Deck Building Screws

[skyhightree1]

Which screws would you use to build a deck the standard philips head or the square slotted screws?

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Torques

 

[skyhightree1]

What makes you say torques ? To me the philips and torques will strip the head alot quicker than the square slottedl

 

[snake67]

I would not use either - in fact I do not use them ever if I can help it.

I would use a Robertson - built everything on this place with them

Drive easily and the bits grab and very seldom strip out

Torx also seem to strip out easily - I think it is because the teeth inside the "star" on the top of the screw are so fine - I dropped them long ago

Bez

 

[skyhightree1]

It is almost the same as the square slot screw. I didn't know what it was I looked it up and found the site. I don't think they sell those here.
http://www.robertsonscrew.com/index.html

 

[sim.-ang.king]

What makes you say torques ? To me the philips and torques will strip the head alot quicker than the square slottedl

More points of contact, means less striping.
What ever you use just use the right size bit, that's what cause most striping...that and $1 bills. :banana:

 

[snake67]

It is almost the same as the square slot screw. I didn't know what it was I looked it up and found the site. I don't think they sell those here.
http://www.robertsonscrew.com/index.html

I would be that more than 90% of construction of anything made of wood in Canada is completed using them

Cheers

Bez

 

[skyhightree1]

I gotcha...I figured the square head went in there deeper and would strip less frequently.

 

[jedstivers]

Never seen the Robertson here. They look good but we've never had any trouble with Torx. In fact when we try to back a Torx out of a fence post the screw will break before the head strips.

 

[Bigfoot]

I've got a little more artheritis, than I should at my age. I've gotten to where I dread swinging a framing hammer. I try to screw everything together. The torque head is what I go for.

 

[Calman]

I use the torque and cant say I have stripped the out but have twisted a few off.

Cal

 

[jedstivers]

I use the torque and cant say I have stripped the out but have twisted a few off.

Cal

We never twist them off going in but I'd guess 80% twist off coming out.

 

[skyhightree1]

looks like torques are the way to go from all the comments. I must say I would like to try robertsons out they look pretty darn good.

 

[Calman]

I use the torque and cant say I have stripped the out but have twisted a few off.

Cal

We never twist them off going in but I'd guess 80% twist off coming out.

Well Jed that's probably because I don't get my finger off the trigger soon enough. :lol:

Cal

 

[Deepsouth]

It's got to where all you can find around here is the square ones. This upset me at first but once I started using them really like them. One will strip out every now and then but not near as often as the torx and I'll never use a phillips against if I did find some.

 

[skyhightree1]

It's got to where all you can find around here is the square ones. This upset me at first but once I started using them really like them. One will strip out every now and then but not near as often as the torx and I'll never use a phillips against if I did find some.

Phillips are crap... I hate them.

 

[Aaron]

You'll likely never see too many Robertsons (square drive) in the US because the guy (Robertson) that patented it, was a typical Canadian - an idiot when it came to business.

Henry Ford used a small supply of Robertson screws in the US Model T assembly line, and saw a dramatic improvement in speed/time saved. But Robertson wouldn't license his creation to any US company, so it never got off the ground outside Canada. If it had, you would likely be hard-pressed to find anything but square drives today.

Back on topic, I've seen lots of guys up here switch from Robertson's to Torx. The key to them both is to have high-quality drive bits, and throw them out once they start stripping heads.

 

[inyati13]

TORX, all I use. For all wood applications. Wonderful selection at our LOWE store. They make a Deck screw.

 

[greybeard]

There's just as much total contact area in a phillips screw indent as in a torx, star, frearson, square, and robertson. The amount of angle is what causes the stripping. As drivers became stronger, the operators weren't able to hold the bit down into the bottom of the screw hole, and any deviation from perfectly straight in caused problems. Blame the operator-not the screw. Weak forearms, misalignment, laziness all contribute to screws stripping out. ---as someone's sig sez--"It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools".

I like Reed&Prince myself, but they've become very hard to find.

The perfect screw? Hex or allen.

 

[inyati13]

There's just as much total contact area in a phillips screw indent as in a torx, star, frearson, square, and robertson. The amount of angle is what causes the stripping. As drivers became stronger, the operators weren't able to hold the bit down into the bottom of the screw hole, and any deviation from perfectly straight in caused problems. Blame the operator-not the screw. Weak forearms, misalignment, laziness all contribute to screws stripping out. ---as someone's sig sez--"It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools".

I like Reed&Prince myself, but they've become very hard to find.

The perfect screw? Hex or allen.

GB, you are right about the operator and I have never looked at the numbers on the total contact area but seems reasonable to me, but here is where I see a difference: The TORX seems to hold to the driver better. A slot or phillips has very little friction fit. I realize some drivers are magnetized. I was recently going through 2x6s and anchoring into a 6 x 6 post. I was using 6 inch deck screws. Never stripped out a single one. I will still stick with the TORX. I will look at the Reed&Prince. Not familiar with them.