Talk:Screwdriver/Archives/2020

Latest comment: 4 years ago by Longinus876 in topic Phillips


Keystone versus Cabinet Slotted Screwdrivers

There is evidently a difference between cabinet and keystone. I am unable to find the definition; only the references to them. One appears to have the tip the same width as the shaft. More comments on this are needed. --KitchM (talk) 22:41, 11 March 2020 (UTC)

Keystone
Keystone tip
 
Both types (1st and 3rd), within the same product range
The difference is obvious, it's their origin and relevant advantages which are questioned.
The keystone type is the older, and for most of screwdriver history, the only type. The tip is tapered, originally formed by forging, and it tapers in two directions, as a slim rectangular pyramid, so that it's widest (both directions) just behind the tip. The faces are also flat. The shank of the screwdriver can be flat, round, or square section, depending largely on how they're made. Screwdrivers were used to drive woodscrews into timber, almost always with fairly easy access to the screw head. A wide shank, forged from flat bar, was workable.
In the 20th century, a new form was needed, to work on electrical equipment. Often this was radio work, and these were known as 'cabinet' screwdrivers, in reference to radio cabinets, rather than cabinetry. Connectors were now closely spaced, sometimes hidden down holes in insulators. Screwdrivers now had to have parallel cylindrical shanks. The tips were formed by modern methods such as grinding. This gives a parallel tip on the sides, and often a curved face on the flat faces.
The names aren't universal. In the UK, a keystone would be more likely called a cabinet screwdriver, cabinetry or cabinetmaker's (and this time there's no reference to radio cabinets). The other would be an 'electrician's screwdriver'. Andy Dingley (talk) 00:02, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

Phillips

Phillips didn't invent the idea. He made some kind of agreement with the inventor and put his own name and patent on it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Longinus876 (talkcontribs) 14:47, 17 October 2020 (UTC)