Why flathead screws haven’t been completely phased out or replaced by Philips head screws
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Two different issues here.
1) Why is flathead still around? It’s *very* easy/cheap to make (both fastener and tooling), it can be good for high torque, and it’s the easiest to improvise a tool for.
2) Why Philips? Philips has only one useful property…it’s self-limiting on torque. This is useful for certain kinds of automated assembly and basically nowhere else. If you’re not going to use flat, literally anything other than Philips is better about 99% of the time. Philips should die.
It’s both a matter of type of use and personal preference.
But you have to realize that there are way more types of screw *head* than just flathead and Philips. Even limiting it to, say, flathead, the *shape* of the head varies. There is round head, button head, cheese head (yes, this is real), countersunk, oval head, etc.
And then the slot, or *drive*, types are flat and Philips, and also square, hex, star, spider, 12-point, one-way, snake eye, tri-wing, some that have a center pin for security, the list goes on.
There are different applications in which designers prefer to use a particular design, and for different uses. For the normal guy who just wants to put together, say, a back deck, it’s really not that important to research what he needs. He can just go to Home Depot and there are 10-pound boxes of countersunk screws (usually Philips/square/hex) that are labeled for outdoor use, they might even have a picture of a deck on them. The type of metal, coating, and length are really important in that regard.
As a personal anecdote, I need to buy about 80 short screws for my boat. They’ll be going on the top of the cabin. I’ll probably go with round or cheese head, because they need to hold down a sheet of fiberglass. They’ll be quality stainless to resist corrosion. And I’ll be using flathead drive so that any water that splashes into the head will drain out immediately and the screw will dry. A Philips drive screw will hold a drop of water inside for longer and make it more susceptible to saltwater corrosion.
It’s both a matter of type of use and personal preference.
But you have to realize that there are way more types of screw *head* than just flathead and Philips. Even limiting it to, say, flathead, the *shape* of the head varies. There is round head, button head, cheese head (yes, this is real), countersunk, oval head, etc.
And then the slot, or *drive*, types are flat and Philips, and also square, hex, star, spider, 12-point, one-way, snake eye, tri-wing, some that have a center pin for security, the list goes on.
There are different applications in which designers prefer to use a particular design, and for different uses. For the normal guy who just wants to put together, say, a back deck, it’s really not that important to research what he needs. He can just go to Home Depot and there are 10-pound boxes of countersunk screws (usually Philips/square/hex) that are labeled for outdoor use, they might even have a picture of a deck on them. The type of metal, coating, and length are really important in that regard.
As a personal anecdote, I need to buy about 80 short screws for my boat. They’ll be going on the top of the cabin. I’ll probably go with round or cheese head, because they need to hold down a sheet of fiberglass. They’ll be quality stainless to resist corrosion. And I’ll be using flathead drive so that any water that splashes into the head will drain out immediately and the screw will dry. A Philips drive screw will hold a drop of water inside for longer and make it more susceptible to saltwater corrosion.
Two different issues here.
1) Why is flathead still around? It’s *very* easy/cheap to make (both fastener and tooling), it can be good for high torque, and it’s the easiest to improvise a tool for.
2) Why Philips? Philips has only one useful property…it’s self-limiting on torque. This is useful for certain kinds of automated assembly and basically nowhere else. If you’re not going to use flat, literally anything other than Philips is better about 99% of the time. Philips should die.
It’s both a matter of type of use and personal preference.
But you have to realize that there are way more types of screw *head* than just flathead and Philips. Even limiting it to, say, flathead, the *shape* of the head varies. There is round head, button head, cheese head (yes, this is real), countersunk, oval head, etc.
And then the slot, or *drive*, types are flat and Philips, and also square, hex, star, spider, 12-point, one-way, snake eye, tri-wing, some that have a center pin for security, the list goes on.
There are different applications in which designers prefer to use a particular design, and for different uses. For the normal guy who just wants to put together, say, a back deck, it’s really not that important to research what he needs. He can just go to Home Depot and there are 10-pound boxes of countersunk screws (usually Philips/square/hex) that are labeled for outdoor use, they might even have a picture of a deck on them. The type of metal, coating, and length are really important in that regard.
As a personal anecdote, I need to buy about 80 short screws for my boat. They’ll be going on the top of the cabin. I’ll probably go with round or cheese head, because they need to hold down a sheet of fiberglass. They’ll be quality stainless to resist corrosion. And I’ll be using flathead drive so that any water that splashes into the head will drain out immediately and the screw will dry. A Philips drive screw will hold a drop of water inside for longer and make it more susceptible to saltwater corrosion.
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A lot of people over here arguing about what the best screw is. Problem is, the best screw type depends on the situation. There is no “**one screw to rule them all**”:
* **Slotted** “Flathead” – simplest of all designs. Does not work well with a screw gun, but hand tools are fine and it looks good on decorative items like electrical outlet covers.
* **Phillips** “cross” – works well with a screw gun. Tends to “cam out” when max torque is reached. Can be a curse of a feature.
* **Robertsons** “square” – much better grab. Won’t cam out as easy. Careful not to snap your screw!
* **Torx** “star” – even better grab. Can be used at many angles. Again, make sure not to drive so hard that you start snapping screws.
* [And many, many more…](https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1282378169/vector/screw-drive-types-and-heads-of-screws-or-bolts-in-outline-style.jpg?s=1024×1024&w=is&k=20&c=GF__p_b-gHldApDr2KhPZfqRi8CluNZyVndYjRpinUU=)
***Edit:*** For those who are interested in more than just a photo, the wiki page “[List of screw drives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives)” has the names and descriptions of the various drive options.
A lot of people over here arguing about what the best screw is. Problem is, the best screw type depends on the situation. There is no “**one screw to rule them all**”:
* **Slotted** “Flathead” – simplest of all designs. Does not work well with a screw gun, but hand tools are fine and it looks good on decorative items like electrical outlet covers.
* **Phillips** “cross” – works well with a screw gun. Tends to “cam out” when max torque is reached. Can be a curse of a feature.
* **Robertsons** “square” – much better grab. Won’t cam out as easy. Careful not to snap your screw!
* **Torx** “star” – even better grab. Can be used at many angles. Again, make sure not to drive so hard that you start snapping screws.
* [And many, many more…](https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1282378169/vector/screw-drive-types-and-heads-of-screws-or-bolts-in-outline-style.jpg?s=1024×1024&w=is&k=20&c=GF__p_b-gHldApDr2KhPZfqRi8CluNZyVndYjRpinUU=)
***Edit:*** For those who are interested in more than just a photo, the wiki page “[List of screw drives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives)” has the names and descriptions of the various drive options.
[removed]
A lot of people over here arguing about what the best screw is. Problem is, the best screw type depends on the situation. There is no “**one screw to rule them all**”:
* **Slotted** “Flathead” – simplest of all designs. Does not work well with a screw gun, but hand tools are fine and it looks good on decorative items like electrical outlet covers.
* **Phillips** “cross” – works well with a screw gun. Tends to “cam out” when max torque is reached. Can be a curse of a feature.
* **Robertsons** “square” – much better grab. Won’t cam out as easy. Careful not to snap your screw!
* **Torx** “star” – even better grab. Can be used at many angles. Again, make sure not to drive so hard that you start snapping screws.
* [And many, many more…](https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1282378169/vector/screw-drive-types-and-heads-of-screws-or-bolts-in-outline-style.jpg?s=1024×1024&w=is&k=20&c=GF__p_b-gHldApDr2KhPZfqRi8CluNZyVndYjRpinUU=)
***Edit:*** For those who are interested in more than just a photo, the wiki page “[List of screw drives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives)” has the names and descriptions of the various drive options.
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