What Kind Of Screwdriver Tip Is Required Here?

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Hello there,

This is quite puzzling...(see attached drawing) i have never seen these kind of screws before.

I need a screwdriver with a tip that will fit the screw head in the diagram but cant find any online that match it.
I found the "Tri Tip" screwdrivers but they have a different blade pattern (shown on the far right of the diagram). The Tri Tips have a blade arrangement that have blades that are angled but the screws i am dealing with do not have such an angle.
They do have a circular indented part as shown and it is fairly large compared to the 'blade' recess areas. Also note how narrow the 'blade' recess areas are relative to the screw head diameter. When i look at the head (all i can see of the screw) it looks almost like only a razor blade steel thickness will fit into those slots, or maybe two razor blade thicknesses they are so narrow.

Any idea what kind of screws these are or what kind of screwdriver, and if so, how would you measure the size of the screw head in order to get the right size screwdriver or driver bit?

Thanks a bunch.

TriTipScrewAndBit-1.png
 
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Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Hi Eric,

Well that is what i thought at first too but every drawing/pic i have seen on the web have angled slots while this one has slots that shoot straight out from the center. Could it be the same anyway?

Here is a hand drawn picture i cant take a photo because it is recessed and the light does not get in there well enough to get a clear photo.

TRITIP.jpg
 
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shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
@MrAl do you have a Harbor Freight in the area? If so this set has almost every screw tip I've ever needed -
https://www.harborfreight.com/security-bit-set-with-case-100-pc-68457.html and the price is right.

I said almost because they keep coming out with new screw heads. My latest buy was a set of 5 sided Torx bits, seems like industry found out they don't cam out of the screw as bad as a normal 6 sided Torx.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Hey thanks for all the ideas guys, i guess i have a lot of bits to look at now :)
But BTW, did anyone find any screws like this too somewhere? That would be interesting also so we can compare the heads to the last drawing i posted because that last drawing is very very close to the actual look of the screw head i am dealing with.

@Ian0 Oh yes that sounds like a plan thanks. I had to make my own Torx driver one time from a hex key bit because i had no Torx at the time and it was fairly small too. I used a Dremel and cutting disc. Doing the Torx down to tri tip should be easier although i think i may have to thin out the tips of the Torx too because this screw has much more narrow slits than any of the drawings show.

@shortbus Yes we have a HF not too far from here and i go there once in a while. Unfortunately they dont stock everything we see online so i would have to order online. They use FedEx, my least favorite carrier which takes about 7 days but i guess i am not in a big hurry.

@MrChips Oh thanks i'll take a look at those bits too.

@Yaakov Oh good i'll take a look maybe one of those would be the right kind at least. If i can find the right kind i can then narrow in on the size.

@ericgibbs Thanks for the video i'll check it out and comment after.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
hi Al,
Check out this video, using a Torx method.
E
Hi Eric,

I started watching the video and noticed one thing right off. We can see the head of the screw he is taking out and notice how WIDE the three slits are relative to the diameter of the screw head. Now look again ad the most recent drawing i posted which i will post here for convenience, and note the slits in the drawing are not only more narrow they are also much shorter than the slits on the video.
Any ideas about this difference?

Note i posted a snapshot of one of the frames in the video along with my drawing. I cant help but notice a difference in the way the center is rounded and the thinner slots.

Thanks.

TriTipScrew_20210728_061255.jpgTriTipScrew_20210728_182225.jpg
 
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shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
That last photo with the gray background looks more like a old type security screw, also commonly called a one way screw. They are pretty common in public bathrooms to hold the stalls and other items in place.
https://www.mcmaster.com/screws/

I'm not sure but do think that HF kit has the driver to remove them. Pretty sure because I haven't used all of the bits or even had the kit out for some time.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
That last photo with the gray background looks more like a old type security screw, also commonly called a one way screw. They are pretty common in public bathrooms to hold the stalls and other items in place.
https://www.mcmaster.com/screws/

I'm not sure but do think that HF kit has the driver to remove them. Pretty sure because I haven't used all of the bits or even had the kit out for some time.
Oh yes it could be a one way tri tip screw but the pics i have seen on the web including that one from the video in this thread call it just a "tri tip" but you can see how different the screw head on the left (orange background) is compared to that one, the slits are different and it has a noticeably round center hole. Also, the slits i have drawn in that last orange back picture may actually be larger than the actual screw head as when i looked again they looked even more narrow than that. That's why i said that it looks like maybe you can fit a steel sheet only the thickness of a razor blade in the slits. Strange huh? Could it be a priority thing?

I am considering just drilling the darn things out and replacing them with some regular sheet metal phillips head screws :) I only have to deal with two such screws the rest are phillips.

I ran into an article on the web that talked about the so called 'security screws" just a nuisance and that's all. They went on to talk about all the different types.
Reminds me of one i had to take out a long time ago. It was in the back of a microwave oven that had to have the bulb replaced. It had a rounded sort of half sphere head which is quite common but of course there was no driver i had that could take it out. A pair of vise grips could grip the edges of the head though even though they edges were tapered down toward the back panel metal. It came right out. Replaced it with a regular screw.
Another time, i ground a slot in the head with a thin Dremel cutting disc. Came right out with a common slotted screwdriver.
Those two examples were easy to get to however because they were flush with the back panels. This one is recessed so the head sits at the bottom of a hole. Lucky it's not too deep i ran in to phillips head screws that were deep and that made them harder to get out even though just regular phillips head.

So maybe i'll just say the heck with it and just drill the heads until they come off.
If i can find an extra Torx bit i'll try that grinding trick someone suggested in this thread first but i dont think i will want to ruin the only bit i have if that's the only one i have of that size.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
I ran into an article on the web that talked about the so called 'security screws" just a nuisance and that's all. They went on to talk about all the different types.
Yeah the influx of kits like the one from HF kind of made security screws irrelevant.

If i can find an extra Torx bit i'll try that grinding trick someone suggested in this thread first but i dont think i will want to ruin the only bit i have if that's the only one i have of that size.
Do you have any extra hex/Allen keys? You could even take a Dremmel tool to one of them to make a DIY bit.
But I can't imagine only having 1 bit of any type.
 
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