Drywall screws

[RF Lighting]

Hello, does anyone know why drywall screws have a phillips head, when nearly all other screws have a pozi head?

I'm just curious whether there is a specific reason, or if thats just the way it is.

 

[xerxes]

I've read that the Philips head was designed to cam out; presumably this was a crude form of torque limiting, useful when unsophisticated power drivers, without their own torque limiting devices, were employed on assembly lines.

This feature of the Philips head is a real pain for most users. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that drywall screws are still made with these heads because the tradition is so entrenched and drywallers have invested in autofeed screwdrivers which use them.

This doesn't really provide an explanation, though, because screwdriver bits are easily interchangeable.

 

[gregers]

all i know is there a pain in the wotsits with the ammount of metal splinters i get in my index finger,painful little buggers.

 

[^woody^]

I've had some from screwfix previously which were pozi heads.

I wonder whether dry wall screws - typically American and for use with metal framing, are more 'engineering' and therefore more inclined to be phillips heads, than euro carpentry which would be more likely to be pozi heads?

 

[joe-90]

I think woody might have cracked it.

 

[Thermo]

dont know the answer, but i know you can guarentee a handful of metal splinters from them after going through a box of the buggers!