canada sells handles with an extensive range of 1/4" driver bits that also work in power tools, see eBay and http://picquic.ca/bits-and-accessories/ http://picquic.ca/bits-and-accessories/ > Wish there was some central resource I could learn all about screws from instead of having to scrounge random forums Good intro video on fasteners, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7qkHxG1v1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7qkHxG1v1E