square drive wood screws?

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
This might be a stupid question. I have never used square drive wood screws. I am going to be building an extension/addition on to my boy's swing set/playground this fall, and was wondering about trying square drive wood screws. I've only ever used regular Phillips head wood screws. Are the square drive superior?
 
Are you good with an easy-out?
 
I think they are...used them to build our deck, seemed a lot less prone to stripping out, but that was only experience with them.
 
As said above. Mr. Phillips has made his last screw. Both are tremendously better than phillips head. I cringe now when I encounter an old phillips head. Square has slight advantage over torx. You can reuse a square about 10-15 times where as a torx is good for at least 4 or 5 if not more. Phillips gets tossed into scrqap if ever need to be removed. Square tips seem to last a bit longer than a torx bit as well.
You can't get square at Lowes you can only get torx. I get my square heads from Wilders Fasteners in Raleigh by the 50 pound box. As a matter, they ONLY sell square head due to customer satisfaction. I'm on my 4'th 50 pound box in the last 5-6 years. Absolutely love them. Make sure you get the coated if putting them even close to exterior though for the uncoated will rust apart faster than a nail the same size. I use coated all the time regardless.
 
I stripped or half-stripped out several of the Phillips head screws that came with his swing set/playset when I original put it together 2.5 years ago. The thing came in what seemed like about a few hundred pieces with about a thousand screws and bolts. You all have convinced me. I'm going to give the square heads a try. Thanks!
 
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pretty sure the are ones Lowes has. Throw away the bit they come with and get a #2 square will break the screw before it strips
 
6BangBronk said:
As said above. Mr. Phillips has made his last screw. Both are tremendously better than phillips head. I cringe now when I encounter an old phillips head. Square has slight advantage over torx. You can reuse a square about 10-15 times where as a torx is good for at least 4 or 5 if not more. Phillips gets tossed into scrqap if ever need to be removed. Square tips seem to last a bit longer than a torx bit as well.
You can't get square at Lowes you can only get torx. I get my square heads from Wilders Fasteners in Raleigh by the 50 pound box. As a matter, they ONLY sell square head due to customer satisfaction. I'm on my 4'th 50 pound box in the last 5-6 years. Absolutely love them. Make sure you get the coated if putting them even close to exterior though for the uncoated will rust apart faster than a nail the same size. I use coated all the time regardless.
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Thanks for the tip about Lowes not having them! I just checked Home Depots website, and they do sell them.
 
I use them a lot. Like said though toss the supplied bit and buy a quality one. I also use my battery impact to drive them which IMO helps keep from stripping anything but it will shear then head completely off if I'm not careful.
 
The torx can take more drive torque, but the bits get chewed up faster than the square drive because the engagement depth is less. The torx is better though, and not just because I'm biased because I'm a metal guy and just dabble with wood on the weekends. Square drive doesn't really exist much for anything but sheet metal and wood screws; they're cheap to make and easy to use, and take more torque without camming out than Phillips. But not better than torx.

I would never buy square drive now that the torx are available.
 
I do pretty much everything w/ the torx-head deck screws you get in 5 lb boxes at HD/lowes. Did all the framing in my basement w/ them.
They NEVER strip out, and its really convenient how well they will fit/hang on the end of the driver.

IIRC they are actually cheaper than the Robertson head (the little square style) due to licensing (Mr. Robertson wants a cut from every screw after patenting the head).
 
Fabrik8 said:
The torx can take more drive torque, but the bits get chewed up faster than the square drive because the engagement depth is less. The torx is better though, and not just because I'm biased because I'm a metal guy and just dabble with wood on the weekends. Square drive doesn't really exist much for anything but sheet metal and wood screws; they're cheap to make and easy to use, and take more torque without camming out than Phillips. But not better than torx.

I would never buy square drive now that the torx are available.
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The increased engagement depth leads to an increase in total surface contact area.
I dont think Ive ever stripped a robertson head screw, but I've destroyed a number of the driver bits. Conversly the "torx" or "torque star" heads Ive managed to strip a few.

BTW ,6 bang'er my local Lowe's stocks square drive deck screws and the torque star ones.
 
All of our metal roof fasteners are #2 square drives. Usually put in about 5k before bit starts to round out. I haven't bought a Phillips head screw in ages.
 
All intended purposes either way, the torx will do just fine. I hope I never have to take a screw in and out more than 3 times max anyways. I'd have to go for the cheapest between the two though. I just do Wilders cause I go there often and they have an edge on prices since fasteners is about all they do. But they only carry square.
 
Ron said:
The increased engagement depth leads to an increase in total surface contact area.
I dont think Ive ever stripped a robertson head screw, but I've destroyed a number of the driver bits. Conversly the "torx" or "torque star" heads Ive managed to strip a few.

BTW ,6 bang'er my local Lowe's stocks square drive deck screws and the torque star ones.
Click to expand...

The depth to diameter relationship on the torx is the only downfall. If the bit isn't properly aligned with the axis of the screw, that's when the damage starts. The crap bits that come with the screws don't help much either, and I would really recommend Wera bits if you're going to use them a lot. It's very hard to beat a spline drive fastener for engagement torque though, which is the big advantage.

Sorry, I'm a little geeky about fasteners.
 
I was planning on using 3" for the framing screws, and 2.5" for the decking. That sound about right?
 
I was planning on using 5/4 stuff.
 
Even 2" would work. Screws hold very well after you get about an inch in the wood. I just use 2 1/2 for everything cause you get ripped when you buy in smaller quantities and I buy in bulk. I use 2 1/2 even in studs. 3" is a tad overkill in my opinion for anything. Screws countersink a quarter inch easy in newly treated wood anyways.
 
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