WEBVTT - The Screwdriver Wars

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<v Speaker 1>This is our American Stories, and our next story comes

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<v Speaker 1>from a man who's simply known as the History Guy.

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<v Speaker 1>His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands of people

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<v Speaker 1>of all ages on YouTube. The History Guy has also

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<v Speaker 1>heard right here on our American Stories. Here's the History

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<v Speaker 1>Guy with the story of the screwdriver wars.

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<v Speaker 2>Screws as fasteners were not apparently produced until around the

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<v Speaker 2>fifteenth century. There's no mention as in the late fifteenth

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<v Speaker 2>century manuscript. Their initial use was as a fastener for

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<v Speaker 2>parts of medieval jousting armor, and in nearly the same

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<v Speaker 2>period for early firearms. The earliest screwdrivers were built to

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<v Speaker 2>service these weapons, and they were called either a screw

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<v Speaker 2>turner or a turn screw, and they had a pair

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<v Speaker 2>shape wooden handle and looked a lot like a modern

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<v Speaker 2>flat headed screwdriver. But these screws and screwdrivers would have

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<v Speaker 2>been custom made and used on very expensive devices like

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<v Speaker 2>wheel locks and jousting armor, and so screws were not

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<v Speaker 2>for the common folk. In seventeen sixty, brothers Job and

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<v Speaker 2>William Wyatt of Staffordshire patented a screwmaking machine that used

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<v Speaker 2>a file to cut in the threads. Following the pitch

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<v Speaker 2>of a lead screw. This allowed mass production of screws

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<v Speaker 2>and was a precursor to industrial mass production machines. The

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<v Speaker 2>idea of using a lathe of some sort of cut

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<v Speaker 2>threads was variously improved upon until the process for cold

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<v Speaker 2>rolling threads was perfected in the eighteen eighties. But virtually

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<v Speaker 2>all of these screws used just a few turning methods,

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<v Speaker 2>either a hexagon or square that was turned externally or

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<v Speaker 2>a flat slot cut to turn internally, and as anyone

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<v Speaker 2>who has ever used one knows, flat headed screws and

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<v Speaker 2>screwdrivers have their problems, but solutions were on the horizon.

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<v Speaker 2>Peter L. Robertson was born and hauled Men County, Ontario,

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<v Speaker 2>Canada in eighteen seventy nine. Tinkerer Robertson produced a number

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<v Speaker 2>of inventions, including a new design for cufflins and even

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<v Speaker 2>a better mouse trap. In nineteen oh five, received a

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<v Speaker 2>patent in Canada for a new design of a corkscrew

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<v Speaker 2>that centered itself on the bottle. Around the turn of

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<v Speaker 2>the century, Robertson was working through Eastern Canada is what

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<v Speaker 2>was called a high pitchman, meaning a traveling salesman for

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<v Speaker 2>a Philadelphia tool company. High pitchmen would sell their wares,

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<v Speaker 2>say on a street corner at County Fair, calling out

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<v Speaker 2>their wares. Among the things that he was selling was

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<v Speaker 2>the device of his own design. Robert's twentieth century wrench

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<v Speaker 2>brace was a multi tool that could be used as

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<v Speaker 2>a monkey wrench, as a brace, as a bench vice,

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<v Speaker 2>as a screwdriver. While demonstrating the screwdriver, which was flat bladed,

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<v Speaker 2>the blade slipped and seriously cut his hand. That gave

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<v Speaker 2>him the idea of a new type of screwdriver head

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<v Speaker 2>that was less likely to slip or cam out. In

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen seventy five, Alan Cummings of New York City had

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<v Speaker 2>been granted a patent for a screw that used a

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<v Speaker 2>cavity either a square or triangle, rather than a slot,

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<v Speaker 2>to address the same problem. Cummings description noted, it is

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<v Speaker 2>well known that the ordinary screwhead provided with a slot

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<v Speaker 2>is very susceptible to injury caused mainly by the slipping

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<v Speaker 2>of the screwdriver from the slot when the screws being

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<v Speaker 2>set home in wood or metal. By admitting the usual

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<v Speaker 2>slot and using the proper shaped cavity and screwdriver, perfect

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<v Speaker 2>safety is insured to the metallic cap, but Cummings design

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<v Speaker 2>had a flaw. The way that you made the cavity

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<v Speaker 2>that the screwdriver fit into was by stamping it with

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<v Speaker 2>a die and stamping it deeply enough that the screwdriver

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<v Speaker 2>would set inside, it would deform or weaken the screw head.

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<v Speaker 2>Robertson had a better solution, to which he applied for

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<v Speaker 2>a patent in nineteen oh seven. His screw tapered the

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<v Speaker 2>sides of the crew gradually down to a pyramid shape.

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<v Speaker 2>This not only prevented the head from being deformed, but

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<v Speaker 2>actually helped align the metal grain, as he explained, knitting

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<v Speaker 2>the atoms together for greater strength. It had the added

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<v Speaker 2>advantage of less waste, since the slot of a slot

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<v Speaker 2>headed screw was usually cut out, losing a bit of

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<v Speaker 2>metal and weakening the head of the screw. Because it

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<v Speaker 2>was less likely to cam out, you could use more

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<v Speaker 2>torque with the Robertson screw and driver. As it was

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<v Speaker 2>self centering, it could be used with one hand, or

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<v Speaker 2>as a slotted screw driver usually required two. The head

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<v Speaker 2>of the screw was less likely to deform, and the

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<v Speaker 2>Robertson screwdriver was much better able to still remove the

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<v Speaker 2>screw if it did. It also worked better than the

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<v Speaker 2>slotted screw if the screw had been painted over. Robertson's

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<v Speaker 2>screw and driver were particularly attractive to furniture makers and

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<v Speaker 2>boat builders, where it was more of a problem if

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<v Speaker 2>a flathead screw cammed out because it would damage the

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<v Speaker 2>material around it damage the value of the product. But

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<v Speaker 2>perhaps best of all is that robertson screw could be

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<v Speaker 2>cold form. That is, because the stamp tapered down inside

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<v Speaker 2>the screw. That meant that you could build the screw

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<v Speaker 2>without ever having to heat the metal. Cummings design, as

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<v Speaker 2>ingenious as it was, probably was never made during its

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<v Speaker 2>patent life because the screw simply couldn't be easily manufactured.

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<v Speaker 2>But Robertson's design could be cheaply manufactured in the millions.

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<v Speaker 2>His invention the biggest little invention of the twentieth century

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<v Speaker 2>so far. Robertson gained enough investors to open the P. L.

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<v Speaker 2>Robertson Manufacturing Company Limited in nineteen oh eight. He built

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<v Speaker 2>a factory in Milton, Ontario, which gave him tax breaks

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<v Speaker 2>and a ten thousand dollars loan. The patent was approved

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<v Speaker 2>February nineteen oh nine, and by then the company was

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<v Speaker 2>already filling orders. Robertson was just thirty years old. While

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<v Speaker 2>the Robertson Company described the initial years as hard, with

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<v Speaker 2>local competitors even challenging their patent, the Robertson screw slully

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<v Speaker 2>gained adherents among boat builders and furniture makers. In nineteen thirteen,

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<v Speaker 2>Fisher Autobody opened a factory in Walkerville, Ontario, making wooden

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<v Speaker 2>parts for the Ford Model T. The Robertson screw offered

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<v Speaker 2>a great advantage for manufacturing, and Fisher became one of

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<v Speaker 2>Robertson's largest customers, using some seven hundred screws per body.

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<v Speaker 2>Robertson letters designed a screw for metal to use on

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<v Speaker 2>the all metal body of the Ford Model A. Having

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<v Speaker 2>been awarded international patents, Robertson saw the opportunity to expand

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<v Speaker 2>a broad and so he went to Gillingham, England, and

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<v Speaker 2>established a company called the Recess Screw Company. He marketed

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<v Speaker 2>to British industry using the slogan the screw that grips

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<v Speaker 2>the driver, but his real plan was to manufacture screws

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<v Speaker 2>in England but sell them in Germany and Russia. In

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<v Speaker 2>the First World War, in the Russian Revolution foiled his plan.

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<v Speaker 2>Recess Screws turned to war production during the Great War

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<v Speaker 2>and produced things like firing needles and hand grenade pens,

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<v Speaker 2>but after the war, Recess Crews failed. There seems to

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<v Speaker 2>have been several factors involved, including a glot of supply

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<v Speaker 2>following the war, and the actions of some unscrupulous investors.

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<v Speaker 2>But Robertson resigned as a director of the company. But

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<v Speaker 2>the company in Canada was still doing well, and Robertson

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<v Speaker 2>looked to expand into the United States. Then Henry Ford

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<v Speaker 2>came to the table. An analysis had shown that the

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<v Speaker 2>use of Robertson Screws and the Ford plants in Canada

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<v Speaker 2>had saved two dollars and sixty cents a car, of

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<v Speaker 2>significant savings for car that retail for only three hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and ninety dollars in which was being produced in the millions.

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<v Speaker 2>Ford wanted to use Robertson Screws in all his US plants,

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<v Speaker 2>but Ford wanted to say in production in an exclusive contract,

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<v Speaker 2>and Robertson stubbornly refused to give up that control. When

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<v Speaker 2>the deal fell through, Robertson not only did not get

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<v Speaker 2>the contract for the American Ford Plants, but lost the

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<v Speaker 2>contracts in Canada, almost a third of his business. After

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<v Speaker 2>three failed tries, Robertson decided to never try to license

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<v Speaker 2>his screws outside of Canada again, but his marketing skills

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<v Speaker 2>made his screws and drivers the screwdrivers of choice in Canada,

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<v Speaker 2>even though just across the border of the United States

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<v Speaker 2>they're hardly known at all. But Ford was still using

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<v Speaker 2>flat screws, which were even more troublesome on automated assembly lines,

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<v Speaker 2>where if a screw cammed out it cost time and

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<v Speaker 2>slow manufacturing. The solutions started with a patent application in

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty two by John P. Thompson, an auto mechanic

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<v Speaker 2>living in Portland, Oregon. Thompson's solution was similar to Robertson's.

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<v Speaker 2>By tapering, the screw had a star dyke could be

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<v Speaker 2>used without distorting the medal, and again stamping. The taper

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<v Speaker 2>design made the medal actually stronger. In nineteen thirty three,

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<v Speaker 2>when the patent was granted, Thompson assigned it to Henry

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<v Speaker 2>Frank Phillips. Like Robertson, Henry Phillips had been a traveling

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<v Speaker 2>salesman by the time that Patton was assigned to him.

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<v Speaker 2>He was the mandaging director of a mining concern, the

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<v Speaker 2>Oregon Copper Company. It's not only clear why Thompson assigned

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<v Speaker 2>the patent to Phillips, but Phillips refined the design and

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<v Speaker 2>was granted more patents. Unlike Robertson, Phillips did not intend

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<v Speaker 2>to manufacture screws, but hoped to license the patents to

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<v Speaker 2>manufacture and collect royalties. Not surprisingly, with new invention, Phillips

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<v Speaker 2>got a lot of rejections from companies who told me

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<v Speaker 2>the idea lack promise for commercial success. But eventually Phillips

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<v Speaker 2>convinced Eugene E. Clarke of the American Screw Company of Providence,

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<v Speaker 2>Rhode Island, to manufacture the design. By nineteen thirty four,

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<v Speaker 2>the screw was available for consumers. In nineteen thirty six,

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<v Speaker 2>General Motors was invited to test the design. The Phillips

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<v Speaker 2>heads screw first went into use at GM making the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty six Cadillac. Customers raved about the amount of

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<v Speaker 2>work time saved. Within just a few years, virtually all

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<v Speaker 2>US automakers, including Ford, were using Phillips headscrews. The airplane

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<v Speaker 2>manufacturing and railroad industry likewise switched. By nineteen thirty nine,

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<v Speaker 2>twenty companies had licenses to produce Phillips head screws. By

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen forty, eighty five percent of US screw manufacturers had

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<v Speaker 2>a license for the design, and the company grows more

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<v Speaker 2>than one point three million adjusted dollars. While the Second

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<v Speaker 2>World War limited foreign licenses, it established the Phillips head

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<v Speaker 2>screw as an industry standard among wartime manufacturers. The hundreds

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<v Speaker 2>of thousands of planes and motor vehicles built by the

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<v Speaker 2>US during the war were largely screwed together using Phillips headscrews.

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<v Speaker 2>While Robertson had Canada, Phillips screws are by industry estimates,

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<v Speaker 2>by far of the most popular type of screw everywhere

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<v Speaker 2>else in the world. The Robertson and Phillips screws were

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<v Speaker 2>the culmination of the development of screw technology over a

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<v Speaker 2>couple one hundred years, and they were two types that

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<v Speaker 2>rose to the top in an era where there was

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of innovation in the field. It's really ironic

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<v Speaker 2>that the events of the First World War were part

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<v Speaker 2>of the reason that the Robertson screw was never developed internationally,

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<v Speaker 2>whereas events the Second World War where the reason that

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<v Speaker 2>the Philip said it screw was and the relative fates

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<v Speaker 2>between the two say that invention isn't about just the

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<v Speaker 2>inspiration and pun intended drive of the inventor, but of

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<v Speaker 2>a complex interaction with historical forces and powerful personalities, things

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<v Speaker 2>that can impact every tool in the toolbox.

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<v Speaker 1>And you've been listening to the History Guy. If you

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<v Speaker 1>want more stories of forgotten history, please subscribe to his

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<v Speaker 1>YouTube channel, The History Guy Colin History deserves to be remembered.

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<v Speaker 1>The story of the screwdriver war here on our American

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<v Speaker 1>Stories