Template talk:Screws

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Contents 1 two versions ?? 2 - 3 Prison screw 4 PolyDrive 5 Spline drive 6 Erroneous?

[edit] two versions ??

although there is a gray area, some fasteners are clearly common (slotted, phillips, etc) and some are not common in everyday life (polydrive, external torx...). It would be good to have somewhere in a table all (not-100%-obsolete) fasteners, but perhaps this information would be best conveyed if there were two tables, one for the most common subset & the other with 'all'. It seems clear to me that this would be a good balance between providing all the information while remaining relevant to the 'average' person...

Mboard182 (talk) 05:31, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] -

There seems to be some missing --Belg4mit 03:32, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Prison screw

Prison screws have sort of an enlarged slot, with those sides of the normal slot on which the screwdriver bears, when tightening the screw, being flat and offset by a normal amount, but the corresponding surfaces for loosening missing: instead, the would-be loosening screwdriver encounters a smooth, curved surface, that would require enormous force along the axis of the screwdriver to keep it from being carried away from the "bottom" of the slot as it turns in the loosening direction, so that in practice as straight slotted-style screwdriver rides out of the slot without loosening the screw at all. Should be added, i think.
--Jerzy•t 23:35, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] PolyDrive

PolyDrive is a 6-toothed fastener similar to torx and spine. It should be added --Mboard182

I thought so too. Done. --Farry (talk) 14:45, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Spline drive

I can't find any sources defining this type, but it is referenced a lot in tool catalogs and repair manuals. I don't know how it is different than polydrive. It probably should be added.

I added a page for spline drive —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mboard182 (talk • contribs) 05:26, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Erroneous?

This box says that a "slotted" screwdriver is "erroneously" called a flathead, but no other wikipedia page gives any reason why this would be erroneous. No other page explains it either. Can someone explain this, and put some kind of information about why it would be erroneous somewhere so that people can understand?PotatoKnight (talk) 18:07, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Take a look at the revision history; the issue is that "flathead" in fact (according to the people who were editing the template) refers to screws which do not have rounded heads (so are flat-headed). They repeatedly attempted to add essay-length passages on why referring to the drive as "flathead" is "wrong" in the middle of a navigational template. I chose the current wording as a compromise between length and accuracy. Stannered (talk) 18:59, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Would it work to change it to simply "commonly, flathead"? I seriously spent about ten minutes looking at the various screw-related wiki pages trying to figure out why that would be erroneous. While I certainly agree that a screed on why it's wrong doesn't belong in a template box, there should be some evidence/information somewhere for an assertion like that. It seems like it would just be easier to point out that there is one name and another common name and leave it at that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by PotatoKnight (talk • contribs) 21:10, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

That was my view also, but when I left it at that, users (or one user) kept returning to re-add the diatribe. The current wording is very much a compromise. I'm not at all sure what can be done *shrugs* Stannered (talk) 21:33, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to give it a shot and ask that the anonymous contributer(s) to provide a verifiable citation that this is erroneous and also put some information in one of the pages. I'm not looking to start a truly dumb edit war over this, but it really seems like this is putting one persons opinion onto every page related to screws.PotatoKnight (talk) 02:06, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I have been changing this by adding "misidentified". I suppose if it is not found in the Wikipedia it's not true. If you do a simple image search on google (see: screwdriver types)you will find a preponderance of evidence that "Flathead" is a lay term at best for "slotted". No trade reference refers to this as "flathead". As a tradesman, I cannot tell you how often I request the following: "a 6-32 flathead phillips screw" I use a lot of them. Perpetuating this issue only makes me question other entries which I have no expertise in. Irritantno9 (talk) 21:31, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I think that as long as this is a point of contention, the "Flathead" reference should be romoved. I'm new to this. I am only now understnading how contentious this issue is. I don't see any citation that upholds this as a "commonly" referenced naming of this drive type. Please cite credible source rather than your opinion on this matter. Irritantno9 (talk) 21:44, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm actually OK with leaving out the term "flathead" entirely. However, a google image search for "flathead screw" does indeed turn up pictures of screws that are slotted but not flathead in the sense that you are using the word (see for example http://www.uniquetextures.com/01360.htm). A search for "flathead screwdriver" turns up dozens of links that use that term to refer to a screwdriver intended for this kind of screw. I think it's fair to say that people use the term "flathead" to refer to slotted. That doesn't mean that it has to say that in the template, however.PotatoKnight (talk) 00:21, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Just because a crocodile looks like an alligator, that does not make it OK to misidentify one for a scholarly record. If you think a crocodile and an alligator are functionally equivalent, fine. Just don't write it on wikipedia. . I would suggest reviewing references such as the Engineer's Handbook or Machinery's Handbook instead of www.uniquetextures.com. Use of "head" in the descriptive name expressly refers to the Head type (see: Head type : Cheese, oval, pan, flat, round, fillister, etc). Irritantno9 (talk) 23:10, 13 May 2008 (UTC)