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Speciality bit correction.

6K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  tjb 
#1 ·
There's some misleading info in that thread that unfortunately can't now be corrected.
I believeThe ECX bit is a propriety Milwaukee product. It certainly does not fit all combo screws. The orientation of the square part is improper for some types of fastener.
The ideal style combo bit fits more types of screws if you mess with control circuits. But as was mentioned it is kinda junk as it breaks more easily than it should.
There's a few combo head schemes. Sadly, to be fully prepared you need to have multiple drivers.

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#3 ·
Phillips? We don't have no Phillips....we don't need no stinkin Phillips!

Actually my pocket knife can do most screws. I do however prefer a posidriv bit with the proper posidriv driver.

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#4 ·
Well, I know it gets contentious about fastener/driver types but I wish some sanctioning body would do two things. A; Ban the manufacture and use of slotted screws, and B; settle upon ONE type of driver style such as Torx. Well, you could keep combo heads as long as they were hex with a Torx center. Kind of like the hex/slot/Philips combos now. Don't know how well Torx grabs or torques compared to square drive but I think it may be the only true worldwide standard other than Philips in driver sizes that is actually the same from continental Europe to the United States. .02
 
#7 ·
I am biased towards any type of socket head screw, or hex head screw. However, since many of you pointed out, you have to have a box of bits and by the time you found the right ones you could have torqued the whole lot if they were just simply phillips, it stands to reason that the KISS strategy is sound.

Manufacturers are never going to listen though, because they want to sell you more crap (just like the car manufacturers started making parts that had to have a "special" tool ).

Look at bathroom stalls, for instance. Do those "one-way" screws ever really keep vandals and maniacs from tearing them apart ?

I vote hex head or hex socket head (sae). (not that my vote matters)
 
#8 ·
Look at bathroom stalls, for instance. Do those "one-way" screws ever really keep vandals and maniacs from tearing them apart ?
I think those vandal proofs they use make a difference. Seems even in the best golf course men's rooms where phillips screws are used there are always missing ones. :eek:
 
#9 ·
Just leveling the playing field here, so we are all on the same page.

Straight with sq on diagonal is the one you will find on electrical devices that the ECX tip is designed for are called Quadrex or Pozisquare:



The older ones were phillips/slotted combo:



The straight with square on the parallel are 'Supadriv' and far less common and not to be confused with Pozidrive:

 
#11 ·
And just to complicate things more, that first ground screw that MDVR posted can use the ECX tip, a square drive, OR a philips.

While this bastard (the typical panel cover screw) could use the square or ECX but doesn't work well with phillips:

View attachment 91873
I use square drive for those since messing up a phillips in the past.
 
#12 ·
Philips and flathead will get you pretty far. If you're doing production type work using the same fasteners all the time, it may be worth pulling out the specialty drivers, square, #3 philips, pozidrive, etc.

I own a #4 philips for work I did 5 years ago. Haven't picked it up since. Honestly a #3 worked well enough but the #4 was cheap.
 
#13 ·
This is why I love the 11in1. I have all the various drivers in my Veto and if I'm doing a lot of screwdriving I'll get the right one in the preferred length for the job at hand. I have a single #4 phillips and for me that says a lot I have like multiples of everything else.
 
#14 ·
I learned a long time ago you get a long #2 square for panel work. Works on every new panel I have seen unless they have hex heads like on the heavier duty panels. You can't use the exc on a ge panel.

I love the ecx for devices and ground screws though. Never seen a posi drive screw that I can remember.
 
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