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Your favourite screw head

Arran Cameron

What is your favourite screw head for small machine and self tapping screws? Is it Slotted, Pozidriv, Torx, JIS B 1012, or do you prefer something more exotic like Pentalobe or Tri-Wing?


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    Simon Barker:

    Of course "tamperproof" just means that someone has to buy a new set of tamperproof screwdriver bits if they want to tamper with it.  Failing that, rummage through your toolbox until you find something you can mash into the hole in the screwhead.



    Many Torx screwdrivers nowadays have the hole in the tip for tamperproof Torx screws. This explains the appearance of screws with an odd number of sides to the recess such as pentalobe or the triangular shape found on toys.


    Screws are available with a custom shaped recess where only the manufacturer or approved repair technicians have the screwdrivers which fit them.
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    It is one thing to  make it tamper-evident, quite another to make something tamper proof.

    The 'edge' that such security as fancy screw heads gives is short lived, as it does not take long for the tool-shape to be copied.

    Even before that point, if you have a good cause and only want to take it out and do not care too much about how, then left hand drill bits, the dremel, and in a few cases just brazing or welding a standard nut onto the top (for shear-head cones) are all techniques known to the workshop...
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    Easydriv does not appear in the Wikipedia list. What usual format is it nearest to?  Often the trouble with free driver bits is that they are cheap and not long-lasting. I wonder why Wickes thought a special format was a good idea?
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    Norman Willcox:

    Easydriv does not appear in the Wikipedia list. What usual format is it nearest to?  Often the trouble with free driver bits is that they are cheap and not long-lasting. I wonder why Wickes thought a special format was a good idea?


    It might have helped if I spelled the name right.  They are called "Wickes Easy Drive".  They look like a variant of Pozidriv, but instead of one indent between each of the 4 points of the cross, it alternates between one and two indents.  The special bit was a lot blunter than a normal Pozi no 2 bit.


    It doesn't look like it really caught on, as I can't even find them on Wickes' web site any more.


    They are nothing like Screwfix Easy Drive!


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    Simon Barker. Thank you.
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    Andy Millar:

    Depends on the hardness of the material of the screw, if it's a decent steel then hex socket or (for bigger screws) torx, for brass slotted, and for anything in between (which is most screws) pozi. But then I do tend to go for hex when I use stainless screws, which are pretty soft, so it's slightly more subtle than that.

    I have wondered whether any particular head patterns are optimised for screws made from a material of a particular hardness.

    Torx should be brilliant, but the slight slope on the drivers means they can still tend to cam-out, which hex socket doesn't. It would seem that a "straight sided torx" would be superb, but maybe there's a subtle reason it wouldn't work? (Maybe hard to locate the tool in automated assembly?)

    Torx drivers vary in quality and some makes are a better fit than others.

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