

Many people claim that the easy cam-out was designed on purpose, to prevent over-tightening. Problem with this, that no mass-producing capitalist would care about, is when such assemblies need to be disassembled and serviced – as anyone dealing with stuck, rusted Phillips screws can attest. Phillips design allowed such screwdrivers to cam-out, before exerting too much tightening torque on the screw (and damaging the material, or the screw). Production lines in the 30s (XX century), especially in the growing automobile industry, did have electric screwdrivers, but very few of those had the option of setting up the tightening torque. I’ll explain implications of this in the next paragraph.

This problem was overcome by “American Screw Company of Providence”, Rhode Island, and after that Phillips became widely used.

Took me a lot of time to figure this out and get all the data. The rest of this post is a rather detailed explanation of the crossed head screwdriver topic, but with no final answer for now, just a few practical examples. Will do my best to explain it in this article.īefore theory, here is my practical demonstration of the problem and how the screwdriver shown above solves it:

The Bad news: it’s not simple figuring those out, and trying one out is often the only really safe way to confirm eventually.The Good news: yes, there are more than one manufacturer (and model) of good quality cross-head screwdrivers.Wera Kraftform Stainless 3350 PH 2 Wera Kraftform Stainless 3350 PH 2 – Amazon affiliate linkĭo you have to buy this one, or are there any other good ones? Well, I’ve got some good, and some bad news – which one do you want to read first? 🙂 Those who wish to know how I chose this screwdriver can read the next chapters, but for those who just wish to know which screwdriver has worked very well for me, on both the American Phillips, and on Japanese (bicycle and motorcycle) cross headed screws, this is it (providing Amazon affiliate links for screwdriver pictures and price-comparison): In other words: how can I tell, before trying (and buying), if a screwdriver will work properly with bicycle, motorcycle and other cross head screws? The goal of this article (and my research for it) was to help myself find a screwdriver that fits well and doesn’t cam-out. How can I find a good Phillips/JIS screwdriver?.Standards of popular cross-tipped screwdrivers.The difference between Phillips and JIS screwdrivers JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screwdriversĢ.3. Alas, if you’ve ever fixed bicycles, motorcycles, or any appliance with cross-head screws, you know how frustrating it gets when your screwdriver just keeps slipping out, especially when you are trying to loosen a stuck screw. Then comes some history, and standards explanation (including JIS), in an attempt to provide a more universal way of recognizing the good, well fitting screwdrivers – and clarify what it’s all about.
Macbook screwdriver home depot how to#
In this post I’ll explain how to find a cross-head (Phillips) screwdriver that doesn’t slip out when trying to unscrew a tight screw.
