I’d always wondered why modern appliances were held together by Torx head screws. I mean, everyone has a flat head or a Phillips screwdriver. Or even an Allen key. A lot less people own Torx head screwdrivers. So why do appliance manufacturers put Torx head screws on their appliances? To annoy us? To make us spend money on Torx head screwdrivers as part of some wild conspiracy?

The answer, my friends, is a lot simpler than that – Torx head screws are designed not to cam out, Phillips head screws were designed to cam out.

Let me explain. When a screw cams out it means that the head wears out, and therefore the screw is unable to be tightened or loosened. This happens regularly with Phillips head screws, much to the chagrin of DIYers the world over. However, there’s a good reason this happens. It prevents you from inadvertently damaging the object you are inserting the screw in to. If the screw didn’t cam out, you could keep on tightening it until, for instance, it cracked the wooden shelf you were trying to put up.

The reason that modern appliances, then, don’t have screws that cam out? Well firstly, they are a higher quality screw. Generally, appliances are made of metal or hard plastic, and therefore are way less likely to be damaged by a human overtightening the screws; you just wouldn’t be strong enough to cause damage. Also, as the appliances are mass-produced, the machines tightening the screws are mechanically set to tighten to a certain degree, so the danger of overtightening doesn’t exist.

So there you have it. Did I mention you can get a 9-piece Torx head screwdriver set at the eSpares website? A good bit of kit that. Check out Helen talking about it below. Cool.

Tags: Torx Head Screwdriver