By Colin Wood
Jun 26, 2020
It's easy to take the screw for granted, as most of our projects are tacked together with various versions of these small fasteners.
Philips and slotted screws are most prevalent, but what about the Robertson head? Our Canadian audience may be familiar with it, but if you live elsewhere (like us), you may have never heard of this square-drive screw.
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6/26/20 1:13 p.m.
Welcome to the 20th century.
6/26/20 1:57 p.m.
The beauty of having a Robertson driver is that if you ever strip out the head of a Phillips, just jam a Robertson in there and most times you'll be able to extract the screw.
6/26/20 2:31 p.m.
I really like The History Guy's stuff. About half is military/war related, and even that it interesting while not being a real interest of mine. The other half covers all kinds of stuff, and just about everything I've seen was worth the time.
6/26/20 2:59 p.m.
robertson are good screws. I prefer Frearson myself.
6/26/20 4:51 p.m.
He's wrong about not being able to use a flat bladed driver in a Robertson, as you can in a Philips. The right sized flat blade place diagonally in the Robertson head will work - not ideal by a long shot, but at least as good as a flat blade in a Philips, and better than nothing in a pinch. Canadians don't get passionate about much, but we'll defend to the death the superiority of a Roberson screw head!
6/26/20 7:16 p.m.
My dad worked in heavy construction, I grew up around "trailer parks" and my dad moved them and worked on them as a side gig. I never heard the term "Robertson Screw", but square head and even figure-8 head screws were common in the assembly of mobile homes. I still have both types of screwdrivers from my Dad's collection. I've noticed recently that deck screws are often square drive. I've seen some that are Torx, but they are mostly over-the-top trying to impress someone.
6/26/20 7:49 p.m.
Fascinating.
It's like Tesla vs. Edison.
6/26/20 9:06 p.m.
I used to design spinal implants for a living. Quickly concluded that all cruciform headed screws suck, and star drive (Torx) are superior in every way. I was quite pleased to see them all over my Cayman.
6/27/20 12:25 a.m.
Wow. I didn't realize you folks south of the 49th don't have these.(I just looked at the home depot US website. Phillips wood screws. Huh.. ) Pretty much all wood screws in Canada are Robertson. With a good bit, they're awesome.
6/27/20 12:43 a.m.
You can get "square drive" (as they call them) screws in the US, but you have to look for them. It's all I use given the chance. Phillips heads are the devil.
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