Any goddamned manufacture that uses a phillips head screw on anything other than a disposable screw should make him/her self available to me so that I may wrap piano wire around their pinkie fingers and attach the other end to my garage door and raise and lower the door at random intervals.
I’m trying to remove the starter on my motorcyle. That requires removing the left side crankcase cover. That’s all the instructions that the Clymer manual gives you: “Remove the left side crankcase cover.” The don’t tell you it requires removing the foot peg bar, the shifter, and the starter solenoid cover to detach the wires. The starter solenoid cover is held on by machine screws with phillips heads and they are near impossible to reach. Of course, they cammed right out. Sonofasonofabitch. I managed to twist one out with vise grips. I’m in the midst of hacksawing the head off of the other. Of course, now this means a trip to the hardware store to find replacements. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.
And to make it more frustrating, two of the screws in the starter gear lever are torx. One of those rounded out. I thought that was the point of those bastardized bastards; they aren’t supposed to cam out.
I know this is a lame rant, but dammit it feels good to come in here and vent a little before I get so mad I break something. Okay, I’m going back out to the garage to finish hacksawing the head off of the solenoid cover screw.
But yeah, when it comes to fastener quality, it’s all about the grade of metal used. High quality steel won’t easily strip. Cheap steel will tear itself apart quite easily, especially if presented with a high-quality screw head. Screws may all look the same, but they quite certainly are not.
I replaced the phillips head screws with some cap head screws. It turns out the cap head screws are the same size (6 mm.) as every other cap head screw on the bike. Makes me wonder why those two were phillips.
On a related note, the starter had a stuck brush that wasn’t making contact and a pound of crud on the inside. It sounds like a brand new one now. So I’m happy now, even if it did take all day and all evening.
On another related note, the damned Clymer manual with its one-line “Remove the left side crankcase cover.” Damn, that thing was complicated to take off. The clutch cable had to be removed, the shifter had to be removed, and I should have numbered the screws because there were at least four different lengths.
Also, check your tools. If you’ve got a Phillips screwdriver and the tip is at all worn, get rid of it and buy a new one. And get a high quality screwdriver. And make sure you always use the right size screwdriver for the screw.
Personally the only thing I dislike about Phillips head screws is that Pozidrive or Torx work better. Compare to slot-head, they are all far superior. Made from piss poor metal, and/or attacked with the wrong size tool, ANY screw becomes a pain in the ass.
However slot-head has the unique disadvantages that even the correct tool often does not want to stay in position, and that the really really crappy screws often have the slots off-centre as well as being made out of rejected solder and fishing weights :eek:
I was building a bench recently, and the problem I had was the opposite: the screws were of such high quality (Homebase standard), and the torque generated by my power drill in ‘screwdriver’ mode was so great, that it totally buggered all of my screwdriver bits. I suppose I had better get some titanium heads at huge expense. :mad:
Otherwise, I think Phillips head screws are great and I wouldn’t use anything else.
Are you sure you’re using the drill correctly? My drill has a torque limiting feature (slip clutch, or something) that you’re supposed to use when using it as a screwdriver, and I thought that was pretty common.
Anyway… My biggest complaint about Philips head screws is that it’s too easy and tempting to use the wrong size screwdriver. That at least doesn’t happen with socket head screws. (Unless you’re mixing metric and English…)
This phrase does not compute
Were the bits also from Homebase, a.k.a. The Place [del]Full of[/del] Barely Stocked With Overpriced Tat Which I Frequent Because It Is Oh So Convenient For My House And I Am Too Disorganised To Order From The Web In Time?
Years later, I finally figure out why I always had such a damned hard time with the things. I never could figure out which screwdriver fit with Phillips head.
If you want to work with some really high quality screws(ETA: no, not call-girls), try some that are manufactured for orthopedic surgery. I removed three screws that had been in a dogs proximal tibia for a year. After they were cleaned up, I used them to repair a shelf in an armoire. Very stable repair. Unfortunately, they run $8 to $15 a piece.
