The Perfect Gift: A Tool Box

=========================== Talking tools , I consider different dental 'poking'utensils and twizzers essential for dealing with circuit boards ,especially in the homebrewing arena. I use these frequently.

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

...and on medical instruments: a pair or two (or three) of locking medical forceps are indispensable...rubber gloves are handy...syringes are good for dispensing various compounds, especially glue.

You can buy an Exacto knife a lot easier, and there are a lot of different blades available.

In that vein, Canadians would have Robertson screwdrivers in their basic toolbox for home use. Described, with history, at

Tom

I despise Robertson screws, along with the "Clutch head" screws. Every time I run into either of them, someone has put them in with a worn bit that strips the head and makes them almost impossible to remove. I've used surface grinders, drills, and a cutting torch to remove them to make repairs. I generally replace them with hex head screws and make sure that I always inspect the bit before I start a job.

I've never seen anything with a posidrive screw in it.. They aren't used very much in the USA or at least in Florida... I have yet to need a posidrive screwdriver and I've taken all kinds of things apart in my life.. I consider a good set of torx and allen wrenches a necessity along with a set of sockets and wrenches and of course a small set of jewlers screwdrivers and mini torx bits, hammers, saws, etc...

The funny thing is I never knew what that weird looking phillips bit I had was called until today.

- Mike

I hate those stupid robitson bits too... Like you said they always seem to be stripped off...

Yes, sometimes, or even a fine toothed blade in a hacksaw, but not when you are standing on top of a ladder and struggling to reach the crappy hardware. The moron who built my four car garage used 4" or longer Robertson screws everywhere, and most of the heads were puled below the surface before the #2 bit slipped and chewed up the head. I broke two crowbars removing a dangerous hanging rack he's built to hold plywood above one of the bays. Both were flimsy, and they hung low enough that you could bump your head on exposed screw points sticking an inch though the bottom 2*4 beams. I had to remove and replace a lot of lumber that split because of the way he screwed things up.

Microdyne and Lockheed-Martin both use it, although Microdyne has moved out of the area.

Misdirected feelings - should be towards worn bits of all types that can mess up all types of screws. Don't blame the screw for the fault of the bit and the recklessness of the user. Among the three common wood screws here (slot, Phillips and Robertson), I'll take the Robbie anyday. The ability of the bit to retain the screw is a big advantage.

Tom

You can have all of them. I'll keep using hex and torx head screws, thank you! ;-)

The Robertson drive screws are ubiquitous in Canada where they were first made (in 1908) and patented. They are less so in the U.S. due to the fact that, after one business fiasco with licensing the right to manufacture to a third party in England, Robertson refused to license it to any one else, including Ford in the U.S. Ford would not adopt any screw for its production lines for which it could not guarantee unbroken availability, despite the fact that the screw proved to save considerable time in the production of cars. So, they never really caught on there like they did in Canada.

They're catching on. I recently had my deck surface replaced, and nearly all the screws are square drive. (The remainder are Torx.) It's the first use I've seen of them here. They're readily available now at Home Depot and, I assume, other DIY stores.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

They have been used in mobile homes for years in the US. I can buy them bulk at several local building surplus stores. There are several mobile home manufacturers in the area that dump a lot of leftover or damaged items.

I have never seen them with machine screw threads, only as wood screws.

Ah, you poor deprived person! Got 'em aplenty up here in the Great White North!

Well, I've never seen them in the sunny south. I'll just keep using Torx and Allen screws, thank you. The Allen screws have served me well since the '60s, and the Torx for over a decade. maybe you need them up there to be able to hold on to the screw with your hand shaking while you try to get it started into the threads? ;-)