the different screw head drive types out there …

Ever wondered why your screwdriver slips when your trying to tighten a screw or just rips the head up until you can’t get a screwdriver in it at all. Well, chances are your using the wrong screwdriver, it may look the same but its not, all screws have a particular drive system and a particular size so if you don’t pick the right driver and size then you’ll never get a secure fit and that where your problems start, particularly as the screw gets tighter into whatever your fixing into. The most common mistake is mixing up pozi drive and phillips as they both look the same at first glance but if you look closer at the pozi drive image, you’ll see its a cross with a kind of star shape over the top whereas the phillips is just a cross. This identifier is stamped on every screw from all manufacturers and although they may look very similar, these drives are vastly different internally due to the mating angles and the way the cross is cut, pozidrive screws also have kind of  stabilising fins on the driver which fits into the same shaped sockets on the screw at the centre of the cross.  Try it, get a pozi screw with a phillips screwdriver or vice versa, test fit them and you’ll see although its close it just doesn’t quite fit properly, now try with a pozi screwdriver and immediately you’ll see and feel the difference … snug as a bug and particularly important if you use cordless screwdrivers where a lot of instant pressure is put on the screw head.

Phillips drive is the most common drive system found in Australia with the most common sizes of driver for phillips and pozidrive being No2′s which tend to cover 8 and 10 guage screws, No 1′s are mostly 6 guage and below and No3 usually 12 guage and over. Slotted drivers tend to be sized in mm based on the long length across the screw head as do hex head drivers. Torx drivers are slightly different and are usually sized as TX10, TX15,TX20 etc etc and square drivers, which are excellent for driving into hard timbers, are again sized in No1, No2 and No3 with No2 being most popular. So if you use the right size driver for the right screw you’ll be amazed how easy fastening screws in has suddenly become …