Torx Screws - Why?

[Abraham]

Why are they so popular on things gun...?

Why not use a standard phillips head or slot head screw?

I don't get it...?

[The Marshal]

Tool sales!!!!

Hah Hah moment:

I was removing the Torx Screws that hold the front rails / Barrel Assy on my SCAR.
They are "Captured Screws". Ok, I read that, but I wonder what it meant. Oh well.

So I start cranking on the screw to back it out. Suddenly it gives, turns easy, and makes a "stripping head" sound.


Panic sets in. I try another Torx wrench, thinking I must have stripped out the cheap wrench. Same grinding noise. AUGH!
My heart is in my throat, as I continue to turn the wrench hearing that horrible noise. But wait! The screw is turning.

So, in Belgium I found out, a 'Captured Screw' is created by putting little teeth on the shank of the bolt head, and then putting a steel spring to lay across those teeth.
As you turn the screw, it makes a terrible noise, but the end result is that it will NOT fall out of the hole, as the spring prevents this.

Needless to say, I was very happy when I discovered that this was the case, and that I did not just break my brand new rifle.

[ELB]

Why are they so popular on things gun...?

Why not use a standard phillips head or slot head screw?

I don't get it...?

Got me to wondering...why Torx on anything?

Per Wikipedia

By design, Torx head screws resist cam-out better than Phillips head or slot head screws. Where Phillips heads were designed to cause the driver to cam out, to prevent overtightening, Torx heads were designed to prevent cam-out. The reason for this was the development of better torque-limiting automatic screwdrivers for use in factories. Rather than rely on the tool slipping out of the screw head when a torque level is reached, thereby risking damage to the driver tip, screw head and/or workpiece, the newer driver design achieves a desired torque consistently. The manufacturer claims this can increase tool bit life by ten times or more.[citation needed]

The Torx design allows for a higher torque to be exerted than a similarly-sized conventional hex socket head without damaging the head and/or the tool. The diagram on the right depicts the interaction between the male and female components of a conventional hex drive and a Torx drive. The clearance between the components is exaggerated for clarity. The diagram does not show a true Torx profile, but illustrates the general shape and geometry.

There is no citation for this, but the entry in Wikipedia does have a link to the patent for Torx here: http://www.google.com/patents/US3584667" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think all that means you can crank a Torx screw down mo' betta with much less risk of boogering up the screw head.

[Pawpaw]

I'm a big fan of Torx screws for exactly the reason listed in the Wiki article. I've never had a Torx screwdriver slip and scratch anything. I can't say the same thing about flat or Phillips screws.

By the same token, I hate Allen screws. They don't cam out, but both the screws and wrenches get rounded off and won't work right.

Torx is the best of both worlds. They just don't slip, in my experience. YMMV

[WildBill]

I've never had a Torx screwdriver slip and scratch anything. I can't say the same thing about flat or Phillips screws.

Torx is the best of both worlds. They just don't slip, in my experience. YMMV

[jocat54]

I've never had a Torx screwdriver slip and scratch anything. I can't say the same thing about flat or Phillips screws.

Torx is the best of both worlds. They just don't slip, in my experience. YMMV

Me too. Phillips head strip to easliy and slotted---well they just aren't worth anything

[ghostrider]

Torx is the best of both worlds. They just don't slip, in my experience. YMMV

I agree. Since I have a Harley, I have plenty of Torx screwdrivers :-)

The only thing IMO that came close was the Robertson (square) which was invented in Canada and not terribly popular south of thhe border. For hard to reach areas the Roberton screws stay on the end of the screwdriver much better than anything else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_ ... #Robertson" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JSThane]

I'm going to disagree most whole-heartedly on the Roberson head screws, based on an incident just earlier today. I'm refurbishing a chicken coop, and there was a swinging panel, originally intended as a sun-shade, that had warped and needed to be removed. The hinges were secured by Roberson screws, ALL of which rounded out. I have destroyed Phillips, flat-head, and yes, even Torx, but I've never managed to round out a screw head that quickly before.

I undid the other side of the hinges, which resulted in many colorful metaphors when it fell on my head, as there is literally no way to remove those stupid Roberson screws, short of cutting them out of the wood.

[Abraham]

Thanks all for the illuminating input.

I'm now going to buy some T.S. tools as the ones that are generally furnished with a gun part are more and more difficult for me to use as me mitts get more and more arthritic - of course, I'd druther (I'm working on improving my geezer-speak) still be above ground with arthritis, than that other option...

[PLWanker]

I own an old Jeep CJ...almost all of the body bolts on that thing are torx. They are a bundle of four letter joy to take out when the rust weld to something else. I have spent my fair share of time with a redneck hot wrench to take some of them out.

[TheCytochromeC]

If you think torx are unusual, check out this guy.



That's a triple square bit, because it has 12 points, similar to three superimposed squares.

They're used in a lot of European vehicle makes.

They aren't particularly cheap or easy to find either.

[JSThane]

If you think torx are unusual, check out this guy.

[ Image ]

That's a triple square bit, because it has 12 points, similar to three superimposed squares.

They're used in a lot of European vehicle makes.

They aren't particularly cheap or easy to find either.

So -that's- what those are! I've got a quarter-inch bit set that has several of those, along with some other weird stuff (security flat-heads, "offset" Phillips bits, and three-bladed pseudo-Phillips bits). I don't know that I've seen any of these in the wild, however, with the sole exception of security flat-head screws.

[tomtexan]

How about these? Tamper proof torx. Anyone ever encountered those? Basically has a pin in the middle of the head.

[Bonc_CHL]

How about these? Tamper proof torx. Anyone ever encountered those? Basically has a pin in the middle of the head.

[ Image ]

I have come across them while fixing an XBox controller.

[The Annoyed Man]

.....mo' betta with much less risk of boogering up the screw head....

"mo' betta" being a unit of measurement in precision engineering, and "boogering up" being an engineering term for using something outside of its design parameters.