On Mar 3, 2:16 pm, (Paul Tomblin) wrote:
In a previous article, "Private" said:

Being a Canadian, I am also a big fan of the Roberson square screw and think
they are superior to the Phillips in every way. IIRC there is some real
historical chauvinism that resulted in the use of the Phillips design in the
USA and the rejection of the superior Robertson.

Look at the Wikipedia articlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screwdriver
According to it, Henry Ford wanted to use Robertson screws on Fords, but
Robertson had been screwed (sorry) by a previous licensee and refused to
license any other screw manufacturer to make them. Ford decided that he
wouldn't trust a single sourced screw, so went to something else. And
thus, Robertson missed his chance to have Robertson screws become very
common in the US.

I heard it a bit differently. Ford was used to getting his way and
when he ran into Robertson's stubbornness he actively blocked the sale
of those screws in the U.S. I can't see furniture manufacturers, for
one, not wanting to use them. Even antique Canadian furniture is full
of them. I've driven thousands of them into wooden boats I've built,
and we get Robertson "decking" screws here that are good for a
thousand uses and are sold by the pound. I imagine they're available
in the US by now.
Softer screws still get the Roberson socket torn out of them.
They're not perfect. Torx screws have the best driving system but they
don't sit on the driver so well, not having any sort of taper to wedge
them on so you can poke them into some inaccessible spot. Robertsons
do that very well.

Dan