this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

Wait, cheese? I'll take twenty

[–] JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 28 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Screw drive arguments are my absolute favorite, thank you OP for posting such divisive content!

[–] PodPerson@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Same - this will easily be my favorite post of the day, and it's still early.

[–] Amuletta@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 day ago (5 children)

A square screw is a Robinson, fyi.

[–] Typhoon@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There's some anti-Canadian bias in this chart for sure.

Don't call Philips after the inventor but Robertson after the shape.

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[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (2 children)

Also the 6 lobe or whatever it's called in the diagram is usually called a torx.

Robinson ftw though.

Edit: Robertson, not Robinson....damn autocorrect.

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[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

"No! The RED-handled Robbie screwdriver! And hold the light steady" is like half my experiences with my dad. :-D Such a red-foreman.

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[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'd like to go on record as saying six-lobe tamper can die in a fire.

[–] j4k3@piefed.world 7 points 1 day ago

Use a hammer and punch to break off the pin.

[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 44 points 1 day ago (5 children)

What is this square?

It is called a Robertson not a square.

[–] LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz 25 points 1 day ago

Technically Robertson has a taper to it, while square drive doesn't. Though nobody really differentiates it in common usage.

At least with star drive, while they are the same, pretty much everyone calls them Torx.

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[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 57 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Phillips/square? You mean pre-half-stripped and here I come with a too small screwdriver to finish the job.

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[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (10 children)

What is labelled "flat" here I've only ever heard of as "countersunk" and what's labelled as "slotted" I've only ever heard of as "flat head". Also wtf is "PF"?

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 day ago (6 children)
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[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

I had the same thought! Also I’ve only ever heard “torx” instead of “six lobe” although I’m guessing torx is a brand name.

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[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The first two are screw heads. The rest are mental illnesses.

[–] Axolotl_cpp@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Phillips slot is very hand tbf, you have a phillips screwdriver? Good you will have good grip, you don't have one? Good you will still be able to unscrew that

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

I get a better grip with slot than Phillips, which is good if I'm using an electric screwdriver and want to cam out at a certain torque

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I'll give you that but all the others are in my opinion completely unnecessary and just cause issues. To me anything other than a Philips head is completely unnecessary and deliberately over complicated.

[–] Zink@programming.dev 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I like the sentiment that there should be one awesome screw head used everywhere, even if it wouldn't ever 100% happen.

But phillips head is garbage. I agree with the other reply: torx all day long. Honestly, many of the others are good designs that could likewise handle a lot of torque with less tendency to cam out. But torx has kind of already become that standard, at least around me in the US.

And, in my experience, it's proven itself in the field. My non-tech hobbies have involved a lot of outdoor construction this year. I used an impact driver to bury big 6" screws all the way into pressure treated lumber about 1,000 times, and then about a thousand other smaller 2.5" - 3.5" outdoor screws. All of them were torx.

And subjectively, the bit engages like a cylindrical gear but without any sharp corners. It seems like it should be easier to clean a screw dropped in the mud. I've had to do that more than once, but I didn't do a comparison, lol.

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[–] reptar@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (4 children)

No way. Torx over Phillips all day

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[–] shifty@leminal.space 28 points 1 day ago (11 children)
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[–] squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de 34 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Never heard of Phillips the screw before. We call it Kreuzschlitzschraube and the tool for it is a Kreuzschlitzschraubendreher, and I think that's beautiful.

[–] Scipitie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 1 day ago

But it's absolutely fascinating that torx on the other hand is here with its generic name.

Although in my opinion there are three slots only: torx, hex and wrong.

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[–] brokenlcd@feddit.it 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

And if you lack the screwdriver. So long as the head is not the flat style and you have room. Angle grinder/dremel and everything turns into a slot head screw.

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[–] art@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm looking for a Six-Lobe Tamper Cheese screw.

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