I like Torx and allen, myself. I freakin hate standard, and I hate phillips too.
Allow me to expound:
Robertson screwdriver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A Robertson screwdriver is a type of screwdriver with a square-shaped tip with a slight chamfer (in the same way that flatheads, Phillips, hex, and Torx have flat, plus-sign-shaped, hexagonal, and hexagrammal tips, respectively).
P. L. Robertson invented the Robertson screw and screwdriver in 1908. He received a patent in 1909, and later applied for and received other patents. The last patent expired in 1964.
The drivers are famous for holding onto screws (you can start driving a screw horizontally into the wall, and leave the screwdriver in the screw while you have lunch), and allow for things like an angled screw driver and trim head screws.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screwdriver
Torx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
: (a) Slotted, (b) Phillips, (c) Pozidriv, (d) Torx, (e) Hex, (f) Robertson, (g) Tri-Wing, (h) Torq-Set, (i) Spanner
Types of Screw Drive: (a) Slotted, (b) Phillips, (c) Pozidriv, (d) Torx, (e) Hex, (f) Robertson, (g) Tri-Wing, (h) Torq-Set, (i) Spanner
Torx is the trademark for a type of screw head characterized by a 6-point star-shaped pattern. People unfamiliar with the trademark generally use the term star, as in "star screwdriver" or "star bits." The generic name is hexalobular internal driving feature and is standardised by the International Organization for Standardization as ISO 10664. Torx head screws generally resist slipping better than Phillips Head or Slot Head screws. Torx screws are commonly found on computer systems and consumer electronics, but are also becoming increasingly popular in construction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx
(page has a nice pic of diff heads)
Types of screw drive
Modern screws employ a wide variety of drive designs, each requiring a different kind of tool to drive in or extract them. The most common screw drives are the slotted and Phillips; hex, Robertson, and torx are also common in some applications. More exotic screw drive types may be used in situations where tampering is undesirable, such as in electronic appliances that should not be serviced by the home repairperson.
Image:Screw_drive_types.png
(a) Slotted, (b) Phillips, (c) Pozidriv, (d) Torx, (e) Hex, (f) Robertson, (g) Tri-Wing, (h) Torq-Set, (i) Spanner
* Slot head has a single slot, and is driven by a flat-bladed screwdriver. The slotted screw is common in woodworking applications, but is not often seen in applications where a power driver would be used, due to the tendency of a power driver to slip out of the head and potentially damage the surrounding material.
* Cross-head, cross-point or Phillips screw has a "+"-shaped slot and is driven by a cross-head screwdriver, designed originally for use with mechanical screwing machines. The Phillips screw drive has slightly rounded corners in the tool recess, and was designed so the driver will slip out, or cam out, under strain to prevent over-tightening. The Phillips Screw Company was founded in Oregon in 1933 by Henry F. Phillips, who bought the design from J. P. Thompson. Phillips was unable to manufacture the design, so he passed the patent to the American Screw Company, who were the first to manufacture it.
* Pozidriv is patented, similar to cross-head but designed not to slip, or cam out. It has four additional points of contact, and does not have the rounded corners that the Phillips screw drive has. Phillips screwdrivers will usually work in Pozidriv screws, but Pozidriv screwdrivers are likely to slip or tear out the screw head when used in Phillips screws. Pozidriv was jointly patented by the Phillips Screw Company and American Screw Company.
* Torx is a star-shaped or splined bit with six rounded points.
* Hexagonal or hex screw head has a hexagonal hole and is driven by a hexagonal wrench, sometimes called an Allen key, or by a power tool with a hexagonal bit.
* Robertson drive head has a square hole and is driven by a special power-tool bit or screwdriver. The screw is designed to maximize torque transferred from the driver, and will not slip, or cam out. It is possible to hold a Robertson screw on a driver bit horizontally, due to the close fit. Commonly found in Canada in carpentry and woodworking applications.
* Tri-Wing screws have a triangular slotted configuration. They are for instance used by Nintendo on its Game Boys to discourage home repair.
* Torq-Set is an uncommon screw drive that may be confused with Phillips; however, the four legs of the contact area are offset in this drive type.
* Spanner drive uses two round holes opposite each other, and is designed to prevent tampering.
Many screw drives, including Phillips, Torx, and Hexagonal, are also manufactured in tamper-resistant form. These typically have a pin protruding in the center of the bit, necessitating a special tool for extraction. The slotted screw drive also comes in a tamper-resistant one-way design with sloped edges; the screw can be driven in, but the bit slips out in the reverse direction.
Lara Specialty Tools (
http://www.lara.com/reviews/screwtypes.htm) has an more extensive guide to 24 screwhead types.
That's all you ever wanted to know about screws but were afraid to ask.
Best of luck in NY guys. I hope you really enjoy yourselves.
and I edit: (I knew I remembered reading why Phillips became popular!!) here's what I found:
Why did this guy Phillips think we needed a new type of screw?
Dear Cecil:
Why did Mr. Phillips invent a new type of head for screws? Was he bored? Do Phillips-head screws have any advantage over the standard slot-type screw? Or was Phillips just trying to invent a market he could corner? --Roger W., Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Cecil replies:
So many opportunities for rude puns, Roger. I must be strong. Actually, Phillips screws have many advantages, most of which I am personally acquainted with, having once had a job repairing power tools. (Cecil has had quite the varied career.) Unfortunately, none of these advantages is of much use to Joe Handyman, who typically regards Phillips screws as a first-class pain in the butt, owing to their propensity to strip out at the least provocation. But more on this directly.
To engage the cross-shaped indentation in the head of a Phillips screw you need a Phillips screwdriver (you probably guessed this), whose pointed tip makes it self-centering. This is helpful when you're using a power screwdriver, which is the reason the Phillips screw was invented: it lends itself to assembly-line screwing, so to speak.
The inventor of the Phillips screw was Henry F. Phillips, a businessman from Portland, Oregon, who obviously had a lot of time on his hands. (I learn this, incidentally, from a delightful article on the Phillips screw that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.) Henry knew that power screwdrivers don't work well with ordinary slot screws because (1) you waste precious seconds trying to fit the screwdriver into the damn slot; (2) once you succeed, centrifugal force tends to make the bit slide off the screw and into the workbench; and even if you avoid this, (3) when the screw gets as far in as it's going to go, the power screwdriver either stalls, strips out the screw, or starts to spin around in your hand.
A Phillips screwdriver, however, has a pointed tip. Get it anywhere in the general vicinity of the screw and it engages as if by magic, and what's more, stays engaged. Furthermore, the cross-shaped indentation in the screw is so shallow that when you're done the screwdriver pops right out, before you get into trouble. Cecil found this handy fixing power tools, and back in the 1930s Henry Phillips thought the automakers would find it handy making cars. The automakers were no brighter then than now, but eventually realized the usefulness of Henry's device, and it's been with us ever since.
The only problem is, easy as they are to get in, Phillips screws can be a bitch to get back out. The screwdriver pops out too readily, stripping the screw, gouging the work, and in general transferring to Joe Handyman all the problems that were formerly the province of the assembly line. Once again, in other words, the little guy gets shafted by the dehumanizing forces of capitalism. The only solution, socialism obviously being in decline, is to buy a power screwdriver of your own. You can't beat 'em, join 'em.
--CECIL ADAMS
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_290b.html