Torx Head Screws, Good or Bad?

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tatfiend

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Apr 24, 2013
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I recently received both a USA made Kershaw Leek and a Chinese made Gerber F.A.S.T. Draw with T6 Torx head screws used in their assembly. They BOTH had one screw head torx driver socket stripped as received. IMO poor workmanship that never should have gotten past QC.:mad:

The same style fasteners are used by Benchmade in their current knives and I have not noted any similar problem with my three Benchmade knives so far. Is Benchmade using better grade fasteners or just more care in assembly? My experience is that small Allen head and Torx fasteners need to be driven with very good quality and unworn driver bits or this damage is likely to occur.

Anyone have a source for replacement T6 fasteners, both American and Metric thread? I have emailed Kershaw to see if they will send a replacement screw without my having to do a warranty return of the knife.
 
tatfiend said:
I recently received both a USA made Kershaw Leek and a Chinese made Gerber F.A.S.T. Draw with T6 Torx head screws used in their assembly. They BOTH had one screw head torx driver socket stripped as received. IMO poor workmanship that never should have gotten past QC.:mad:

The same style fasteners are used by Benchmade in their current knives and I have not noted any similar problem with my three Benchmade knives so far. Is Benchmade using better grade fasteners or just more care in assembly? My experience is that small Allen head and Torx fasteners need to be driven with very good quality and unworn driver bits or this damage is likely to occur.

Anyone have a source for replacement T6 fasteners, both American and Metric thread? I have emailed Kershaw to see if they will send a replacement screw without my having to do a warranty return of the knife.
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Kershaw will send you the screws:thumbup: also who did you buy the leek from? and lastly don't expect great quality from the newer gerbers.
 
The problem with Torx that size is that, regardless of the metal, and how good or poor it may be, there is just so little of it that strips. Kind of like an oak toothpick is still just a toothpick. What they've done wrong is not control the amount of torque with which they have attached the screws. Problem there can be that the amount of torque needed to preserve the bit and the socket may not be enough torque to hold the thing in place.

So I do agree that it's a QC problem but those tiny Torx are tough. I think the Torx thing really starts coming into its own above T8 where there's enough metal to put some torque against.
 
Torx screws were designed not to slip, and to be used for heavy duty situations. So it's easy to over torque them.
 
cheap steel made the screws, screws where not heat treated properly

china stuff sucks send it back and buy new knife elsewhere i own 3 leaks - one those D2 welded steel and alumium

man this site is bumbing me out, leak is made in the usa but the screws are made in china too save ....0001 cent.

other poster could be right but torx heads are made not too strip that is why they use them
 
The Leek was bought on Amazon and was inexpensive enough so I hate to spend the additional to return it or send it in for warranty repair.

I worked in manufacturing QA for about 20 years and my experience was that both Allen head and Torx head fasteners in smaller sizes are subject to head stripping either if over torqued or as soon as the driver bit got a bit worn. Fastener quality had a large influence on this too but in a manufacturing environment driver bits need regular replacement and using cheap fasteners does NOT save money in the long run.
 
it maybe a second from amazon or elsewhere?

ebay and amazon are dumping ground for seconds, they make a batch of knives, test them then they dump all the knives back too the last test.

i was in QC and research - not to be show off
 
I work in a machine shop. I see people with 10+ years experience using worn allen keys and torx drivers all the time. It's not the fasteners, it's the people installing them. It drives me NUTS!
 
I would check the Kershaw and make sure it was in fact the screw that stripped and not the handle.
 
I prefer torx over Allen as long as they are decent grade, and your drivers are good. I believe they actually have MORE surface area with their teeth, so they should be less prone to stripping compared to Allen. the problem is that the thinner teeth on the driver seem to be prone to damage. so it's a toss up.
 
Torx, allen and phillips and flat head screws are the BANE of my life.

People always strip them, it's like too difficult for people to use the correct size tool with a little care. I seriously don't know what they're thinking. I've probably drilled out, cut off or otherwise removed over a thousand. Torx feel super snug when you're using the correct size, if it's not there's something wrong. The amount of people who will use a t25 to remove a t27 and strip it with a power screwdriver or similar.

Agree with what has been said, sounds like they're using worn out tools or worn out over powered tools. I'd return it for refund not replacement. If they miss that what else are they missing.
 
Some of the allen screws CRK uses are great quality. If 32 million dollar helicopters used fasteners of those quality it would pay off in saved man hours several times over
 
In a nutshell: if properly fitting tools are used, in theory Torx is better (more torque, less likely to strip the head of the fastener). If improperly fitting or improperly hardened (or both) tools are used, it's a toss up, probably favoring Allen (hex). One thing I've found with Torx: if the head gets stripped slightly, you can sometimes rescue the situation by using the next size up, driving it into the fastener with light hammer taps if necessary. I have rescued quite a few T6 fasteners with a T7 bit.
 
JNewell said:
In a nutshell: if properly fitting tools are used, in theory Torx is better (more torque, less likely to strip the head of the fastener). If improperly fitting or improperly hardened (or both) tools are used, it's a toss up, probably favoring Allen (hex). One thing I've found with Torx: if the head gets stripped slightly, you can sometimes rescue the situation by using the next size up, driving it into the fastener with light hammer taps if necessary. I have rescued quite a few T6 fasteners with a T7 bit.
Click to expand...

I've actually had a fair amount of success hammering torx bits bits into stripped allen heads as well
 
goodeyesniper said:
I prefer torx over Allen as long as they are decent grade, and your drivers are good. I believe they actually have MORE surface area with their teeth, so they should be less prone to stripping compared to Allen. the problem is that the thinner teeth on the driver seem to be prone to damage. so it's a toss up.
Click to expand...

yeah thats how I feel. With fresh driver and screws torx is awesome but then its only downhill from there or until you get new a new driver/screw
 
Kershaw has a place on their website where you fill out a form and they send the needed parts. No need to send your knife off.

Also, I'm 99% sure that Kershaw has a screw machine and they make all their screws in house here in the US. So I don't think they are using inferior Chinese screws to save a couple pennies.
 
I used Kershaws email contact form and they are sending a replacement screw at no cost per the email exchange.
 
First I've heard of US made Kershaws sourcing Chinese fasteners too. Get the right torx bit, and PRESS it hard while removing/reinserting the bolts.
 
The question remains why the predominance of Torx head screw assembly on many current knives? My older lock back and bolt action knives from Buck, Schrade, Gerber, Al Mar, Beretta and Cold Steel have nary a visible screw head used in assembly. They were either riveted together or had scales that covered the fasteners used so far as I can tell.

Current construction methods which allow folding knife disassembly may have an advantage for knife modifiers and possibly for warranty repair service but do the fasteners cause as many problems, or more, for manufacturers as they solve?
 
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