flat-head screw(driver)s

[Greg Pulliam]

Yes, I'm familiar with and use the term "flat-head screw."  And I use
"flat-head screwdriver."  And the latter is not necessarily used with
the former.  There are flat-headed screws which require phillips-head
screwdrivers.


>Greg Pulliam <greg at PULLIAM.ORG> writes:
>
>  >>>>>
>      [...]
>I call them "phillips-head" and "flat-head"
>screwdrivers.  I don't know (as I think about it now) if I picked
>"flat-head" up from Dad or from living in the deep and mid- south.
><<<<<
>
>And others here also speak of "flat-head screwdrivers".
>
>I'm not a hardware geek by any means, but from shopping in hardware stores for
>screws to match the ones I've got for a particular job at home, I've learned
>that "flat-head screws" are distinguished from, I think, "oval-head screws" by
>the profile of the top, and are so shown on the box. The criterion is, Is the
>top literally flat (apart from the cut for the screwdriver head) or does it
>bulge into a curved surface? This is a separate dimension from the cut*, which
>is what this thread has been about up to now: Phillips vs. straight.
>
>* for lack of a more precise word
>
>So the term may be used differently by
>  - the manufacturers (and maybe those who deal professionally with
>the hardware,
>such as carpenters and cabinetmakers) and
>  - some of the rest of us.
>
>-- Mark

-

Greg