jvsteenb said:
Dan Clark said:
Here's another vendor that carries nothing but Torx screws:
http://screw-products.com
Doesn't look like Torx to me..... The inner and outer edges of a Torx profile are rounded, which is actually a design parameter. It helps to distribute the torque load over a wider part of the circumference, reducing wear significantly and increasing effectiveness when slight wear or minor misfitting occurs.
Shane Holland said:
Torx is a trademarked brand and you have to pay a license to use that name. Star drive is the same thing without paying the licensing basically. That's my understanding from my days at a certain screw retailer.
I agree with Job (jvsteenb) and Shane. The photo at
http://screw-products.com is this:
Although the patent has lapsed, TORX is still a trademarked name in the USA, Canada, UK and other
other countries and Acument Global Technologies allow selected manufacturers to manufacture TORX products
under license. They naturally take a poor view of manufacturers making look-alike products, as the following except from their
TORX Drive System brochure shows (note the curved walls of the "Authentic TORX Drive bit"):
Their
Licensing Program Review brochure shows that they hunt down companies of items which are sold TORX, but are not the genuine licensed article or manufactured to the correct standards:
Trademark Usage and Counterfeits
Our licensed product trademarks are currently registered in 78 countries and registered with United States Customs.
Our trademarks are known and recognized worldwide.
It is imperative that any product infringement is stopped immediately. By not doing so, end users not only receive an inferior product, but the product could become unrecognizable in the marketplace and take on a generic connotation. We then run the risk of losing our reputation in the marketplace.
We are very active in the pursuit of counterfeit activity.
We attend trade shows, review trade journals, and do key-word searches on the internet. We also rely heavily on our licensees to report violations. We are committed to pursue all trademark infringements and counterfeits brought to our attention and will use any resources, including legal action, to protect these trademarks and patents. We are protecting not only our interests, but the interests of our licensees.
As a licensee, training on how to spot illegal product is an important part of the package. The confidential product binders go into detail explaining the proper usage of the trademarks so there is no mistaking a genuine product versus a fake.
To get round these legal problems, manufacturers of TORX-like items often call them "star drives" or "star bits" or something similar. They don't have to pay a license fee or make them to the strict TORX standards, but that naturally means that the shape of the star recess will vary a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer. That, in turn, means that getting a good fit between bit and screwhead can be difficult.
A good example of this is the
screw-products.com own brochure, where close examination of a selection of their "Star Drive" heads will reveal several different designs:
Forrest
) but there is a difference! I have a supply of square drive I have to use up but after that, it's GRK all the way. I will need to buy a few thousand of them this fall when I replace my deck. Their composite screws should work well.
Of course the demo would have been better had they used a T15 to drive them. 
These guys have them but I have never purchased anything from them.
