[Alberg30] Re: [Alberg30]Robertson screws

[Marianne King-Wilson]

Robertson was a Canadian.  His 1908 invention was
immediately a favourite of carpenters, boatbuilders and
automobile manufacturers.  The main reason was that,
particularly in close quarters and awkward spaces, the screw
could be placed on the screwdriver and carried safely to its
destination without falling off.
If your screwdriver doesn't work this way, you need a
different size bit. They come in several numbered and
colour-coded sizes.
Ford used the Robertson Screw for many years.

>From canadianhomeworkshop.com:

     The legend goes like this: Sometime around  the
     turn of the century, Peter Lymburner Robertson was
     setting up a street booth from which he planned to
     sell tools, when the  slot-headed screwdriver he
     was using slipped out of the screw head and
     slashed open his hand. "There must be a better
     way," he mumbled to himself before vowing then and
     there, the story goes, to create the ultimate
     driver. P. L. Robertson did  indeed patent his
     square-headed driver and screw system in 1908.

     And not long after, the Fisher Body Company
     (famous for constructing  the Ford Model T)
     decided to use his invention in its production
     line.

     Robertson's colour-coded screwdrivers—green, red
     and black from smallest to largest-and
     square-headed screws have grown to dominate the
     Canadian fastening market: Fully 85% of the screws
     sold in Canada use the Robertson head.

     About 10% of the screws sold in the U.S. are
     Robertson and This Old House and New  Yankee
     Workshop guru Norm Abram suggests they could
     dominate  the industry in 15 years.

Marianne King-Wilson

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