Using an electric screwdriver

**rgsparber** · Nov 10, 2023, 10:15 AM

This is one of those times when I feel like I must be the last person on earth to know this trick.

My Ryobi electric screwdriver looks like a drill. I install a flat-bladed hex body bit in the magnetic chuck. The slot in the screw is never aligned with the blade of the screwdriver blade. Sometimes I can twist my wrist a little to get them to match. Most of the time I pull the trigger for a moment and see if the blade is in a better alignment. I almost never win this bet.

What I failed to notice is that there is 90 degrees of backlash in the chuck. I can rotate the bit a total of 90 degrees with my fingers. This will be enough to always get the desired alignment.

Rick

**Philip Davies** · Nov 10, 2023, 10:39 AM

I did not know that. The only slot screws I use are brass, and are inserted with a cabinet screwdriver. I often dismantle furniture which contain slot screws and I save them if they’re an unusual size. But for ordinary purpose I think torx are best. Mostly I use salvaged cross head screws and if they are Phillips then the bit in the drill is pozi and if the screw is pozi then the bit is Phillips.

**mklotz** · Nov 10, 2023, 10:59 AM

I certainly never knew that ! It sounded like a neat trick but when I examined my two Black & Decker drivers I discovered they had no perceptible backlash.

Since electric drivers usually have a planetary drive system, I wouldn't expect them to have much backlash.

This is bad. Now you have me wishing for a tool that's sloppier than the one I have. :-(

I still want to crucify (with #16 slotted screws) the guy who invented slotted screws. Oh, and Henry Ford, too - the guy who rejected Robertson screws in favor of the evil Phillips nightmare.

**rgsparber** · Nov 11, 2023, 10:22 AM

I don't think it would be hard to build a chuck with built in 90 degree backlash. Ya got me thinking...

Rick

**mklotz** · Nov 11, 2023, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by rgsparber

I don't think it would be hard to build a chuck with built in 90 degree backlash. Ya got me thinking...

Rick

Perhaps your time would be better spent building a furnace to melt all slotted screws into an unrecognizable lump of slag unfit to serve even as a door stop. :-)