A Torx Screw is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Crazy Nail Guy

First, let me say I thought I took some pictures this week but after looking through the camera card, I guess I didn't. I'll try to get some on here early next week.

This week we finished putting up the cross ties that will be the new ceiling and tearing down the old ones. The old ones did not come out without a fight. Back in 1948, there was a man assigned to nailing in the boards on the south side of the building. We have named him Crazy Nail Guy. He decided that 16 nails on each 2x6 were not enough to hold this building together, so bending the ends of the nails would do. I’m not a friend of Crazy Nail Guy, but I do admire his thoroughness. He is still with us in spirit as we called out his name several times this week (*&#@! $%@^!* Crazy Nail Guy).

If you are familiar with a slotted screw, then you were probably born before 1982. If you are not, then let me tell you about a little device that can cause you more torment than tearing down a board installed by Crazy Nail Guy. There were many slotted screws in this building and I hope we have eliminated them all.

When we began putting up the cross ties this week, it went well. We had nice torx screws and screw guns for installation until Tuesday morning. That’s when we ran out of screws. Trey and I ran from the hardware store to Get-N-Go trying to find more torx screws but had to settle on Phillips. When installing the first board with the Phillips screws, we stripped the screws and the bits. We ran back over to the hardware store and purchased 2 shiny new double-headed Phillips bits. We promptly broke off both ends of each bit. This wood we’re talking about is not your ordinary pine timber. It is 60 years old, well seasoned and does not take kindly to a screw. When dropped from 14’ it not only breaks, but splinters and shatters into shrapnel. We used the stripped Phillips bits to finish the job and that’s when Phil showed up from Uvalde with a large box of torx screws.

We also pulled out the A/C units this week and set them behind the candy shop so the A/C guys can come test them. The A/C units were actually in the neighbors yard and occupied by Kujo the dog. Moving the A/C units was fairly uneventful except for Kujo the dog. I’m not going to take up space on this entry to talk about Kujo. I get the feeling he’ll come back into play when we put up the privacy fence. He scared me.

Lesson for the week:

1) There is no place on this planet for a slotted screw.
2) Phillips screws are great, but only under low torque.
3) Torx screws are great.
4) Hex screws (AKA Allen wrench and Ikea furniture) and Robertson screws are superb.
5) Crazy Nail Guy invented slotted screws.

If you want more info on this go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Head
If you’re a female you probably don’t care, so go here http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/default.asp?order_num=-1&