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Do you find yourself stripping Phillips head acres frequently? That is because you are confusing Phillips and Pozidriv heads. They look similar but have a different head and different amount of engagement. I just bought myself some Wiha drivers after years of using shitty tools. I am so much happier now.
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An advantage of flathead is that it is easy to unfoul the screw head. A minute with a utility knife or a flathead screwdriver will clear the channel of dirt or paint. I would not want to deal with a torx that has several layers of paint dried into it.
Break out the drill and drill a tiny hole down the centre to crack the screw. Now pull it out and can put in a new clean one.
The drill will bite into the screw and start unscrewing it
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It's unfortunate that Ikea doesn't seem to publicize this or provide drive heads with their furniture (AFAIR). I was glad I picked some up before I did a kitchen with Ikea cabinets. It saved me a lot of grief.
I don't think they provide it with their kitchen elements, but for all furniture they provide a hex key for assembly and assume that you have a screw driver yourself.
When my wife and I bought our house, I thought the previous owner had stripped the hell out of some Phillips screws... then I learned what Robertson (square) screws were. After getting the proper bit though, I’ve started to really appreciate them. I don’t think I’ve ever stripped a single one.
I have half a mind that they invented Pozidriv just to have a defense for how terrible the Phillips fastener is.
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Robertson is excellent but they seem to be a uniquely Canadian phenomenon. My company ships robots to the US in big crates, and we've had to switch to building them with Philips screws instead because of issues with local availability.
Robertson (Square) drive are also gaining popularity in building decking applications in the U.S. I've seen quite a few options in Home Depot / Lowes stores in the Northeast. One of reasons they are less popular than Philips is the price as square drives are a little bit more expensive and tend to be offered at premium brand screws.
Important FYI for any Americans who don't know: Ikea screws are not Phillips, they're actually Pozidriv , which is different enough to matter. Do not use a Phillips screwdriver to assemble Ikea furnature, as that combination will easily cam out and ruin the (typically soft metal) screw. It's easiest to buy the correct Pozidriv screwdriver bits from Ikea, but they're also available online. My understanding is that Poz…
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> Even flat head is better than those pieces of junk. I would argue that flat head is the worst. They are not designed to be used with power tools.
Phillips isn't properly designed for power or hand tools. If it strips with a screwdriver, it's definitely going to strip with a drill. I've rarely seen power-driven Phillips screws that didn't have some sign of stripping, even using torque limiters and even on things fresh from the factory. At least flat head takes uneven torque from hand tools well. It also allows improvised tools to be used in the field. If I'm wo…
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Robertson (Square) drive are also gaining popularity in building decking applications in the U.S. I've seen quite a few options in Home Depot / Lowes stores in the Northeast. One of reasons they are less popular than Philips is the price as square drives are a little bit more expensive and tend to be offered at premium brand screws.
Furniture-making often uses them as well. We're slowly coming around to the light.
As far as I'm concerned, torx is the only reasonable screw anymore. It seems like most construction screws (at least in the US) have moved to this. Just to make the point: I've stripped out more torx drivers than I have torx heads. I can say I truly don't understand how phillips ever even took hold over flatheads. Cheap phillips head screws seem designed to strip out. Somebody elsewhere in this thread made the point…
>I can say I truly don't understand how phillips ever even took hold over flatheads. Cheap phillips head screws seem designed to strip out. It's not cheap ones; Phillips heads were designed to strip out. It's the very reason they're used. The whole idea was to use them in factory assembly, so that workers wouldn't overtorque them. You put them in and tighten, and when they cam out, you're done. If you want a fastener…
I've had Phillips over-torque and eat threads. I've had them strip to a raw steel crater long before the head even meets the surface it's being screwed into.
Definitely agree that Phillips is obsolete. God I hate them. I may have a problem. I've worked on a lot of old engines in my life and seeing a torn-out cross is like a big middle finger from the previous person who worked on it, usually the manufacturer. An engine is something that deserves an easily removed fastener that is applied with a torque wrench. Who knows how many newton-meters a Phillips head takes before it cams? Does anybody? Probably a huge range.