slotted, Phillips or square drive??

[Gary Keedwell]

It was my understanding that Phillip screw heads were designed to cam out during the manufacturing of airplanes, many years ago. The big & cumbersome drivers of the time had no clutches so the screws would cam-out to signify that you drove-home your screw.
That would explain alot....huh?

Gary K.

[David Rose]

To me, anything but slotted screws in furniture just doesn't look "right". It's funny, but the first "furniture" that I "built" was a junk entertainment center of particle board. It came with the appropriate confirmat screws with square drive heads. After driving hundreds of those things and stripping plenty (holes in wood, not heads) for various reasons, I came to think of particle board furniture, square drive screws and little paper stick-on screw head covers in the same light. Of course, I never stripped a screw head. It's funny how "notions" are formed.

After starting a deck of treated lumber, I soon came to believe that there *had* to be something better than phillips! I was reintroduced to square heads, and will be forever greatful. Then I discovered that the Borgs carried two brands of screws. With a good driver, you could install and remove the better one with square drive several times. The other brand in square drive was worse than the good one in phillips for stripping heads.

Though I like the square drive for utility, I still think the slots look nice when installed carefully. I (taper) drill, prethread with another screw or threading tool with a handle, and still lube the screw. Then I install with a properly fitted hollow ground bit by hand. And I still ruin plenty of screw heads. And yeah, when I am too tired the finish around it can suffer.

I suppose that 37 years of dealing with gun screws daily has "tainted" my mind. Only a few really cheap firearms have ever used anything but slotted. Well, I back up. There are *very* few exceptions to their use in quality guns, I should say. And they just look "right"... until the heads get messed up by the wrong guy or the wrong tool.

David