msmazcol Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I may have asked this before but have a zero tolerance memory.When did philips head fasteners first come into play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVE A Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 According to the Official Judging Guidelines, 1935. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmazcol Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Really? I never guessed that early. Any specific make? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I read somewhere that Cadillac was first. It was probably GM. Someone at GM saw the Robertson square recess screws they were using in the Canadian GM plant and thought they were worth adopting. But it turned out they were patented and cost a few cents a ton more than regular screws. So they invented the Philips screw which is almost as good (not).The reason for the change was that slot screws are too hard to use with a power screwdriver in mass production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVE A Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Rusty is right, according to what I found, Cadillac in 1937 was first. According to the same source, Henry Ford wanted to use the Robertson but was refused a license and as such decided the supply would be too limited for US use so he used the Robertson in Canada only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmazcol Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks for the info guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 More info on Phillips...the company was founded in 1934.Henry F. Phillips - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Simmons Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Very interesting information. So may I ask where did the "clutch head screw" come from? I haven't seen any of them since I disassembled the interior of my last '48 Chevrolet coupe, they were mostly interior metal screws as I recall and looked like an open figure eight. I still have two of the screwdrivers that I used to remove and replace those sheetmetal screws. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bofusmosby Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Well, since I have them on my '37 Pontiac, I guess that these are replacements, not the originals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest windjamer Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 :DIm not sure,but I think someone with Mac tools or Snap-on had a relative working for G M and they conspired to have G M switch to posi-drive and then torx so the tool man could sell more drivers, hence more headachs for you and I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Phillips and slotted or as my wife calls them plus or minus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmazcol Posted March 19, 2011 Author Share Posted March 19, 2011 She is a good women.Does she know the lefty loosey , righty tighty thing too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greg walsh Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Along those lines, my wife and I were at the movies about four years ago when they ran an ad for a new Nissan 280Z. Afterwards she asked me "What's a 28 ounce Nissan all about"? True story. Gotta love em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 (edited) Clutch-head screws on GM products go back to the mid 1930's.My former 1936 Chevy pick-up was loaded with 'em, as is my '54 Chevy pick-up.Vermont American makes two sizes of clutch-head insert bits for their 1/4" hex-drive screwdriver systems... I found mine on blister cards at my local Do It Best Mom & Pop Hardware store.As for the Canadian square-drive screw, the name is actually ROBERSON... no "t", and pronounced with a long "O", as in bath-robe. Edited March 22, 2011 by De Soto Frank (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 My understanding of why the Phillips head screws were adopted by the auto industry were two fold. First as stated previously they are self centering and hold the screw driver in the center of the head. The second and probably equally important reason was that when tightening the screw into sheet metal the driver would cam out when it got to the right torque without stripping out the sheet metal. The amount of torque to end tightness was calculated by the diameter of the screw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Here in Canada we have been calling them Robertson screws all my life. According to all the info I can find on the web it is Robertson.Robertson Screws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzcarnerd Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Here is a list for comparison - List of screw drives - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - interesting stuff. All of the aforegoing explains why my Canadian built 1929 Plymouth has Robertson screws in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I am amazed....I lived for 20 years across the Detroit river from Ontario, Canada and have never heard of Robertson screws. I read the ditty about them. Very interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 She is a good women.Does she know the lefty loosey , righty tighty thing too?That is fine unless she is trying to change the BBQ grill propane bottle, or anything else that is left handed. ............. Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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