Best Phillips Screwdrivers?

I always liked my Antex irons and much preferred them to Wellers irons. I think I've had one element fail and that was easily replaced at a reasonable price and the iron is still going.

A company I worked for bought out a competitor and piled all the stuff they didn't want on the loading bay with a big sign; "help yourself" - I won a big box of Weller irons that someone had taken to bits.

That kept me going a couple of decades and I even had a few spare to sell.

I was cobbling together sometimes very old parts - that did nothing to prepare me for the non existent reliability of the iron produced since Weller became part of Cooper tools.

Mr.E wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Well, I now have a set of Vessel JIS screwdrivers. They appear to be just as pointy as the Phillips drivers I have. I did some digging, and ran across a drwaing that compares JIS to Phillips:

The JIS appears to be pointier. However, I also found a photograph that compares the two:

and that shows exactly the opposite.

I think my conclusion is that nobody makes screws or screwdrivers with tight enough tolerances to be certain of anything. The advice to try different drivers until you find one that doesn't wiggle before you apply any force seems as good as it's going to get. I may also grind the tips back a bit on some of my pointier drivers.

I still need to replace my Phillips #1's, and based on the various comments, I think I will try Wera or Wiha.

Thanks for all the input & discussion. I'd forgotten all about Reed Prince, although I'm not sure I've ever run across any.

Doug White

I would say they are mislabeled. The look correct if you reverse the labels.

Those look like I would expect...

I don't think it pays to be a tool elitist anymore. Name Brands are churning out crap too. One year they selling something good, next year it isn't but looks EXACTLY the same.

You should just stop into your preferred store, Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, Sears... and look over what they have. If you use it a short time and it seems to be okay go buy a spare :)

If you have a company account you order through though... that's a different can of worms...

Hmm, I use all Weller soldering irons. (Pace for desoldering.) I've been using the EC1302B iron for ages, works pretty well. I've moved up to the WSL station and WMP iron in the last couple years. Certainly heats up faster, not so sure the temperature control is as good, but it is good enough. One problem is if the plating breaks down on the EC1302B, the back of the tip can swell and jam it to either the temp sensor or heater, costing about $60 to repair the iron. The WMP seems to be immune from this.

The tips seem to last about a year for me, which is really quite good enough.

Jon

I have a number of Wiha drivers, and have been very happy with their fit and longevity. I don't use them for home construction projects, only for electronics, so they have seen a bit gentler service.

Jon

Simple economics - I could buy a whole Antex iron for less than the cost of a replacement Weller element that was wrecked by dodgy plating on the bit.

And the cost is a lot less frequent.

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Is the Posi slotted? or is it like a Phillips cross-shape or is it like an Allen square shape or a hex?

I was on a job site where woodscrews were being put in and taken out an awf ul lot. Screw guns with Phillips magnetic screw heads were being used, whic h would involve many more rotations than with a non-powered Phillips head ( which would take longer without the drills magnetic screw attachment). Othe rwise, the non-screw gun Phillips would look ten times more worthless havin g done even near as much as a Phillips magnetic attachment for a cordless d rill. '

I still have a couple SP23 irons, and several of the '60s version of the 8200 guns. I wore out the internal threads on one SP23, that I bought in 1970. Someone in the base's welding shop gave me some scrap welding rods, so I saw, filed and tapped the brass to make my own tips. They outlasted the plated copper tips.

I also have one of the SP series that's 175 watts.

I have some Xcelite tools from the '60s & 70s as well. I would have more, but someone broke into my service truck decades go and took most of my tools. I have one of the early 99SM kits, that was given to me by a friend while I was in the Army. He laughed and gave me the sealed package, then he said that he had watched me fix everything at the radio & TV station with almost no tools for a full year, so he wanted to make sure I had a nice set when I got home a week later. I've had it for 42+ years, and I wore out the two hand reamers. :)

Huh, well that explains it. I bought a new pair of diagonal cutters from xcelite and was unimpressed with the quality. (I nicked off the end cutting out some dip leads.)

George H.