There are two kinds of Philips wood screws. The better ones fit the screwdriver like hand and glove, stay on it and maintain the direction. The "other kind" do not, they wiggle out and are a huge pain to use to start holes in awkward positions, etc.
It is not really magic and it is clear why this is the case -- the philips hole on the better ones is deeper and has a better fit.
My question is, rather, what is that mating called, if I order wood screws online at mcMaster-Carr, what should I be looking for?
"Phillips" is a definitive callout for the drive. I've been spec'ing industrial quality Phillips machine screws for 25 years and never seen one that didn't fit the driver tight.
============ Sounds like you may be fighting the Pozidriv v Phillips wars all over again. see
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Phillips drivers have an intentional angle on the flanks and rounded corners so they will cam out of the slot before a power tool will twist off the screw head. The Pozidriv screws and drivers have straight sided flanks.
The Pozidriv screwdriver and screws are also visually distinguishable from Phillips by the second set of cross-like features set 45 degrees from the cross. The manufacturing process for Pozidriv screwdrivers is slightly more complex. The Phillips driver has four simple slots cut out of it, whereas in the Pozidriv each slot is the result of two machining processes at right angles. The result of this is that the arms of the cross are parallel-sided with the Pozidriv, and tapered with the Phillips.
This design is intended to decrease the likelihood that the Pozidriv screwdriver will slip out, provide a greater driving surface, and decrease wear.[8] The chief disadvantage of Pozidriv screws is that they are visually quite similar to Phillips, thus many people are unaware of the difference or do not own the correct drivers for them, and use incorrect screwdrivers. This results in difficulty with removing the screw and damage to the slot, rendering any subsequent use of a correct screwdriver unsatisfactory. Phillips screwdrivers will fit in and turn Pozidriv screws, but will cam out if enough torque is applied, potentially damaging the screw head. The marker lines on a Pozidriv screwdriver will not fit a Phillips screw correctly, and are likely to slip or tear out the screw head.
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posidrv bits and screwdrivers
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a whole bunch more
Let the group know what you find as there are most likely others with the same problem.
-- Unka George (George McDuffee) .............................. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author. The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).
There are two kinds of Philips wood screws. The better ones fit the screwdriver like hand and glove, stay on it and maintain the direction. The "other kind" do not, they wiggle out and are a huge pain to use to start holes in awkward positions, etc.
If you were smart, you would get the square drive or better yet, the Torx drive ceramic coated screws. Run in easy and do not break or strip easily. I have left the easy stripping phillips head screws in my past, thankfully, forever.
As many others have noted, there are lots of screw types that look like Phillips, and one must match screw to screwdriver.
The issue I suspect was that people needed to avoid Phillips patents. I have an old #2 Phillips drive that is marked as being licensed under US patent 2,507,231. I bought the driver in the late 1960s in Baltimore. I'm pretty sure it was made by Stanley, from the day when they made the best tools.
For instance, there is a Japanese standard that is visually identical to Phillips, but the drivers are not interchangable, so if one worked on much Japanese-built equipment, one got Japanese screwdrivers. This was particularly true of cameras and optics.
Robertson is certainly an improvement over Phillips. I prefer Torx, but they're usually more expensive. Anthing larger than about a #8x3 I usually spring for them, though. I don't use all that many so the extra cost isn't great.
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