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Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's storehouse of human knowledge24-Nov-1989
Dear Cecil:
Why did Mr. Phillips invent a new type of head for screws? Was he
bored? Do Phillips-head screws have any advantage over the standard
slot-type screw? Or was Phillips just trying to invent a market he
could corner? --Roger W., Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Cecil replies:
So many opportunities for rude puns, Roger. I must be strong.
Actually, Phillips screws have many advantages, most of which I am
personally acquainted with, having once had a job repairing power
tools. (Cecil has had quite the varied career.) Unfortunately, none
of these advantages is of much use to Joe Handyman, who typically
regards Phillips screws as a first-class pain in the butt, owing to
their propensity to strip out at the least provocation. But more on
this directly.
To engage the cross-shaped indentation in the head of a Phillips
screw you need a Phillips screwdriver (you probably guessed this),
whose pointed tip makes it self-centering. This is helpful when
you're using a power screwdriver, which is the reason the Phillips
screw was invented: it lends itself to assembly-line screwing, so
to speak.
The inventor of the Phillips screw was Henry F. Phillips, a
businessman from Portland, Oregon, who obviously had a lot of time
on his hands. (I learn this, incidentally, from a delightful
article on the Phillips screw that appeared in the Wall Street
Journal.) Henry knew that power screwdrivers don't work well with
ordinary slot screws because (1) you waste precious seconds trying
to fit the screwdriver into the damn slot; (2) once you succeed,
centrifugal force tends to make the bit slide off the screw and
into the workbench; and even if you avoid this, (3) when the screw
gets as far in as it's going to go, the power screwdriver either
stalls, strips out the screw, or starts to spin around in your
hand.
A Phillips screwdriver, however, has a pointed tip. Get it anywhere
in the general vicinity of the screw and it engages as if by magic,
and what's more, stays engaged. Furthermore, the cross-shaped
indentation in the screw is so shallow that when you're done the
screwdriver pops right out, before you get into trouble. Cecil
found this handy fixing power tools, and back in the 1930s Henry
Phillips thought the automakers would find it handy making cars.
The automakers were no brighter then than now, but eventually
realized the usefulness of Henry's device, and it's been with us
ever since.
The only problem is, easy as they are to get in, Phillips screws
can be a bitch to get back out. The screwdriver pops out too
readily, stripping the screw, gouging the work, and in general
transferring to Joe Handyman all the problems that were formerly
the province of the assembly line. Once again, in other words, the
little guy gets shafted by the dehumanizing forces of capitalism.
The only solution, socialism obviously being in decline, is to buy
a power screwdriver of your own. You can't beat 'em, join 'em.
--CECIL ADAMS
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