Torx screw?

Apr 17, 2005 5 Replies

"Of course, lots of people don't notice it is a Torx, and use allen keys in it?"



Today I've encountered something which I had thought was an allen screw but it's a bit different so I'm wondering if it is a Torx screw?



The screw looks just like an allen screw except that the bottom of hexagonal hole for the key is not flat but rather looks concave.



Is that a torx screw?



Thank you


Maybe. Look closely at the profile. An allen key/screw has a true hexagonal profile. Torx has a hexagon with portions of a circle cut out of each face, so you get a "pointy" star-shape.

Not if it's hexagonal with flat sides. A Torx bit has grooves in the side - a bit like a spline, and the hole in the screw-head is a matching star-like shape.

See

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and scroll down to "Types of screw drive" and look at item d.

While a Security Torx also has a 'nipple' in the centre, requiring a Security Torx driver with a corresponding hole in the end to go over the screw's centre nipple.

Regards

Mark

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 22:30:10 +0100, Set Square wrote (in message ):

Thanks to you and Ian for your replies.

I seem to have allen screws after all :)

The web-site you have mentioned has in addition resolved something I used to wonder about - the difference between Pozidriv and Phillips screws.

Incidentally, you can also get allen screws with security nipples, but these are much less common than security torx (What's the plural of torx - torxen..?)

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