Best screwdriver for PC work = Pozidrive?

[George]

I find that a 1pt Pozidriv can hold the screw quite well and better
than the Philips screwdrivers I have tried.

I wonder if there is some gadget which can hold a screwhead to the
screwdriver without any support from the user.

Yes, two types. The first is magnetic (so you DON'T want that!) the second
has a little springy clip that slides along the screwdriver shaft and will
mechanically hold the screw against the head of the screwdriver. It's been
awhile since I've seen such a screwdriver so I couldn't give you any advice
on where to find one.

George

 

[Grouch]

Piotr Makley wrote:
||
||| I also use a Stanley 1 point Pozidriv driver for all my PC
||| work.
||
||
||
|||| So what is the official correct screwdriver for the screws on
|||| a PCs?
|||
||| Who cares? Whatever works without slipping. I use Pozidriv
||| drivers for all 'cross-head' screws, I find they have a lot
||| better 'bite' than Phillips drivers. Plus they work with
||| Phillips and Pozidriv, Phillips are useless for Pozidiv
||| screws. One type fits all in my case. (pun intended).
||
||
|| I find that a 1pt Pozidriv can hold the screw quite well and better
|| than the Philips screwdrivers I have tried.
||
|| I wonder if there is some gadget which can hold a screwhead to the
|| screwdriver without any support from the user.

Yes! it's called a Pearl catcher. Me/ thinks your boring.?

 

[George]

(As if this thread wasn't silly enough already...)

You want silly and screws combined??? I'll give you silly/screws: I once
worked at Zilog when they manufactured computer systems and was in a meeting
with about 24 people present. The VP of the company, the director of
operations, and the director of engineering were all present. Product
design had a French prima donna designer (we'll call him "Jean Paul" since
that was the moron's name) who tied up the time of twenty-four people for
TWO HOURS arguing with ONE OTHER PERSON about screws to mount a fan. Ever
wonder why Zilog never made it big? I still can't decide if it was due to
time wasting or the lack of leadership that allowed it.

 

[Joe Morris]

I thought the electronics company Philips invented the Philips
screw and they are in Holland.

While I can't vouch for their accuracy my references show that the
Phillips screwdriver design was invented in the early 1930s by
Henry F. Phillips, a Portland businessman, in response to US
automakers' need for a self-centering mechanism that had relatively
little "cam-out" problems under the high torque of power tools.

There are several Web sites that offer screwdriver history (surprise!);
in this case try:

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blscrewdriver.htm

which (among other sources) cites a front-page article in the _Wall
Street Journal_ from a few years ago.

Joe Morris

 

[Tony Houghton]

In <[email protected]>,

Yes, two types. The first is magnetic (so you DON'T want that!)

Why wouldn't you want a magnetic screwdriver? If I don't have one around
and have to get a screw into an awkward place I sometimes use a blob of
Blutak.

 

[Patrick]

I use a 1-point Pozidriv screwdriver made by Stanley for work on my
PC. it works very well.

It seems to be the best point size and type. I get little
slippage. The cross-slots hold well. Etc.

But I am surprised it is a Pozidriv because I think that was
really for wood screws and, anyway, I think Pozidriv was later
superceded by Supascrew.

So what is the official correct screwdriver for the screws on a
PCs?

I use cheap China made tools from Harbor Freight And Salvage, with the
hardened tips. > http://www.harborfreight.com

They are now out lasting my Craftsman tools, have a lifetime
replacement warranty, and cost 1/10th as much...

But, because all my work in computers was outsourced years ago, I live
in squalor, on a minute military pension... and don't care what kind of
"world product" I use, as long as it is very tough, and, very cheap!

Oh, there is not even a mention, here, yet, of square drive #1,#2,#3
used by cabinet makers in homes! and, the Ninetendo triple flat drive...

and, I assemble my Knoppix ( http://knopper.net/knoppix ) computers with
the proper thread screws, but, sometimes find that on all my salvaged
re-useables, someone ahead of me has broken off the screw-head! vise
grips sure are handy!

 

[Trev]

I find that a 1pt Pozidriv can hold the screw quite well and better
than the Philips screwdrivers I have tried.

I wonder if there is some gadget which can hold a screwhead to the
screwdriver without any support from the user.

Blue tack

 

[kony]

Yes, two types. The first is magnetic (so you DON'T want that!) the second
has a little springy clip that slides along the screwdriver shaft and will
mechanically hold the screw against the head of the screwdriver. It's been
awhile since I've seen such a screwdriver so I couldn't give you any advice
on where to find one.

George

A magnetic screwdriver or bit-socket is nowhere near strong enough to do
any damage inside a pc... perhaps if vigorously rubbed against a floppy
disk it'd erase some data but that's about it.

I use magnetic screwdrivers every chance I get, and slap a Neodymium
magnet onto the shaft when a particular, non-magnetized screwdriver is
needed (to be magnetized for a moment).

 

[Piotr Makley]

Make sure you don't confuse a #2 Philips with a
Reed-Prince...they look almost identical but Reed-Prince is a
much closer match for many Asian sourced screws.

What is a Reed-Prince? There is almost nothing obvious in Google.

 

[Piotr Makley]

||
|| I find that a 1pt Pozidriv can hold the screw quite well and
|| better than the Philips screwdrivers I have tried.
||
|| I wonder if there is some gadget which can hold a screwhead
|| to the screwdriver without any support from the user.

Yes! it's called a Pearl catcher. Me/ thinks your boring.?

But a pearl catch is for pciking up scres and small objects. It
will not hold a screw onthe end of a driver.

Boring? Heh!

 

[Piotr Makley]

Blue tack

I find that it too often remains in the screwhead and if the
location is awkward (which is why you mightuse it in the first
place) then it is hard to remove.

 

[Grouch]

Piotr Makley wrote:
||
|||| I find that a 1pt Pozidriv can hold the screw quite well and
|||| better than the Philips screwdrivers I have tried.
||||
|||| I wonder if there is some gadget which can hold a screwhead
|||| to the screwdriver without any support from the user.
|||
||| Blue tack
|||
||
|| I find that it too often remains in the screwhead and if the
|| location is awkward (which is why you mightuse it in the first
|| place) then it is hard to remove.

Hence the pearl catcher comes into play and then you use a screwdriver.

 

[Michael Salem]

Piotr Makley wrote:
....

I guess there are many screw threads in a PC but two types seem to
predominate: one for hold in disk drives and the other with a
finer thread. What is the official name for these PC screw types? ....
Do you have any links to websites which deal
with US/European screw specificiations and also about PC screws?

From memory (no time to check): there are various systems of screw
threads in different countries. Nowadays many countries use various
metric sizes; the US (surprise!) largely sticks to traditional US sizes.
The UK used to use BA and Whitworth; the US uses UNC and UNF (Unified
National Coarse / Fine). Google with these search terms.

One of the common PC sizes is 6-32UNC AFAIR.

HTH,

 

[Michael Salem]

Make sure you don't confuse a #2 Philips with a Reed-Prince...they look
almost identical but Reed-Prince is a much closer match for many Asian
sourced screws.

This must be the "Japanese Philips #2" I referred to before. I didn't
know it by this name.

 

[Norm]

I got one in a set I purchased from Sears and it looks just like a Philips
but comes to a sharp point. If you google reed prince screwdriver there is
a lot of info. Here is a description:
REED AND PRINCE SCREWDRIVER
The reed and prince screwdriver is typically used in the automotive,
aircraft, electronics and appliance industries. Often mistaken for a
phillips, the reed and prince screwdriver will round tip if used on phillips
screws.

 

[CBFalconer]

Piotr Makley wrote:
...

From memory (no time to check): there are various systems of screw
threads in different countries. Nowadays many countries use various
metric sizes; the US (surprise!) largely sticks to traditional US sizes.
The UK used to use BA and Whitworth; the US uses UNC and UNF (Unified
National Coarse / Fine). Google with these search terms.

One of the common PC sizes is 6-32UNC AFAIR.

If you find a copy of "Machinery's Handbook", buy it.

 

[Trevor Best]

A magnetic screwdriver or bit-socket is nowhere near strong enough to do
any damage inside a pc... perhaps if vigorously rubbed against a floppy
disk it'd erase some data but that's about it.

I use magnetic screwdrivers every chance I get, and slap a Neodymium
magnet onto the shaft when a particular, non-magnetized screwdriver is
needed (to be magnetized for a moment).

Holding it at 70 degrees to the Earth and bashing with a hammer will
also magnatize it

 

[Trevor Best]

I find that it too often remains in the screwhead and if the
location is awkward (which is why you mightuse it in the first
place) then it is hard to remove.

To remove Blu-tak from something, use another blob of blu-tack, it just
picks it up

 

[Christopher Pollard]

Which one has no tendency to slide? The Philips?

No, the pozidriv. If you imagine the lateral force, it is at right angles to the
face of the pozi blade, but not quite right angles with the phillips, which is
at a slight angle. If the screw is really tight, you have to push the phillips
blade towards the screw to keep it engaged in the slot.


Chris Pollard

 

[Christopher Pollard]

Blue tack

Snot

Chris Pollard