MTFCA Forum

I don't remember ever using a Robertson screw. However it looks like it would be the best type for placing and removing. The Phillips, is easier to keep the screwdriver on the screw for fast work, however, it is very easy to strip the head and then very hard to remove.
Norm

The Higgins boat company, in New Orleans, who built the famed PT Boats and Landing Crafts, among other boats, was instrumental in development of formed-plywood hulls. They had a plywood plant in the East part of the city, on the Intracoastal Canal, where they made plywood on forms that produced panels pre-formed to fit the skeleton of the boat.

That plant, by the way, fell into dis-use shortly after the War, and wasn't reopened until it became the place where the external fuel tanks for the Space Shuttles were made.

The plywood panels were glued and screwed to the skeleton of the boat. All was done upside-down, of course.

Higgins did extensive work on determining the screws to use. they needed it to be slipout-proof, which meant straight blades were not used. They needed them to be electrically-driven, with the currently available equipment, which meant they had trouble with Phillips screws. If you are tired and don't hold the driver tightly enough against the screw, it strips out, and ruins the screw - often when it's only partially driven in, so it made for a hard job of extracting it, thus slowing the assembly line.

Ultimately, they settled on the Reed-Prince screw. It looks a lot like a Phillips, except the corners of the slot, and the edges of the driver, were sharp corners, not rounded like a Phillips. The advantage was, the driver didn't try to "cam out" of the screw, and you rarely had slip-outs.

Higgins bought the screws, which were made of a phospher-bronze material, by the keg load.

It's interesting that the article about screws and screwdrivers referenced above, doesn't mention Reed-Prince. It helped win the war.