I always find the suggestion that Phillips screws are better suited for use with power tools rather odd. They do cam out well if that is what you want so they are god for drywall I guess, but I can not think of any other advantage they have over the Robertson.
I and every other carpenter in Canada use Robertson screws in power tools all the time. They work so much better in power tools than Phillips there is no comparison. We replace the Phillips screws that come with American hardware whenever we have suitable Robertson screws on hand. I struggled with F***king Phillips screws today in fact that couldn’t handle the torque required to sink them. The same screw with a Robertson head would have no issue. And my bits lasts ten times as long because it doesnt cam out constantly.
My British carpenter friend much prefers the Pozidrive to the Robertson and they seem to work well but a lot of people here do not even know what they are and the drivers are hard to find. The screws themselves are pretty much non existent, basically restricted to ski / snowboard equipment and cabinet hardware. I do find it interesting that such a minor change from the Phillips design (four small extra splines) makes such a dramatic difference. I would LOVE it if we could just replace all the phillips head screws with Pozi.
Actually it’s not the four small extra splines. If you look at a phillips and a pozidrive very closely, they are shaped slightly differently such that there is no taper to the splines so no cam out on the pozidrive. I think the small extra splines are to stop you using a pozidrive driver on a phillips screw
I have been a carpenter for 35 years. Flat head (slotted) screws are an abomination. I only see them in modern use for electrical switch/receptacle plates or decorative pieces generally. And the slots must be aligned in the vertical position for aesthetics.
The best invention ever for dealing with screws is the variable speed impact driver. It will pull stripped out painted over screws with ease. A regular cordless drill/driver will cam them out, but a slow impact action will get most of them.
You also have much more control driving the screw.
With my impact drivers, I rarely have to use “easy outs” (screw extractors) or drill them out anymore.
The quarter inch impact driver has made a huge difference, the Makita I use has a pretty marginal variable speed. It is enough to give very precise control if properly used though. Phillips still cam out and deform above a certain level of torque that a Pozi or Robertson wouldn’t. I still know a couple of carpenters that prefer to use a clutched drill, but the vast majority love their impact drivers.
I find that the small (#9?) torx head finish screws are vulnerable to deform when screwing some decking , particularly some of the heavier composite. This quickly destroys the bit though proper quality torx bits make a big difference.
Philips was better for the power tools in existence at the time the Philips screw head was invented. They didn’t really have controlled-torque drivers so the screw head and driver bit used cam-out as an inherent torque-limiting feature.
