Stripping Screw Heads

[jeffinsgf]

A drill motor without a clutch is not for driving screws. Doing so will be nothing but frustrating.

I'm a big fan of the impact driver, too. A couple handymen and I put together a 40 x 72 steel arch building with a couple of small cordless impact drivers...over 10,000 5/16" bolts.

 

[WilliamBos]

Quality Robertson (square head) is the way to go!

I agree!!

 

[Baby Grand]

Take a look at your bit.
Use cheaters if your eyes are old or you have "long arm disease" like me.
Is it the right size - snug fit - or sloppy fit or worn?
Set your speed control or torque control.
Counter bore your pilot hole to a clearance depth x diameter size for the screw's shank
I keep a wax (parafin) candle in my drill tool box.
A swipe of the wax over the threads and I can lower the torque by 3 or 4 clicks.
This greatly reduces "cam-out" of the bit.

 

[newbury]

I brought this up a year ago -
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/related-topics/239905-where-get-quality-screws.html

One of the problem I have seen are extremely cheap ("soft") screws packaged with even quality items.

I don't like a cheap screw.

 

[LD1]

Combination of junk soft screws and junk soft bits.

Ditto on the quit using phillips.

I like torx better than square, but both are vastly better than phillips.

Just did a deck with all T25 torx. 12x32 deck and about 15lbs of screws total. All on the same 2 torx bits that the two drills started with. Not a single stripped screw either.

 

[Car Doc]

This is one of those general irritant things but . . .

When I use my drill to screw in screws, it almost always results in stripping the slots out of the screw heads. I'd like to blame the cheap screws from the big box stores but maybe its the design of the drill mounted screw drivers or the speed of the drill or must my poor technique. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to limit this irksome outcome?

Thanks

I use torx head screws always now phillips was ok for awhile beat the heck out of flat head but no where near as reliable as torx. :thumbsup: (I never had any luck at all with square fwtw probably worse luck with it than cheap phillips ymmv as always)

 

[aczlan]

On soft bits, I have had EXCELLENT luck with Dewalt DW2002IR10 bits (#2 IMPACT READY BIT by DeWalt - DW2002IR10) I have gone through less than 15 of them in 2 years and at least 30 pounds of screws in all kinds of remodeling in and out stuff.

Aaron Z

 

[geko]

In the uk we use Philips head a lot, torq bits & others seem to be more specialist.
I've just completed a deck with specific deck screws that had a weired head to them, like a rounded Philips with a specific bit supplied with them - great fit - to the point the bit would stay in the screw when you moved the drill away!!

I tried Milwaukee impact driver bits & found them terrible! Cracking, rounding etc. def not buying them again.

 

[The kid]

This is one of those general irritant things but . . .

When I use my drill to screw in screws, it almost always results in stripping the slots out of the screw heads. I'd like to blame the cheap screws from the big box stores but maybe its the design of the drill mounted screw drivers or the speed of the drill or must my poor technique. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to limit this irksome outcome? Thanks

Phillips screws are like a socket set. They come in different sizes and shapes. Using the correct driver with the correct screw equals almost always success. When I was building a 24X40' deck I came to realize not all phillips heads are created equally. Using a drill with the wrong head will disappoint you many times. Some have mentioned square heads. Yes they are superior but square heads are not installed EVERYWHERE. -kid

 

[teejk]

I'm working on getting any none-Torx (star) screw out of my shop because I have come to believe. In a normal cordless drill, I "pulse" them in. And I buy bulk packs of the drivers (the #25 Torx last a lot longer than the #2 philips) but when I sense any slippage at all, I change it out for a new one. Quality screws cost much more than a driver bit.