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(Short rant) Screws !

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    (Short rant) Screws !

    What the hell is up with screws ! A simple Phillips #0 or #1 screw.. 6 dam screwdrivers later and still nothing that fits well... I could see if I was using crap, but we are talking quality tools, Snap-On, SK and a few other well respected brands....

    EOR (End of rant)...

    #2
    Re: (Short rant) Screws !

    JIS - Japanese Industrial Standard not Philips
    http://www.vesseltools.com/hand-tool...-products.html

    Comment


      #3
      Re: (Short rant) Screws !

      I have a few of those also, sometimes nothing seems to fit well. I was just trying to be general. Its the quality of the screws... Probably from China not Japan... I am used to JIS fasteners in my main industry. (Auto Tech) I have a myriad of tools for fasteners and it keeps growing... Phillips, Prince Reed, Posi-drive, Allen, Torx Torx Plus, some 5 point Torx I don't know the name of, plain and tamper proof. 12 point stuff... And probably 25 different security screw bits. Pentalobe.... Just sometimes it drives me nuts.....

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        #4
        Re: (Short rant) Screws !

        Sometimes the metal for the screws is crap, almost like aluminum, may times I have had to use my side cutters to grip the screw to break it loose.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: (Short rant) Screws !

          some screws really are aluminium - specially if they are in stuff sensitive to magnetic fields.
          i have lots of them salvaged from harddrives.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: (Short rant) Screws !

            On a piece of test equipment, I saw a yellow sticker warning that this equipment uses metric screws.
            My first choice in quality Japanese electrolytics is Nippon Chemi-Con, which has been in business since 1931... the quality of electronics is dependent on the quality of the electrolytics.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: (Short rant) Screws !

              Metric screws? Aren't those screws that use metric sizes?

              Sidenote: You just don't see that kind of quality these days. It's getting very bad nowadays.
              Don't buy those $10 PSU "specials". They fail, and they have taken whole computers with them.

              My computer doubles as a space heater.

              Permanently Retired Systems:
              RIP Advantech UNO-3072LA (2008-2021) - Decommissioned and taken out of service permanently due to lack of software support for it. Not very likely to ever be recommissioned again.
              Asus Q550LF (Old main laptop, 2014-2022) - Decommissioned and stripped due to a myriad of problems, the main battery bloating being the final nail in the coffin.


              Kooky and Kool Systems
              - 1996 Power Macintosh 7200/120 + PC Compatibility Card - Under Restoration
              - 1993 Gateway 2000 80486DX/50 - Fully Operational/WIP
              - 2004 Athlon 64 Retro Gaming System - Indefinitely Parked
              - Main Workstation - Fully operational!

              sigpic

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                #8
                Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                When I have a misbehaving Philips or JIS screw, I use a flat head screw driver. Most of the time, that can get out screws even with very stripped heads. If not, I take it to Mr. Drill down in the garage.

                I've also used a flat head many times to remove security torx screws. Works great. Haven't found the need to buy security torx yet.

                Oh, and star drivers can often be used to drive hex heads.
                Last edited by momaka; 11-19-2016, 10:20 PM.

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                  #9
                  Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                  A painful subject for those of us who have torn rotator cuffs from years of working with phillips screws of all kinds. Notice how these days they sell the bit along with a box of construction screws? Each manufacturer uses his own Phillips profile. Mr. Phillips started it by inventing a fastener that would "self limit" installation torque by kicking the bit out of the screw during automotive production. Note, a Phillips screw by design is meant to kick its bit out at a certain torque. Even tapered square drive will kick out the bit at a certain torque. Star-Torx is the way to go, except for those gorillas that don't know when to stop tightening.

                  It doesn't help if there are a dozen types of phillips sizes and head designs either. And I have yet to find a JIS bit at the local hardware store. Typical types are all sorts of "regular" nameless profile phillips - whatever that means. Then we have Reed-Prince, Posi-Drive and now Phillips-Square as if we need another one.

                  Phillips JIS bits are needed for 95% of consumer electronics since the fasteners are made you know where. I do keep my cordless impact driver handy for stuck fasteners. In my opinion we can now stop making and using Phillips fasteners. Good riddance!
                  Last edited by Longbow; 11-22-2016, 09:55 AM.
                  Is it plugged in?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                    Sorry for necro.

                    Plain security torx? Yes.

                    Why this sucks? because I already have one of those ¼" hex drive interchangeable tip security torx driver from T10 to T40 but the ¼" hex shank does NOT fit down the hole... :-(

                    Note how blurry the foreground is compared to the screw head, hooray for bokeh to tell the story!
                    Attached Files

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                      that's the "new" security - put the screw down a 2" hole!!
                      you can buy security torx and hex that look like alen keys to get around that.
                      but for tri-wing and the 2 holes(snake tongue??) you have to fab something with a cheap screwdriver and a dremel

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                        The device isn't even worth the cost of a new security torx bit set
                        BTW the two holes bit is called "Spanner" not snake eyes...though this sort of conflicts with wrenches...

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                          Originally posted by stj View Post
                          that's the "new" security - put the screw down a 2" hole!!
                          More work for my drill, I guess.

                          But yeah, those security bits can be annoying indeed - especially when burried deep in a hole... and even worse, if the security bit is weak and prone to rounding/striping. On that note, the worst are those one-way flat-head screws (not sure what you call them, but the ones that only let you tighten the screw and not turn it backwards, because of the way the driver slot "ramps" back to kick the driver out.)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                            Hmm...true, perhaps I should just drill out the whole head.

                            Yeah those tamper proof one way "pre-stripped" flat head screws are the worst (You got the name right I think, "one-way"). They were specifically meant for people to never work on it ever again, unlike all the other security torx, spanner, security hex, tri wing, etc. - at least these were meant for servicing, just not anyone from servicing.

                            I guess I don't have too much issues with screw bits like pozi driv ... while annoying, they do try to prevent stripping, as long as you're not using a philips screwdriver...

                            ---

                            OH YES!!! Was looking through my junk pile and found... a security torx allen wrench! Finally can open this stupid ancient NiCd battery charger that uses a mechanical timer!
                            Last edited by eccerr0r; 05-09-2021, 12:15 PM.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                              Originally posted by eccerr0r View Post
                              Hmm...true, perhaps I should just drill out the whole head.

                              Yeah those tamper proof one way "pre-stripped" flat head screws are the worst (You got the name right I think, "one-way").
                              But luckily, I haven't seen them used much on electronics, though. (If at all.) Mostly see them in public place bathrooms (malls, gas stations, and etc.), probably so that someone can't take things apart in the bathroom, lol.

                              Originally posted by eccerr0r View Post
                              OH YES!!! Was looking through my junk pile and found... a security torx allen wrench! Finally can open this stupid ancient NiCd battery charger that uses a mechanical timer!
                              Nice and nice! (regarding both the security torx and the mechanical timer.)

                              Mechanical timers are pretty dependable... or at least I like them for their simplicity. Probably not the best way to charge a Ni-Cd / Ni-MH battery, though. Then again, at least it's better than those high trickle-charge chargers that ruin the batteries... or worse, cheap (older) RC cars that didn't have any timer or regulator at all - just dump constant high current into the battery until it's dead. That said, though, Ni-Cd and Mi-MH batteries (but especially Ni-Cd) tend to be quite forgiving to overcharging.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: (Short rant) Screws !

                                Wondering if I should part this thing, or mod it to be more useful. I don't have any 7.2V NiCd cells so I don't have much use for the charger. Could use the parts, though not sure if the mechanical timer is immediately useful in this device (would be nice if it could stop discharging/charging before overdischarge/overcharge).

                                Very simple device it seems, just transformer, bridge rectifier, few power resistors, a meter, a DPDT switch, and the timer.

                                Actually what would be useful is the mechanical timer in the car to power circuitry always hooked up to the battery so you could use without key in the ignition... this way it will at least shut off if you forget and not end up with a dead battery.

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