Fun fact: Torx screwdrivers are compatible with Torx Plus screws, but Trox Plus screwdrivers are only compatible with Torx screws that are one size larger
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I repair a lot of tech and I have never seen torx other than the standard, and security version. And security torx drivers are compatible with regular torx
There’s other types on cars
Use torx all the time on not only building sites, but in machinery repair too.
There’s only one type of torx and I think OP is winding us up :)
Edit - ha ha oh my fucking god. So it turns out the patent for torx expired in 1990. No change for us in Europe, we’re still mostly using the original design.
Not so much for the yanks. Textron, the original patent holder, realised it’d be faaaar more profitable to “licence” slightly improved designs and try to phase out the original
Enjoy your torx my euro friends, and have a giggle at the seppos paying for a fucking screw head lol
Greed to the point of mental illness 😂
There’s only one type of torx
There isn’t. There’s Torx, Torx Plus, and Torx Paralobe. See here for more details: https://www.semblex.com/en/pdf-files/technology-files/torx-paralobe-pdf/ . Plus there’s also the ttap and tamper-resistant variants shown in the meme.
As other people have mentioned, Torx screwdrivers are forwards compatible with Torx Plus and Torx Paralobe. But the screwdrivers for the newer standards are not backwards compatible with older screws.
Similarly, Tamper-Resistant Torx screwdrivers can be used on regular Torx screws. But Tamper-Resistant Torx Plus screwdrivers cannot be used on regular Torx Plus screws – it’s a completely different shape!
If you’re in a professional setting where you order high-quality screws and drivers in bulk directly from a manufacturer, I’d imagine that this isn’t much of an issue. But if you’re a hobbyist or just need to repair something in a domestic setting, the three different torx variants plus the other non-torx hexalobular screws (WA drive, Polydrive, T-Star Plus) can cause quite a bit of confusion. Anecdotally, I have a set of what I thought were really low-quality Torx bits. Turns out, they’re actually good-quality Torx Plus bits that by design don’t fit my Torx screws.
Yeah that’s just what Big Torx wants us to think man
Torx plus is getting more common and you can use a torx bit on them still, and superior to torx IMO. I bet you’ve seen since but didn’t notice the difference. As a machine designer it’s my preference but I don’t often for cost
Torx plus ultra premium pro
I assume all those are proprietary temper resistant, tool for it will be expensive so not many tool shop gonna have it.
Not really. A solid set for security Torx is available for like $20 from reputable brands. Naturally, you can get higher quality sets and sets that add other security bits, but you still won’t land in an unacceptable price range even for private use, let alone a pro shop.
Security torx is actually very weak. If you don’t have the security bit, you can break it with a flat head and turn it into a normal torx.
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How do you feel about square drive? I’m no carpenter, just someone that’s done enough work around the house, but I’ve found that Torx are the best option but square is a close second (but I don’t think I’ve used them in any especially high torque situations, and they may fall short there).
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So square is a close second in terms of quality, while being vastly simpler and cheaper to manufacture. Seems to me like i’d prefer square.
Also i’d be terrified of getting dirt in a torx screw, good luck cleaning it to make it usable again. Though i haven’t actually had this problem personally so it’s just a hunch
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I have torx all over my mountain bike that gets caked in dirt, a little bit of water and a pick gets them usable in seconds. I could argue that hex is superior to square but they’re both worse than torx so who really cares.
Torx, hex, and square/Robertson all require broaching, generally with a rotary broach. The manufacturing process is basically identical, though the manufacturing of the machine tools varies slightly.
Torx should be the default over Phillips for sure. Phillips is fine for shit like access panels or screw terminals. Slotted is useless for anything but the adjustment on pots and thermostats. Robertson is just a proto-torx. Everything else either exists to make someone money or is a bolt
Robertson drive tho
robertsons are tapered, so unless you get a proper positive lock, or they have dirt in them or something, they’re more liable to stripping out. But other than that, they’re great.
Least favorite for sure.
Vastly Superior to Philips, which is vastly superior to blade/slotted for anything resembling a power tool.
Robertson is superior to all.
What about hexes?
We can debate this all day long but we all know torque is cheap.
But enough torque, have at thee!
Robinson aka the square head is by far the superior choice.
LOL sure, good one… Only time that square abomination is the answer is if the question is “what do you get if you put a toddler in charge of designing a poor knockoff unbrako head?”
TEAM TORX REPRESENT!
Things are getting heated in the screw fandom
I’m not canadian, so I don’t have a lot of experience with robertson. But from the limited experience that I do have, I would rate it 10/10.
What would you recommend for smaller screws (e.g. for electronics)? As far as I know, there aren’t smaller sizes of robertson like there are with torx?
Pozidrive has real nice engagement and doesn’t cam out like Phillips does. And JIS drivers do a better job in Phillips than Phillips ones do.
After wrecking some JIS screws on a vintage reciever, I bought a nice Vessel-brand JIS driver set, and use it for all my crosshead needs.
Pozidriv reliably makes me projectile vomit ☹️
I’ve driven tens of thousands of pozidrive 2/3 screws into timber with an impact driver. For whatever reason my experience is the diametric opposite of yours. Big up the Pozidrive massive.
I absolutely love the amount of strong opinions on screw heads 🙏
Me too. Nice to see the passion of the construction industry ( and the weekend warriors too)
Yeah but JIS for screws/bolts has been abandoned by the Japanese govt as of… 2005?My JIS screwdrivers are fantastic, not easy to torque out on a regular Phillips screw. Stick with the “vessel” brand.
E: I can’t find anything more than discussion about it, nothing official. Sorry for the wrong info, looks like JIS screws are still alive.
I did not know that, but yes to Vessel!
I think I was wrong, see edit. Carry on!
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As a person that changes out a lot of electrical outlets and switches I have to agree.
Its flaw is that you can only get to it in 90deg increments. When the screw is in a hard to reach place that will drive you crazy
the worst is not when the screwdriver is fucked but the screw is. That is some huge pain in the ass
my brother in christ have you seen phillips head and posi drive?
Life sucks. You can’t win.
Or Phillips and JIS?
JIS isn’t real
Working on an 86 RV and hating posi drive. I swear they were designed to strip.
Also no mention of Spider drive that everyone insists is a torx
probably because nobody buys anything other than torx, considering it’s a brand name, it’s not like they’re going to just do the funny and mislabel a screw. Phillips heads are so common it’s a lot easier to mistake them.
Though if you’re in the field and you run across one i could see it being annoying.
Useful tip: with security torx screws, with the little nub in the centre, if you get a small flathead screwdriver to jam in there and wiggle a bit, that centre bit will snap off without much difficulty.
You should be able to use a regular Torx screwdriver bit after that.This is really gonna come in handy during some of my heists
Their only “heists” when you get caught, until then they’re “shenanigans” 😁
It’s easier to just pick up security bits at any hardware store…
Yeah, just exclusively buy security bits and stop worrying about it.
I have to admit that each time I saw a torx security screw on a case I had to open (looking at you, Compaq) this made me so angry that I used to punch the middle pin away with a flathead screwdriver, and replace the screw with a regular one later. This was in those past times I did not have a fuckton of assorted torx bits in a gigantic case…
Didn’t Compaq use to have those torx with a slit in them where you could put a flathead screwdriver in the slit part?
I know HP uses those on some computers. Pretty neat design, if you ask me!
Yes I’ve always referred to them as Compaq screws but mainly because I personally saw them on Compaq first. I think HP bought Compaq at some point and that might explain why they are used on both brands. Don’t know which brand started using them first.
I would have rather had they just used Phillips screws but as far as weird screwheads go these aren’t too bad.
At least the good thing about them is the threads are standard and they can be replaced with a Phillipshead case screw just as well.
I’m with you. I’ve replaced all the torx screws on my Dell with Philips head screws because fuck you Dell. (all the screws inside were already Philips)
One of these is a settings icon
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Every screw is round if you’re stubborn enough.
I’m Jewish, so I’m going to have to go with the tamper-resistant Torx when I need to use screws on myself.
Edit: A troll flagged this as antisemitic, so apparently I hate my own ethnicity?
Would you mind explaining? I think not being Jewish and not having enough he-bros is making this go over my head.
It’s a Star of David.
Oh my… Now I feel silly. I was trying to find wordplay and not looking at the image because I’m familiar with Torx variants.
Welcome to the internet
Don’t discount hex, paired with a ball-end wrench, those are great for odd angles or tight spaces a straight wrench can’t get too.
they’re pretty good but semi liable to stripping due to lower surface area, as long as you use the right tool, and a quality one, you’ll be fine though.
Also hex is somewhat inter-compatible with torx, which is really cursed.
Not a single person sharing the xkcd comic about standards? Well I’m not doing it.
