Is this too niche of a meme?

Torx kinda requires it be made of a decent alloy, it was developed to handle situations where you really really need torque. Handling more force than anything else was the guiding principle of its design.

Hence you find it in places such as bicycle disc brake rotor mounts.

it rounds off too fast

You've had significant issues with Torx screws rounding off? I think it's designed be the least prone to that. My personal (very minor) issue with Torx screws is they provide too much grip and torque. They will break before they cam-out and I've snapped off screw heads and the bits themselves, even hand-tightening.

had to dremel one of my laptop's (stripped) philip head screws to use a flat head screwdriver on it

it worked, somehow

Everybody needs one big ass flathead just to demo with. The superior wonderbar.

Disagree. Torx are the easiest to strip. Torx bits literally last 12 bolts or so.

Hex could even be A tier except...

• 10 million metric sizes
• 10 million imperial sizes
• heads get full of rust or dirt
• note that this makes it even harder to tell which damn size they are
• usually mild steel so they strip, especially when it turns out you're using imperial in metric and vice versa

Too many years of wrenching on old equipment has soured me on all except for the good old fashioned hex bolt (S tier) and Robertson (A tier).

Even slotted beats most of these if the steel is decent, scrape out the rust and whack it with an impact screwdriver. I've turned many torx and hex in particular into slotted over the years.

External/male hex aka what big bolts have that you use a wrench for are A tier. I can't really think of a more effective way to transfer large amounts of torque to a bolt or nut. Female hex aka Allens are low C or high D tier. They would rate higher, but they're made in 8.23*10^19 sizes, and the correct one nearly never falls to hand. Add to that the tendency for allen wrenches to be made of low quality extruded hex stock and you've got an excellent recipe for an unpleasant fastening experience.

I could be talked into bumping Hex up to B, I just want it between Phillips and Robertson.

I don't have any experience with Pozi screws in the US, but doing a quick search they look like a solid upgrade over Phillips, so I'm guessing I would agree if I actually used them.

Pozidriv should be fucking banned oh my god why is it so common in the uk it’s so deeply inappropriate for 99.99% of applications

Yeah, combo is where it's at in terms of field serviceability. I pretty much always have a flathead on hand, but very rarely have a torx but set, Allen key, or Robertson close at hand if I'm in the field.

any screw is a flathead screw if you have a dremel

I've used them very rarely, but I've never had one strip unlike everything beneath it so I can't complain.

Because they aren't the same, or compatible with eachother really. I use them a lot and can almost promise you the problem is when you involve the "square" one's at all. Robertsons all have a taper, so you can kinda use square bits/screws either each other, but they will chew the shit out of each other. Squares will always slip/strip, Robertson is far better IME.

In theory they're good, but I've had a few too many allen/hex screws strip and having both SAE and metric standards is irritating. Tool quality has been an issue as well, I've had shitty Torx screwdrivers last for years and years while a decent allen wrench will snap or wear out way faster. Still miles better than Phillips though.

Edit: also you can use Torx bits on hex screws, so more points for Torx.

Thwy strip, and good luck with torquing them to anything. I can't count how many times I had to drill out hex screws, and I don't even work with metal that much

Very popular in Canada

Most electrical panels use Robertson from my experience

Them square joints is tight. Never slip out on an impact.

Cabinetry screws also

Ah, the worlds best security screw, the one you can open by jamming a flathead in it.

Square is best here imo

Posidriv can bugger off too.

When you look at a Robertson, or a JIS or even a Phillips you just use a JIS or Robertson and you’re fine. If it is posidriv, you must use posidriv and you can’t use posidriv with a conventional Robertson/Phillips/JIS. The only way you can tell the difference is by a teeny-tiny little dot on the screwhead or some extra minuscule fins on the driver. If you do t have your glasses, or aren’t aware, you will damage the screw and your driver.

Hex and Torx are OK for certain things where you don’t want an ignorant pleb to gain access. Security Hex and Security Torx are OK where you don’t want an ignorant pleb in denial of their ignorance to gain access.

All those other drivers, Triwing, Pentalobe, variants of Posidriv are just there to push proprietary applications and should not be used by anyone.

Applications exposed to corosion really should use external drive fasteners.

So you're the one stripping all the screws then!

I'd like Torx if when they got used they didn't torque the shit out of the screws. Only the Steam Controller has ever been a simple process of removing Torx screws.

Everything else takes the power of drawing Excalibur from its stone.

'cross-head' and 'flat-head' for me

Then there's german, with (technically) slit and cross-slit

Kreuzschlitzschraubendreher

"Times."

Hey cool my grandfather was named witold. Probably had some strong opinions on screwdrivers too tbh.

Cheers for the recommend

No.

It pries, it scrapes, it can do anything!

Torx is the one true god

What is the reason to use torx over Internal hex (Allen key)? Surely there must be a reason why it's used

When growing up it used to be that (internal) hex was for high strength but needed exact tool size, and Phillips/flat blade for low strength application with the benefit of any approximately sized tool will work.

Seems to me torx is in this awkward in-between where it's used for low-strength applications, but require exact tool size. Or it's used interchangeably with hex, requiring two sets of tools available at the work site (not fun if the work site is 30 meters up some ladders)

Stainless fasteners are niche and require stainless tools, full-stop.

Most fasteners are not stainless.

Yeah, I’ll take that trade off pls

Nah, it's user error. Torx also has the problem. I've had to rescue multiple laptops from one of the IT guys at my work because he keeps using a Torx bit a couple sizes too small and stripping the heads.

Phillips was not designed to cam out. It cams out so people started saying it was designed to cam out.

Phillips was designed to reduce cam out, which it does, compared to slotted.

Common misconception.

Same way you identify which wrench to use on a hex bolt: You get a feel for it over time and you find the one that "fits" right.

You should be able to lightly rest the Philips driver in the head of the screw, and the tip should touch bottom. If it doesn't touch the bottom, go a size smaller. If you can rotate the driver in the screw head, go a size bigger.

When in doubt, it's probably a #2.

Isn't Positraction a GM trademark?

Why does it look like a clam shell

Looked into it a bit and you are right, it wasn't intended. The articles I've read all mention camming out as an unexpected bonus.

Robertson has the issue of when force is applied it is at angles that can easily damage the head and the tool or both.

In general I feel Robertson is excellent for low torque applications, but torx doesn't have any of these issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cA9bZRHpZE

Torx's highest-in-class leverage without camming out gives it superiority in some applications (eg impact-rated deck screws), but if you had to choose one fastener head for everything, posidriv is it.

Torx is not self-centering, and therefore inappropriate for many tasks including anything not hand-assembled. It is also susceptible to stripping out after rusting.

The patent is expired and it now has ANSI and ISO standards.

Sounds like someone is working with a small screwdriver, if you ask me.

Yep, very important to know for Japanese motorcycles, they all use JIS.

Higher-end bike parts might be the one application a home DIYer might encounter stainless steel hardware.

Stainless hardware is generally pretty uncommon, but most common in things like commercial kitchen equipment, aerospace and industrial machine panels.

In those industries, the pros know and carry specific stainless steel tools, because using normal tool-steel tools will destroy the hardware.

tl;dr Phillips, pozi or JIS, you might just end up shredding the softer stainless bicycle hardware with your harder tools.