Not your fault. It's a shit screw design that should not be used by anyone ever.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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You would be surprised how many people use the wrong size driver or bit, and then wonder why the screw stripped so easily. Yes, the design is bad, but using the wrong tool makes it so much worse.
Ok but how many people can visually tell the difference between a #1 Philips vs #1 JIS vs #1 Posidrive? (They are all + shaped)
That's not what I mean: people using PH1 instead of a PH2, for example. My more recent encounters with this is people simply not knowing that the difference in driver is annually important. So they clearly were just never told to pick the right size, or how to find out the right size.
Didn't Philips come first?
Only in cases you deliberately want the screw to cam out, like drywall screws when using a screw gun.
You'd be better off having a torque limiter on the screw guns, like the manufacturing industry did long ago. In addition to not fucking up the screws, the bits last far longer. Camming out is a shit solution to a problem that doesn't have to exist anymore.
Drywall screws aren't installed to a specific torque, but a specific depth; that's why they're a great use case for Phillips head. You don't care about messing up the screws a tiny bit either as they are single use, and new bits aren't expensive (and come in every box of screws anyways as they're a known wear item).
screw it, I'm not taking sides. but I have learned a lot already.
The uhga goes duhga and I sent it home to REFUSAL.
As usualsuspects said, you're wrong in this case. I'm installing some drywall right now, I bought specific Philips bits that expose only a small portion of the tip specifically so it cams out at the perfect depth in the drywall, so it's flush and doesn't go deep enough to break the paper.
Torque would not work at all because depending on if your screwing into a knot on the stud or a soft portion you'd get wildly different depths.
And it's only the second worst of the screw designs!
I would say slotted at least has the argument for esthetics. Phillips has nothing.
Robertson ftw
Don't forget, if you are working on something Japanese from before the mid 2000s its not actually a Phillips head, its a JIS and if you look at it while thinking its a Phillips head you have already fucked it up. I very much recommend spending the money for a set of Vessel brand screwdrivers if you work on anything that may have used a JIS drive. They are awesome and completely worth the price.
Also don’t forget Posidriv.
Yup, at least Posi looks different.
I just got a cheap set of JIS bits and pop them in my impact driver. They work better on phillips screws, too. Also, JIS. Lol.
My dremel is a machine that turns mangled screwheads into slot screwheads
One thing I never see recommended on these posts is using the right size of screwdriver. It's a standardized shape with multiple (also standardized) sizes. You generally want to use the largest screwdriver that completely fits the screw.
Same goes for any screw. You can tell if someone used the wrong flathead size on outlet plates because it deforms the metal and scuffs up the paint
this person screws
I work in AV and used to be a field installer so I'm a seasoned screwer. My screw count is easily in the tens of thousands.
I've also got a ton of experience stripping! So here's a tip there: the holes in a wire stripper can be used to shorten those same screws without messing up the thread.
I would use a square bit on that top one. Weird geometry for a Phillips.
Because it's already partly rounded off.
Ahhhh. It reminded me of the time when I screwed my laptop up.