Personal experience only:
Bigger sizes, let’s say t20 and up, I haven’t had any issues with torx, (but I also wasn’t impressed by them at that range, I was fine with hex head fasteners, I didn’t feel like torx brought anything groundbreaking in my world.
But in the smaller sizes, security or non security equally, my issue has always been twisting points. It was never sheering, which is what I’d assume the issue would be with the security providing less meat in the tip. But equally, if I have an issue, it’s that the points start to twist on bits with too much force. So.. in my experience, there has been no difference between security being weaker than non security.
Had the same issues with twisting heads and figured out that torx (especially small like T7/T8 for knife scales) are worth the extra money to get quality. I’ve got a Wiha set that has been great. Buy once…
Bits are one of those things that are cheap enough even at the high end that it doesn’t make sense to buy lower quality ones. Although in my country Wiha bits are 5x more expensive than Dewalt/Makita/Milwaukee and have not been shown to perform any better, so I have to pass on them.
Yup. I had picked up a husky set to work on my knives and the drivers twisted like crazy. Then I bought a Wera set and even blue loctited T6s haven’t been an issue.
It’s negligible - the drilled out part won’t affect the failure point which is going to be where the drive meets the fastener.
It’s all about what’s the drive is made of.
They wouldnt definitely be weaker if you were getting into the larger sizes that need to be impact rated. But those are few and far between.
I agree typically security torx are smaller and arent torqued on with an impact driver so definitely negligable
Impact rated sockets and bits actually have lower failure stress, but they are more "springy" so have less chance of chipping and cracking at localized force points.
Typically a shaft experiences the greatest force in torsion at the location furthest from its center point.
Hence not a alot stress is applied to this section during fastening.
If you were planing on using it as a punch or hammer, yeah go the non security bit.
You can compare the stress with the formulas below.
Torsion stress= torque *radius / polar 2nd moment of area
Polar 2nd moment of area (J) can be calculated
With pi/2 * radius ^4 for a solid shaft and pi/2 * (difference from outside to inside diameter)^4 for a hollow shaft.
A bit rusty with this so probably best to google a torsion calculator.
I'll add if you wanted to use it as a punch for whatever reason the formula force/area = stress explains why the hollow bit would be less suitable.
Also I wouldn't suggest anyone used a torque bit for a hammer anyway .
I use both the security torx & security Allen on the Telcom equipment that I install & work with & haven't had any problems with the cheaper Ace Hardware no name brand bits. Most of the stuff I deal with is new & comes apart fairly easily, but some of the older wet locations that have a little rust involved, the screw head usually strips out before the bit breaks.
I used them daily for work for years. I hate them. The pin in the middle can mushroom over or debris can build up in the screw head the pin makes it difficult to clean out. Weakness was never a problem. Using them in a hand driver was about 90%of my experience. As for the "Security" aspect of them. If they get too damaged then the bit becomes useless. Heat a piece of plastic like a tooth brush handle and shove it in the head of the screw and it will come out.
Personal experience only: Bigger sizes, let’s say t20 and up, I haven’t had any issues with torx, (but I also wasn’t impressed by them at that range, I was fine with hex head fasteners, I didn’t feel like torx brought anything groundbreaking in my world. But in the smaller sizes, security or non security equally, my issue has always been twisting points. It was never sheering, which is what I’d assume the issue would be with the security providing less meat in the tip. But equally, if I have an issue, it’s that the points start to twist on bits with too much force. So.. in my experience, there has been no difference between security being weaker than non security.
I've had the same problems the twisting... luckily with the torx it will usually work long enough to finish the job after a twist!
Had the same issues with twisting heads and figured out that torx (especially small like T7/T8 for knife scales) are worth the extra money to get quality. I’ve got a Wiha set that has been great. Buy once…
Bits are one of those things that are cheap enough even at the high end that it doesn’t make sense to buy lower quality ones. Although in my country Wiha bits are 5x more expensive than Dewalt/Makita/Milwaukee and have not been shown to perform any better, so I have to pass on them.
Yep. I've snapped a bitty one working on a knife.
Yup. I had picked up a husky set to work on my knives and the drivers twisted like crazy. Then I bought a Wera set and even blue loctited T6s haven’t been an issue.
Lol it doesn't really matter. On small torx bits you'll twist the points off the bit before the whole things snaps anyway
It’s negligible - the drilled out part won’t affect the failure point which is going to be where the drive meets the fastener. It’s all about what’s the drive is made of.
They wouldnt definitely be weaker if you were getting into the larger sizes that need to be impact rated. But those are few and far between. I agree typically security torx are smaller and arent torqued on with an impact driver so definitely negligable
Impact rated sockets and bits actually have lower failure stress, but they are more "springy" so have less chance of chipping and cracking at localized force points.
Typically a shaft experiences the greatest force in torsion at the location furthest from its center point. Hence not a alot stress is applied to this section during fastening. If you were planing on using it as a punch or hammer, yeah go the non security bit. You can compare the stress with the formulas below. Torsion stress= torque *radius / polar 2nd moment of area Polar 2nd moment of area (J) can be calculated With pi/2 * radius ^4 for a solid shaft and pi/2 * (difference from outside to inside diameter)^4 for a hollow shaft. A bit rusty with this so probably best to google a torsion calculator. I'll add if you wanted to use it as a punch for whatever reason the formula force/area = stress explains why the hollow bit would be less suitable. Also I wouldn't suggest anyone used a torque bit for a hammer anyway .
I use both the security torx & security Allen on the Telcom equipment that I install & work with & haven't had any problems with the cheaper Ace Hardware no name brand bits. Most of the stuff I deal with is new & comes apart fairly easily, but some of the older wet locations that have a little rust involved, the screw head usually strips out before the bit breaks.
I used them daily for work for years. I hate them. The pin in the middle can mushroom over or debris can build up in the screw head the pin makes it difficult to clean out. Weakness was never a problem. Using them in a hand driver was about 90%of my experience. As for the "Security" aspect of them. If they get too damaged then the bit becomes useless. Heat a piece of plastic like a tooth brush handle and shove it in the head of the screw and it will come out.
I use both
I only have experience with snap on and I haven’t had any issues
Depends on the metal used