Eli5 Why is there not a universal “best screw”

237 views

Why can’t we just figure out what screw -head- shape is the best and always use that. It seems pointless to have hundreds of different screw types for very similar things. Obviously this is excluding things like lug nuts or anything heavy duty.

Edit:specifying screw heads, not the threads or shape.

In: 0

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Some screws need high torque, some screws need to be easy to make, some screws need to be easy to screw in. You have a bunch of different competing interests, and there is no one screw head that gives the best of all worlds.

Like for example, a torx head gives high torque, but you need a pretty specialized broach to make the shape. A slotted head literally just needs a saw, but is weird to screw in with. And a Phillips head is easy to attach to the driver, but it cams out very easily.

So depending on what you need, you get different screws.

You are viewing 1 out of 7 answers, click here to view all answers.