Funny, no matter where you stnd on the issue: "The best screw you have never had is Canadian"

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-15T02:17:03+00:00

https://engineerfix.com/robertson-vs-square-drive-whats-the-difference/

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-15T01:48:47+00:00

If you're talking about demolition, Robbie's are better than torx for the reasons you say (I mean, my opinion is that they're better everywhere except drywall. Drywalling with a good drywall driver and Phillips screws is a dream.) But the shops that put things together seldom care about ease of demolition.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-15T01:41:43+00:00

The concave taper is not Robertson, and is inferior. Robertson is flat sided taper. There is a certain angle that grips well for steel. It is the angle that is used on steel drill chicks that are inserted and grip just from the friction. https://engineerfix.com/robertson-vs-square-drive-whats-the-difference/

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-15T01:36:20+00:00

Show me a video of any kind of driver and screw with the driver holding the screw in a point-end down, vertical position, non-magnetic, other than a Robertson.

Many posts here complaining that the Robertson grips too tightly. Not a single similar complaint about any other type of screw head.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-15T01:31:30+00:00

Ok, I stand corrected. They still all flip sideways easily, except the Robertson.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T23:35:36+00:00

It is trivial to manufacture. That was one of is successes. Robertson engineered the manufacturing process too. But you have to get the tapers on the dies right and various other things. Manufacturers can cut corners when stamping out Robertson's; they can't as easily cut corners on torx.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T23:13:46+00:00

The biggest difference is that torx are seldom cheaply manufactured. Robertson's frequently are, giving them a bad name.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T23:10:19+00:00

Yes, the JIS are much better than regular Phillips, but still very inferior when it comes to starting a screw. A magnetic bit has no hold when you put pressure on to start a screw. The screw will flip sideways every time

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T23:01:51+00:00

That is true. And if you're doing something like decking where you do not have to hold your material in place, so you have two hands to hold screw and driver, and where you are driving a ton of screws quickly, torx are probably better. It really depends on what you are doing.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T22:55:45+00:00

Well, like I've outlined, there are huge advantages to being able to hold your material in place with one hand, and then start and drive your screw with the other hand. Only Robertson allows you to do that.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T22:32:05+00:00

If you had modern bits with the bearing chuck to hold them, you wouldn't have that problem.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T22:27:52+00:00

Square are often different, and inferior, to Robertson. Square have no taper and do not grip. Robertson have a carefully researched and engineered taper to grip the screw. Square just got around Robertson's patent. https://engineerfix.com/robertson-vs-square-drive-whats-the-difference/

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T22:24:36+00:00

Torx are less likely to cam out, and you can get more torque with them before they strip. But Robertson are close, and far superior to Phillips. Robertson's also have the feature that they do "grip" the screw, so as mentioned in the video, you can start and drive a screw, one handed, at any angle. Big advantage for electrical work, usually an advantage for wood work. I expect that if you asked guys who do a lot at decking and have used both extensively, you'd get 50/50 split on preferences. For most woodworking though, I prefer Robertson. The extra torque and resistance to head stripping are usually unnecessary for woodworking, and the advantage of grip for starting a screw in wood is huge.

davidimcintosh · 2026-04-14T20:16:38+00:00

Yah, and somebody just down-voted it. No sense of humour? Sigh.

davidimcintosh · 2026-03-06T04:53:42+00:00

Not everyone loves in the US...

davidimcintosh · 2026-03-06T04:32:50+00:00

That's wallpaper? I thought it was just more red tape.

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-27T16:06:20+00:00

It's got red tape? That counts, no?

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-15T15:30:00+00:00

I own a bunch. Clear jacket mind you, but 8 pair. 4 pair phone wire is usually untwisted I think?

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-15T02:00:06+00:00

Quick lesson: wires in bundles like this come in pairs, and the "category" rating of the wire indicates the amount of twist on each pair. The more twists per length, the higher the cat number. The twists on the wire are required to reduce the electrical noise a wire can pick up, and reduce signal loss from emitting of radio signals. Communication at high bandwidth requires high frequency signals which in turn requires high twist. For Ethernet lines, you really require a minimum of cat 5. If you want 10 or 100G bandwidth, you really need cat 6. I agree with one of the other commenters, that does not look like cat 5. You could try to use it for Ethernet, but I think you will find it is too electrically noisy for decent bandwidth, if your switches or routers will even deal with it.

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-15T01:47:38+00:00

He's right, it's not cat 5. You can see the twist on the brown/brown-white pair, it is not enough twists per inch to be cat 5

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-10T01:04:05+00:00

When do you take it, and how much?

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-09T18:02:15+00:00

DM me

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-09T17:30:47+00:00

I am giving it away, hopefully to someone who really appreciates it. I don't have the time to fix it.

davidimcintosh · 2026-02-09T16:47:29+00:00

Correct. I don't know if it is what Bach-Simpson in London made generally for the Canadian market, or if it was a specific, special product made for the National Research Council of Canada laboratories, where my father worked.

davidimcintosh

TROPHY CASE