Phillips Vs Posi Drive????

[Rick Potter]

Not sure I know what the difference is between Phillips and Posi Drive. Then there is Posi Drive ball detent, or wire detent.

Checked the McFeely's site, and the pic looks pretty much like Phillips to me.

Anybody satisfy an old man's idle curiosity?

Rick Potter

[Steve Baumgartner]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives

[Mark Bolton]

Ball detent and wire detent refer to how the bit is retained in the bit holder. If you google posi-drive you can see the difference. The posi has small lugs in the corners of a conventional phillips. More surface area, less cam-out.

[glenn bradley]

Phillips heads were designed to cam out under extreme torque. Pozidriv is designed to not cam out. That is a simplification but fundamentally correct.

[John Lanciani]

In addition to what the others have said, phillips bits tend to tear up pozi drive screws fairly easily. I keep a #2 pozi screwdriver just for all of the Blum hardware I use to prevent damage to the pozi screws they use.

[Mark Bolton]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives

Great link. I worked for an industrial supply company for a while and always prided myself on knowing many of the odd head styles and drive styles but boy there are some in that list Ive never come across.

[Jeff Duncan]

In addition to what the others have said, phillips bits tend to tear up pozi drive screws fairly easily. I keep a #2 pozi screwdriver just for all of the Blum hardware I use to prevent damage to the pozi screws they use.

I think that's the most important thing to remember about the Posi Drives. Trying to adjust any Euro hardware with a normal phillips is asking for trouble. I keep both phillips and posi drives with my driver bits.

JeffD

[David L Morse]

I use a Fluorescent Red Testors paint marker to identify my pozi bits. It looks Orange to me.

[Mike Zilis]

I switched to SPAX screws (Posi Drive) exclusively a couple years ago now. I'm very pleased with them and the Posi bit is about the only driver I use these days.

Mike

[ian maybury]

The Phillips bit is quite pointed, whereas the tip on a Posi is flattened. Use it on a Posi and it as a result can't fully engage in the slots and damage is the result.

Posi drivers are not a perfect fit in a Philips either.

Pay attention when you engage a screwdriver and you can usually tell if you have the right one - both types more or less click into place and have no slop whatsoever in the right screw.

It's basically a matter of always using the right screwdriver or bit. I've not been able to go one direction or the other - Posi is typical for us in Ireland, but we still get (especially US originating) bits of equipment with Philips screws fitted....


ian

[Greg Bender]

Posi drives are also used alot in motor starters, overloads and the electrical equivalent. What is cool is that you can stick a posi driver in the screw and it will support itself and not fall out. No can do with a regular philips.
Greg

[Jim Neeley]

Generalization: The wire detent is for handheld tools and is normally associated with 1" bits.

The ball detent is designed for 1/4" drive power screwdrivers / impact wrenches, where you had a slide-lock bit retainer.

If you use a wire detent in the ball-detent designed devices, it will fall out.

I've read that using a ball detent bit in a wire detent device can lead to the bit jamming in the tool, although I haven't (yet) experienced it.

Jim

[Rick Potter]

Great info guys,

I should have known what ball and wire detents were. Lots of info on posi screws. I never knew you needed a special screwdriver for them. Just what I need....more tools.

A friend was telling me about screws on Japanese motorcycles being slightly different from normal Phillips, going way back to at least the '60's. They have a different angle on the point, and a flattened bottom.

Thanks again,

Rick Potter

[Greg R Bradley]

Those are JIS, not a phillips. Guess that is one that is not on Wikipedia. That Wikipedia listing had some I could never have imagined.........

[Ole Anderson]

I'm surprised how many folks don't know there are different Phillips bits, commonly using a pointy #1 Phillips in a screw designed for a somewhat blunter #2 Phillips. A #2 Phillips has a flat end, unlike the #1 which is more pointed, but not as pointed as the smaller #0 Phillips. Don't know if the Posi comes in different sizes. I believe the Blum Posi screws are somewhat compatible with the #2 Phillips. I also believe the bag of 500 #6 x 5/8" screws I got from my cabinet supplier to go with my Blum hinges and slides were common #2 Phillips, not Posi.

[Chris Friesen]

On a philips screw the edges of each "blade" are not parallel. They're designed to cam out under torque to prevent over-tightening. On a posi-drive the edges of each blade are parallel, so there is no tendency to cam out under torque.

Do note that there are multiple sizes of both philips and posi-drive....at least three of each. The smaller the number, the smaller the bit.

[John Sanford]

There are three "common" cross head screw patterns. Phillips, Posi-Drive, and JIS. Using the proper tip matched to the screw is the best course of action. JIS is commonly found on products from Japan, especially motor vehicles.