Robertson Head Screw (Square Drive Screw)

[Raff]

Robertson screws are by far the fastener of choice in Canada. My Boler is now full of them. Three common sizes #1 green handle screwdriver, #2 red handle, #3 yellow handle.


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[Jack L]

I remember finding some "clutch head screws" in trailers and campers. I actually has some clutch head screwdrivers. I never saw these fasteners anywhere but the RV industry. I haven't seen or even thought about these in years.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

If I have a choice, I choose Robertson screws.

Me too! 80% of the screws I use are Robertson. I throw any old, dated slotted screws away. Robertson's are popular and used as deck screws. The Robertson was invented in Milton or Georgetown Ontario. I recall driving past the historic location a number of years ago.

[Bob Miller]

And try going into a hardware store and asking for a Reed & Prince screwdriver, the eventual reply will usually be "Oh, you mean you want a Phillips Screwdriver". To which I could reply, "No, that's a bar drink with vodka, orange juice and milk of magnesia" (Yuk) LOL


In Japan and Germany they often use the description (+) and (-) for kinds of screwdrivers

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

And try going into a hardware store and asking for a Reed & Prince screwdriver, the eventual reply will usually be "Oh, you mean you want a Phillips Screwdriver". To which I could reply, "No, that's a bar drink with vodka, orange juice and milk of magnesia" (Yuk) LOL

Assure you Bob if you walk into any hardware store in Canada and ask for a Robertson screw or driver you will get what you want, although it may not be actually made by the Robertson Company itself.

Its a bit like Weed Eaters. Yes thats a Brand name and there are lots of different companies that make machines that look the same and do the same thing with different names on them. But if you talk about a Weed Eater pretty well everyone knows what your talking about.

[Harvey]

Since the early 1970s I've owned at least a dozen different Rvs (truck campers, trailers, pop-up trailers & truck campers, 5th wheels, & now 2 moulded fiberglass trailers) as well as a homebuilt teardrop trailer I built in 2006. Some new, some very well used & all USA mfg'd except the 1976 Trillium I bought & then sold to a neighbor who 'just had to have it', which was Canada mfg'd. I bought a new Fields truck camper in 1979, built in Tulsa, OK, a new Mallard 5th wheel in 1985, built in Indiana, a new Layton bumper pull trailer in 1997, built in Indiana. I've also bought & 're-built' a host of other trailers & truck campers. In every case I can think of they were all (except the homebuilt teardrop) 'put together' using the square drive 'Robertson' type screws, even the Tulsa, OK built camper, the Mallard, & the Layton. I'm pretty sure a couple of the older models used a combination of square drive & 'clutch head' screws. Over the years I've amassed a pretty good collection of square drivers & bits tho I'm pretty sure I gave away my 'clutch head' (bow-tie?) drivers?? As long as I've been working on those things, I never knew the name 'Robertson' applied; THANKS for that info. I'd just take a screw to my local hardware store or RV dealer & buy a driver or bit that fit. A couple of 'big box' stores in locations where I lived usually had a display of different drivers & bits near the check-out & I'd pick up a handful of 'cheapies' when I bought building/repair supplies. I've probably 'lost' more square drive bits over the years than most people have seen. Fortunately the cheapies usually work as well as more expensive; don't recall ever breaking one...

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Assure you Bob if you walk into any hardware store in Canada and as for a Robinson screw or driver you will get what you want.....

And you'll get even more what you want if you ask for a Robertson.

[Jack L]

I'm getting teary eyed reading all this. I need a Kleenex or is that a "facial tissue" ?

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by rbryan

And you'll get even more what you want if you ask for a Robertson.

LOL - Well to be honest here in Canada that would probable still get you what you want regardless!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Jack L

Yes but if you call a Chinese square drive screw a "Robertson" you would be infringing on Robertson's trademark and could go to jail. Do the jails in Canada have metric bars ?

Jack just for fun I did a search using only "Robertson" as the search terms in the screw driver section of the Homedepot.ca site and guess what some of the companies are actually using the term "Robertson" to describe their screw drivers while interestingly enough the search turned up others which are describing them as a "Square recess" screw driver.

Funny enough none of the screw drivers that appear on the search results are described as you folks in the US seem to call them "Square Drive".

But if you search under tools screw drivers again using the term "Square Drive" you get a search return of only two screw drivers - both not surprising are made by Milwaukee which if I am not mistaken is a US company.

As I said the term "Square Drive" to describe a "Robertson" type screw driver is not one we hear to often up here in the north, name copy right or no copy right.

[Roger C H]

I had a Yamaha motorcycle which had all Phillip's head screws. Impossible to work on. I couldn't get anything apart! I even bought an impact driver and that didn't work.
Which brings up another interesting screw type, the tighten, not loosen that is often used on public bathroom partitions because of the theft problem.
Why people steal hardware from bathrooms is beyond me.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Jack just for fun I did a search using only "Robertson" as the search terms in the screw driver section of the Homedepot.ca site and guess what some of the companies are actually using the term "Robertson" to describe their screw drivers while interestingly enough the search turned up others which are describing them as a "Square recess" screw driver.

Funny enough none of the screw drivers that appear on the search results are described as you folks in the US seem to call them "Square Drive".

But if you search under tools screw drivers again using the term "Square Drive" you get a search return of only two screw drivers - both not surprising are made by Milwaukee which if I am not mistaken is a US company.

As I said the term "Square Drive" to describe a "Robertson" type screw driver is not one we hear to often up here in the north, name copy right or no copy right.

It's difficult if not impossible to find genuine Robertson Screwdrivers and screws here in Texas. I think they're better, so I looked around. Was able later to find them here in San Antonio, at an electrical supply/electronics store. They don't have them at the hardware stores.

[Raff]

Originally Posted by Raff

Robertson screws are by far the fastener of choice in Canada. My Boler is now full of them. Three common sizes #1 green handle screwdriver, #2 red handle, #3 yellow handle.


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A correction to my earlier post. Yellow handle driver is #0 and black is #3. Thanks Brian B-P.


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[emers382]

Originally Posted by MC1

Me too! 80% of the screws I use are Robertson. I throw any old, dated slotted screws away. Robertson's are popular and used as deck screws. The Robertson was invented in Milton or Georgetown Ontario. I recall driving past the historic location a number of years ago.

Milton ON is where Robertson set up shop.


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[Franswa]

I remember reading years and years ago that Robertson was a travelling salesman for a hardware company...the newest "hot tool" of the day was the old style racheting screwdriver...you still find them at some garage sales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqC6izaqseQ

as you can imagine, using slotted screws with such a thing caused a lot of injuries with workers slipping and injuring their hands in the process.

Robertson came up with the solution: a screw that did not have to be held at the start of the driving process and it was wildly successfull overnight.

He had a patent for it and would not license it. He wanted to manufacture ALL the screws..... It's still the only screw that will stay on the bit all by itself....a hundred or so years later

[Carl V]

It's amazing that something so common here is barely known at many places just south of the border. I mean any screwdriver kit you can buy here has at least 2 sizes of Robertsons.

Also, here in francophone Quebec, they are not usually called by the Robertson name. Although most people would know what a Robertson screwdriver is, people just call them "square screwdrivers".

I remember when I was young, my parents had a popup camper, and clutch screws where everywhere. Dad could never find a bit to drive them so he actually machined its own.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I have used them but prefer star-drive screws as they seem to strip less easily. Not sure how available they are outside of what I've used them for which is deck screws.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Metric is one of those things I had friends visiting from the US last summer and they were going on about not knowing what the heck the speed limit was & always wondering if they were speeding. I told them to look at/use the little numbers on the inside circle of their speedometer. They burst out laughing and said they always wondered what those numbers where!

Along the same lines of not knowing what certain dash indicators mean, it was my daughter, only a few years ago, pointed out to me that the little triangle on the fuel gauge pointed to the side the filler was on.

A good testament to the Robertson head screws was when my son was about 3 years old, my dad built him a small workbench with real tools, and include a 2x4 with predrilled holes, with screws with differing heads on them. The straight (flat) headed screws he could not really manage at all, the Phillips head he could do but with lots of slipping, but the Robertson he could turn fairly well.

Being a Canadian, pretty much the only screws dealt with that are not Robertson, are on items imported. Other than drywall screws, that for some reason have always been Phillips.

[Carl V]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Other than drywall screws, that for some reason have always been Phillips.

Because they can "cam out", which is exactly why I try to avoid them for any other uses!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Along the same lines of not knowing what certain dash indicators mean, it was my daughter, only a few years ago, pointed out to me that the little triangle on the fuel gauge pointed to the side the filler was on.

.

LOL when I had to drive company vehicles I once complained to the fleet manager about how often they changing my vehicle. He burst out laughing and asked why I was complaining about getting new vehicles more frequently than some others - he thought I should be very happy with that fact. I told him besides having to relearn how to use various options in the car the most annoying was remember what side the gas filler was on!

He pointed out the same as your daughter did, but if there is no triangle or arrow of the gage, the gas filler is usually on the same side the hose is on the little gas tank symbol on the gas gage. Who know it was that simple!