When using a screwdriver, these are what you should do:

First, make sure you select the right kind for the job. If not, you may either ruin a perfectly healthy screwdriver or strip the screw head and make it difficult to remove later, if you have to.

Secondly, fastener heads may have a single slot, a slotted cross, a hex-shaped indentation, a star pattern, and other shapes. So be sure to examine the head of the screw or fastener to match it to the correct screwdriver. Never use a flat-head screwdriver on a Phillips-head screw. Even if you do get by with this combination a few times, you are risking damage to both the screw as well as the screwdriver.

Next, confirm the tip of the screwdriver completely fills the screw head you are driving or removing. If the tip is too narrow, you will lose considerable torque and leverage while driving, and that means you have to put in more effort to complete the job. Additionally, you risk bending the tip of your screwdriver and/or stripping the screw head.

If the tip of your screwdriver is wider than the screw head, it may damage the surface you are screwing into. If the tip is too thick, the blade will not be able to drive the screw, as it will simply slip out. To use the right screwdriver for the job, you can use a suitable screwdriver-sizing chart such as below.

Slot-headed Screwdrivers and Screws

Blade Size	Screw Size
3/32”	O and 1
1/8”	2
5/32”	3
3/16”	4 and 5
1/4”	6 and 7
5/16”	8 to 10
3/8”	12 to 14
7/16”	16 to 18
1/2”	18 to 24

 

Phillips-head Screwdrivers and Screws

Blade Size	Screw Size
0	O and 1
1	2 to 4
2	5 to 9
3	10 to 16
4	18 to 24

Remember, when driving screws into wood, it’s a good idea to drill a pilot hole first. Without pilot holes, screws tend to follow the grain of the wood, which results in crooked screws. The pilot hole can guide the screw into the wood and allows it to enter straight. In addition, the pilot hole prevents the wood from splitting as you drive the screw in. Place the screw in the pilot hole, hold it with your fingers and apply a little pressure with the screwdriver as you turn the screw. If the area around the screw is insufficient for holding it with fingers, you can use a screw holder.

What are screwdrivers?

A screwdriver is a hand tool which can be used to screw or unscrew a fastener. It allows you to tighten a screw by turning the driver clockwise and loosen it by turning counterclockwise. Typically, screwdrivers are used with small electronics, computers, electrical work, furniture, and automotive work. Impact drivers and cordless drills can also be used for bigger jobs like construction.

The screwdriver essentially consists of four parts: (1) The handle, (2) the shank, (3) the blade, and (4) the tip.

Matching the correct screwdriver tip to the head of a fastener

You may think every screwdriver looks very much alike, but actually, each of them is unique. They are distinguished from each other based on their tip and what type of screw they drive. The most important thing to use a screwdriver is by matching the correct screwdriver tip to the head of a fastener.

The two most commonly used screwdriver tips are the flat-head/slot-head and Phillips-head screwdrivers.

1) A slot-head screwdriver, also called the flat head/regular screwdriver, is used with a slot head screw. It consists of a flat, single blade that fits the single slot of traditional screws. It’s the oldest and most common type of screwdriver in the world. You’ll find flat head screws used in most simple woodworking projects.

2) A Phillips-head screwdriver has a four-star point at the end of its shank which fits into the corresponding cross-shaped, shallow depression of the screw. This special design enables the user to apply more torque to the screw than the slot-head screwdriver. The tip of the Phillips-head screwdriver and the depression of the screw together force the blades of the Phillips screwdriver to slip out before any damaging over-torque can occur. Users should always look for a Phillips-head screwdriver made of quality metal, such as steel, because the harder the tip, the less chance you have of stripping the screw.
While the above two are the most common screwdrivers, there are still other types of screwdrivers that can be used for different jobs. Please check below link to know more about various types of screwdrivers – Click and Go

The moving Hook

Have you ever wondered why the hook of a measuring tape always slides back and forth?

This isn’t a flaw—it’s made by design and is actually a very important feature of measuring tapes. When you hook the tip of your tape over the end of an object to make a measurement from an outside edge (a pulling measurement), the tip is pulled out and the hook will extend slightly. The gap it slides —believe it or not— is exactly the thickness of the hook which is one-sixteenth of an inch. On the contrary, when you make a measurement from an inside corner (a pushing measurement), the tip squeezes in and it takes into consideration the space of the hook which guarantees an accurate measurement. In short, the tip of a measuring tape slides back and forth to compensate for its own thickness.
Isn’t this feature fascinating?

The mysterious number on the tape body

At the base of every measuring tape, you can usually find a number. In photo 1 below, the number is “70mm”. It tells us that the base of this measuring tape is “70mm” in length. You may wonder “why in the world do I have to know this?” Well, this number is incredibly useful when you are making an inside measurement. Normally, users tend to bend the measuring tape to get an inside measurement, but it distorts the reading and makes it very hard to read. However, if you place your measuring tape against the wall like photo 2, you can get the accurate length of the wall by combing the tape measurement and the length of the tape body, which is ”70mm” as suggested on the case.

There you have it, you are one step closer to become a master of measuring. Hopefully, you’ll find the above two tricks useful and we’ll come back for more soon.

At Richard & Brothers, we try our best to help customers to find the right screwdriver types. In order to help, we prepared this guide to screw head types and drives.

Always use the right screwdriver for the screwhead you are working on.

I know some of these look the same (can you tell the difference between a Pozidriv and a Phillips from 10 feet away?) but they are not – and you risk damaging the screw and ending up taking a lot of time to extract it if it gets damaged.

  Slotted

This is the original screw drive. You find these everywhere, though the practice of using screws with slotted drives is on the decline because the screwdriver slips out of the slot, particularly when you are applying heavy torque to really tighten down (or loosen, for that matter) these types of screws.

 

Phillips

This screw drive type is very popular – and again, you find them in a very wide range of applications. Common sizes are Phillips #1, #2 and #3. The most common Phillips size is #2.

 

Phillips Tamper-resistant

Not very common, but when you need one, you need one. Same shape and sizing as Phillips, but the screw includes a tamper-resistant pin in the middle. This screw is not used in high torque applications as the design is not very strong and the bits cannot be manufactured to high strength specifications.

 

Quadrex

A combined Phillips and square recess drive.

 

Pozidriv

This screwhead is very common in Europe. It looks a lot like a Phillips screwhead, but it includes 4 more contact points. Common sizes are Pozidriv #1, #2 and #3.

 

Square Recess

Square recess is being used more and more as they are very resistant to cam-out, which is a fancy way of saying the tip of the tool does not slip out and mar the screwhead very easily. Commonly found in two sizes: Square #2 and #3.

 

Square Recess Tamper-resistant

Same design and sizing as square recess, but includes a centered tamper-resistant pin.

 

TORX

TORX, the funny looking screw drive. Well, you see them in a lot of electronics here in the US, and they are gaining ground in a variety of their applications. They range in size from T5 through T55 in 1/4″ insert bits and powerdrive bits.

 

Tamper-resistant TORX

Tamper-resistant TORX has a small post in the middle of the drive that prevents a regular TORX driver from working.

 

TORX Plus

TORX Plus is an enhanced TORX design that allows more contact area between the driver and the screwhead allowing more torque to be applied, even at high driving speeds. This is a fairly new design.

 

Tamper-resistant TORX Plus

Tamper-resistant TORX Plus is a licensed design, only available after the purchaser has completed paperwork indicating their authorization to purchase these bits. This design is used extensively in correctional facilities and in other high-security applications. It is different than the usual TORX Plus because it uses only a FIVE lobe design, with a center pin.

 

Tamper-resistant Hex

The tools to access tamper-resistant hex are limited from general distribution in order to protect equipment from access by end-users. Similar to tamper-resistant TORX, there is a small metal post in the middle of the screwhead that prevents a normal hex driver from engaging. Tamper-resistant hex come commonly in the following fractional sizes: 1/8,3/32, 3/16,1/4 and 5/16

 

Tri-Wing

This unusual three-leg design of the Tri-Wing comes in 3 sizes: #1, #2, #3. We don’t see these too often, though they are available as part of our Master Security Bit Kit.

 

Spanner

Sometimes also known as “snake eyes” and “notched.” Though our diagram shows two holes in the top of the screw, these sometimes also look like a screw with two notches cut into the edge on opposing sides of the screw. A commonly used screwhead to avoid tampering, we’ve seen these used in everything from electronics to bathroom stall doors in public restrooms! Comes in 6 common sizes: #4, #6, #8, #10, #12 and #14.

 

One Way removal tool

This is a specialized application for sure. A one-way screw is installed using a slotted bit – but since the edges of the slot are ramped in the opposite direction, a slotted bit will not engage to remove the screw. This one of a kind removal bits can be adjusted to fit one-way screws and back them out.

Richard & Brothers offers best quality screwdriver with different types. Some screwdrivers are not listed on our website, please drop us an email at via our contact us form to order any of these drives individually.