The nuts and bolts and other stuff.

[stiles watson]

I have been lookin' around for a small compartmentalized container to store small parts while in the Monty. I went to 2 or 3 RV stores, Wal-mart, Home Depot and Lowes to no avail. I finally when to Hancock Sewing Center where I found a 10-1/2" x 7" x 1-3/4" deep plastic box with seventeen small compartments. The advertized purpose for the box was that it was to store different colored floss used in needle point.

It seems perfect for storing an array of these Robertson head screws so popular in the RV industry. Other small parts include the spare fuses, connectors, wire nuts and other assorted extra repair items. I am sure that you guys have already found a better solution than this, but if you haven't....

[Montana_882]

I also wanted a small container and found them at a variety of places,Target,Lowes,Big Lots and Cosco.The ones at Big Lots were the cheapest and worked great.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Used my empty tackle boxes.
I was an avid fisherman and had some 8 to 10 tackle boxes. Way to much tackle to be hauling around so I sold off most of the lures but kept a number of the boxes. They work great for an assortment of nuts, bolts, screws, fuses (both AC & DC) and other odds and ends. One box in particular has 6 big drawers and it fit perfectly under the wire shelf in the front compartmet.

A bit of trivia...Robertson Screw
Square-drive screws were invented in Canada by P. L. Robertson in Milton in 1908, 28 years before Henry F. Phillips patented Phillips screws.
In 1908, Robertson-Whitehouse invented the square drive screw as the first recess-drive type fastener practical for production usage. In continuous use for almost 90 years, the design is a North American standard, as published in the sixth edition of Industrial Fasteners Institute Metric and Inch Standards.

So do we blame or thank our Canadian friends for making us go out and buy a special squareheaded screwdrive?
For me, I know I appreciated having an excuse to run down to the local Home Depot to get that Robertson Screw screwdriver and to stock up on assorted sizes of the Robertson Screws.

[Dave e Victoria]

Cool trivia!!!!!!!!!

[sreigle]

Glenn, I wish the square drive screws were more standard on everything else. They seem to last longer without stripping the heads like Phillips screwheads are prone to doing.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Years ago, when we still had the fishing camp, I would go thru boxes of galvenized deck screws every year building or repairing the docks. These screws were always Phillips head. One day I went to the local hardware store, no Home Depot where we were, and picked up 3 boxes. When I got home I discoverd one of the boxes was square head. As I didn't have a square head driver and I thought I preferred Phillips, I returned them.
Since getting the Monty I have found the Robertson head screws to be considerably better than the Phillips head that now I always buy the Robertson.

[DarMar]

I've been following the trivia discussion Glen and glad to see you have come to the right conclusion. As a Canadian it is easy to see that the only screw to use would be the Robertson, everything else gets cursed at sooner or later. Must be because of our extreme cold winters, when you are outside you truly want to screw that screw in just as fast as possible before you freeze your hands off and the only one that doen't strip easily is the Robertson. So lets thank your Canadian friends and neighbours.

[Treecounter]

We also use an old tackle box. Got it at a garage sale for $10 and it was full of tackle. It had strips of insulation on the top to keep things from swapping holes while carrying it. It has compartments on both sides and carries way to much "stuff".

[sreigle]

Thank you, Canadian friends! Even more important to me than getting those screws into place quickly is getting them out again without a lot of aggravation, drilling, extractors, etc.

[Chester]

I live about 15 miles from Milton and am glad Mr Robertson invented this screw. I have never stripped the head on a robertson screw and you can even stick the screw onto the screwdriver and it will stay put in most situations. That's good for those places your fingers don't fit into. The only other screw as good in my mind is the Torx.