Comment by titzer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by titzer | Hacker News Reader

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I, too, struggle with stripping screws. It gets better, but you have to be careful. For one, don't ever use a power tool. Second, find a screwdriver that fits the actual screw's dimensions--not just the screw type and rough size, but actually fits the depth of the (e.g. Philips) head. Too narrow/sharp of a screwdriver can easily strip screws. I found a magnetic tip helps a lot too, if only because the driver is a different, grippier material.

There are ways to recover stripped screws, e.g. by using a bit of rubber band between the screwdriver and the head. There are tons of YouTube videos. But if you can't, you are probably better off drilling it out than destroying the case.

> The much maligned in right-to-repair circles Torx and Apple pentalobe screws

I have no idea why they invented those; hex (Allen) screws are better. I don't have these tools and neither does practically anyone else. Oh, that's why they invented them.

Hex screws strip extremely easily and if you use a bit too much force the hex bit easily gets stuck in the screw and you have to wiggle it free, further damaging the screw.

Torx bits are much better, and they are very common, at least in Europe.

Pentalobe on the other hand, is just Apple being Apple. They don't want you opening their devices (with some exceptions, like the remarkable RAM upgrade mechanism in the old 27" iMac, or the various fancy ways of opening Mac Pros.

Was going to say this - there are a lot of hex head screws out there whose slots are now nearly perfect circles.

I use some in the shop, but they're exclusively ones where the head can be a full-depth socket, at least as deep as the screw threading is wide. And when I have to tighten or loosen a hex head, it's always with a T-handle wrench to ensure I've got the thing squared.

Pentalobe is simply there to make repairs harder.

Torx was specifically designed to allow transferring more torque with less wear and not meant for user hostility. It was certainly used that way for some time in some applications (while in others Torx was chosen mainly for its original intended purpose), but I'd say nowadays the bits are so common that it's not really effective as an annoyance for the user.

The patent on Torx ran out a few years ago if I remember correctly, and I have any Torx bit at home for small devices, while only missing the bit for wood screws and larger.

Torx can take more torque than a hex (due to the much smaller driving angle at the tool/bolt contact point). Bolts that take the same torque can thus have a thinner head.

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