Cabinetmaker Screwdrivers Options

[lostgoat]

Hi Guys,

I am in the market for a set of cabinetmaker screwdrivers.

However, the only thing I can find new, is the Crown set (http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/aca ... ivers.html) or Marples set (http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/aca ... ml#SID=459).

Which both of these appear to be the same to me.

Is there nothing else on the market in term of cabinetmaker screwdrivers? That have a bit more.... well.... panache!

I just find them very boring to look at.

I know that Veritas sell a modern version set of handless screwdrivers (so just the shank), but I like the concept of the old.

Anyone any ideas? Other than buy the Crown, hack off the handles and turn my own. As that is my other option.

Thanks!

 

[davem62]

Have a look at workshop heaven they have sets of screw drivers

http://www.workshopheaven.com/perfect-p ... -of-4.html

Regards David

 

[Rhyolith]

There are lots of nice old ones apon the secondhand market. Check eBay, junkshops and car boots.

 

[sunnybob]

search for gunsmiths screwdrivers, they are often made with vetter looking handles.
Like these
http://www.garrettwade.com/gunsmith-scr ... r-set.html

 

[AJB Temple]

I have acquired almost all of my cabinet makers screw drivers in all sizes from eBay for next to nothing, usually as mixed lots. In all cases I have had to regrind the tips (easy and quick) and do some polishing, but they are excellent.

 

[JohnPW]

Is there nothing else on the market in term of cabinetmaker screwdrivers? That have a bit more.... well.... panache!

I think the shape is just right, maybe beech is too plain for you?

 

[lostgoat]

Is there nothing else on the market in term of cabinetmaker screwdrivers? That have a bit more.... well.... panache!

I think the shape is just right, maybe beech is too plain for you?

Hi John,

Sorry, yes, it is the actual material I think is dull. Yes, the shape is perfect!

That's why I was asking if anyone knew of a kit which supplied the shafts and let you turn your own handles. Similar shape, just nicer handles.
The Veritas kit I mentioned earlier is a bit too modern for my likes. I like the tranditional concept, but just a bit more style!

Thanks

 

[kevinlightfoot]

I would avoid the Marples sets of slot headed ones .I was bought a set last Christmas and four of them had to be returned .Twisted ,tips out square ,finish of both steel and handles was awful,they replaced them but it cost me postage and I never even received an apology never mind a gift voucher or refund for my trouble,in my opinion very poor quality and even worse after sales service.Oh by the way the replacements were not much better.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Mine are a mix of new, secondhand and (my favourite) a new old stock Marples boxwood handled one, which I found in the bargain bin of an old-fashioned architectural ironmonger back in the '80s. I do echo the sentiments expressed above about vintage ones - boxwood handled seem rare, but the handle shapes seem somehow more elegant, and the choice is huge.

I have recently acquired a few of the old style flat-bladed turnscrews, and the thoughts after limited use is that they have a solid and capable feel, but the wide blades near the tip may limit their usefulness in such applications as pocket-hole screwing.

One thing that made a huge difference to all my woodworking screwdrivers was reshaping the tips to fit a specific size of slotted screw quite closely. They are soft enough to reshape with a file, and the resulting thicker tip makes them much better at 'holding' the screw during driving - the driver is much less prone to jumping out of the screw slot. That makes screwdriving a less stressful task, and reduces the chances of damage to the work (and screwheads). Taking the corners off at 45 degrees so that the screwdriver fits a countersunk head right across also helps. I find I use numbers 4, 6 and 8 most in cabinet work, with 10s cropping up in domestic joinery. I also provided myself with screwdrivers for numbers 2 and 12, but so far, haven't used them much. I didn't bother with odd-number screws because I have never needed to use them. Start with a screwdriver having a tip the same size or slightly larger than the size of screw you're dealing with, and file it down to a 'nice' fit.

The whole exercise of reshaping screwdrivers to screwslots was not that time consuming, the larger sizes involving the most work, the smaller being almost five-minute jobs. All six sizes took me about two hours, from memory. It was well worth the effort.

 

[Jacob]

........

The whole exercise of reshaping screwdrivers to screwslots was not that time consuming, the larger sizes involving the most work, the smaller being almost five-minute jobs. All six sizes took me about two hours, from memory. It was well worth the effort.

I wouldn't bother filing them until the need arises - if you make them fit one they won't fit another. There is no standard.
Basically if you deal with a lot of old screws you just need a big heap of screwdrivers of all sizes, including cheap and nasty ones which you don't mind belting with a hammer. Old "Perfect" pattern are good for this as the steel goes right through, but I'd buy the Marples/Flynn offerings in preference - they are the old standard pattern which was made (or branded at least) by everybody. I've got several "Footprint" brand - good big handle/knob for leverage and control.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

........

The whole exercise of reshaping screwdrivers to screwslots was not that time consuming, the larger sizes involving the most work, the smaller being almost five-minute jobs. All six sizes took me about two hours, from memory. It was well worth the effort.

I wouldn't bother filing them until the need arises - if you make them fit one they won't fit another. There is no standard.
Basically if you deal with a lot of old screws you just need a big heap of screwdrivers of all sizes, including cheap and nasty ones which you don't mind belting with a hammer. Old "Perfect" pattern are good for this as the steel goes right through, but I'd buy the Marples/Flynn offerings in preference - they are the old standard pattern which was made (or branded at least) by everybody. I've got several "Footprint" brand - good big handle/knob for leverage and control.

I thought you'd hammer your screws in.

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Again avoid the Marples /Flinn.I was hesitant to mention the retailer I bought them from but now someone else has what the heck.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

There are a number of manufacturers of screwdrivers you could explore. Grace, for example. However none of them are what I would call "cabinet screwdrivers".

One custom makers is Elkhead, in the USA: http://www.elkheadtools.com/drivers.html

I have had the Marples set for about 15 years. Here they are, along a set of Phillips drivers I made up from parts at Lee Valley (they sell the handles and the blades separately) ...

Note that the flat blades need grinding as they come tapered. I added a hollow grind for this ..

The Phillips have boxwood handles. Not flashy, but I like their simplicity ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Jacob]

The flattened bulb shape of the Marples/Crown pattern is far and away the best practical shape for a screwdriver, in terms of ease of use and amount of force you can exert on a screw.
Followed closely by the maroon coloured non flattened bulb shape handles of old Stanley ratchet or yankee.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Purely round handles are not ergonomic. The oval Marples handles are one of the best design available, in my opinion. Rubber grips are actually better than wooden grips - but they do not look as good. I have heard excellent reports of the Wera range. Pity they look like something out of a motor mechanics workshop.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Racers]

Wera are very nice, its a really comfortable shape, I use one of these at work.

I need to get some cabinet screwdrivers as I have a lifetime of slotted screws.

Pete

 

[AndyT]

The flattened bulb shape of the Marples/Crown pattern is far and away the best practical shape for a screwdriver, in terms of ease of use and amount of force you can exert on a screw.
Followed closely by the maroon coloured non flattened bulb shape handles of old Stanley ratchet or yankee.

I quite agree. As a teenager I thought my dad's old wooden handled screwdrivers were no good and bought modern plastic handled ones for myself. (Well, it was the 70s...)

Now that I have some proper tools and a more mature attitude, I understand how comfortable that flattened bulb shape is!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There's a difference between screwdrivers set up and kept for cabinet bench work, and screwdrivers used for general domestic repair work. The former are what the OP asked about, and my experience is that shaping the tips carefully to fit screw slots, and keeping one driver for each size of screw the workshop uses, are very well worthwhile.

However, for household repair work, especially when old screws may be thoroughly gunged up with old, hard paint, something more crude is usually more appropriate. To shift rusty, seized old screws, it helps to firstly clean the screw slots out as well as possible, and then to try one of three methods. The first is to slightly TIGHTEN the screw, then undo it. The second is to hammer the screwdriver to try to break the bond between screw and wood before unscrewing it. The third, and in my experience the most effective by far, is to use a screwdriver bit in a brace, keeping a strong axial pressure and taking care to ensure that the bit and brace stay in line with the screw; failure to do so can ruin screw slots very quickly.

Thus, it's probably worth having two 'sets' of screwdrivers, a 'posh' set kept for fine cabinet work at the bench, and a selection of 'beaters' for dealing with rougher work, opening paint tins, throwing at unwelcome visitors and so on. (Some people, of course, won't have much use for a 'posh' set.)

 

[Jacob]

There's a difference between screwdrivers set up and kept for cabinet bench work, and screwdrivers used for general domestic repair work. The former are what the OP asked about, and my experience is that shaping the tips carefully to fit screw slots, and keeping one driver for each size of screw the workshop uses, are very well worthwhile.

Would work if screw slots were all of a predetermined size, but they are not, so if you are actually doing any work, cabinet or otherwise, you need a lot of screwdrivers.
Anyway the OP was asking about screwdrivers "with panache" :lol: . He could paint the handles in exotic colours, or carve patterns?

If you are shifting old screws on antique stuff you need the very best, or you risk camming out and destroying the head, or worse, stabbing the piece itself. This where you might consider filing the tips a touch.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There's a difference between screwdrivers set up and kept for cabinet bench work, and screwdrivers used for general domestic repair work. The former are what the OP asked about, and my experience is that shaping the tips carefully to fit screw slots, and keeping one driver for each size of screw the workshop uses, are very well worthwhile.

Would work if screw slots were all of a predetermined size, but they are not, so if you are actually doing any work, cabinet or otherwise, you need a lot of screwdrivers.
Anyway the OP was asking about screwdrivers "with panache" :lol: . He could paint the handles in exotic colours, or carve patterns?

If you are shifting old screws on antique stuff you need the very best, or you risk camming out and destroying the head, or worse, stabbing the piece itself. This where you might consider filing the tips a touch.

Slotted woodscrew slots are made to specific sizes, as specified in British Standard 1210, and no doubt there are American and other national standards too. My 11th edition Machinery's Handbook (1942) gives the standard sizes for the manufacture of woodscrews from sizes 0 to 24, including slot width and depth, for example; the standard sizes were not new then. So a screwdriver filed to fit number 8 screws will fit all number 8 screws.

The exception might be very old screws. When woodscrews were handmade (the blanks forged from wrought iron and the thread filed by hand) the slots were made by filing using a slitting file. Such files can still be obtained. They gave a slot with a distinct taper in depth, and old turnscrews were made with a similar quite pronounced taper; this is often seen on older screwdriver brace bits.. As screw manufacture was mechanised (quite early - late 1700s) the slots came to be formed by small rotary slitting saws, which gave slots with parallel sides. Oddly, most general purpose screwdrivers retained their taper tips, though more modern ones have a shallower taper than than the older ones.

Some trades (instrument, clock, watch and gun makers, for example) took great pride in the finish imparted to their work, and thus took some pains to match their screwdrivers and turnscrews to their screw slots. Given the standard sizes of most woodscrews made in the 20th and 21st centuries, cabinetmakers can do likewise.