Help with screws

Chuck Beland

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800
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Rhode Island
I have some 1/4'' & 3/4'' Birch ply & also MDF I need to make a box that will be screwed to the back of my grinder stand to hold my beal buffing wheels.
I bought some screws at the borg & after getting the screw almost in the head snapped off :( Someone posted on a web site about McFeelys screws. & something called I think it was a "spax" screw good for either ply or MDF. What I'm looking for is some advice on what type & length is good to keep on hand for ply MDF & also say 2x4's

Chuck
 
MDF does take special screws, I think they have a bigger shank and the threads are much more coarse giving it better holding power in the rather loose material that MDF is.

As for everyday use, I just use drywall screws. They are cheap, but hardened at the factory making them prone to snap. The best way I deal with this is to keep a toilet bowl wax ring with me when I drive in screws. I stick the tip of the screw in the wax ring, then send it home. You would be surprised at how long of a screw you can drive into solid wood so effortlessly with a little wax.

No need to spend good money on screws, just lube up the cheap ones and you will be golden.
 
MDF does take special screws, I think they have a bigger shank and the threads are much more coarse giving it better holding power in the rather loose material that MDF is.

As for everyday use, I just use drywall screws. They are cheap, but hardened at the factory making them prone to snap. The best way I deal with this is to keep a toilet bowl wax ring with me when I drive in screws. I stick the tip of the screw in the wax ring, then send it home. You would be surprised at how long of a screw you can drive into solid wood so effortlessly with a little wax.

No need to spend good money on screws, just lube up the cheap ones and you will be golden.



A bar of soap works just as well and is a lot less messy to carry and handle than the sticky toilet bowl wax.
 
Soap does work, however, soap also attracts water (moisture out of the air) and thus promotes rust. I am not a chemist, but I had a woodworking student that was. Learned more from my students than I taught!
 
Here's a couple links that will help:
http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/etip0090800sn.html
http://www.mdf-info.org/using/screwing.html

Outside of going the Confirmat route I have had good success following these guidelines:

- Reserve all your BORG screws for junk projects that require no strength or reliability; in effect, use them up as quick as possible and do not buy them again, throw them away or give them to someone you don't like. You will be time and money ahead. DAMHIKT.
- Buy good quality screws at about $3 - $5 per 100 in most cases. McFeely is a favorite because they generally have some offer as you checkout (some useful like free shipping if you buy a blah-blah, some not, like free plastic bins in a size you don't use or want to use). They also offer some well thought out "bundles" and many special purpose screws.
- Choose a straight-shank, coarse-tooth screw.
- Drill an appropriate sized pilot hole a bit longer than the screw (the screw should not bore itself into the MDF).
- Make a slight countersink where the holes align for joining the pieces (this prevents a poor fit due to MDF's tendency to 'volcano'.
- Use your clutch (or a light touch) so you don't over-drive.

That's about it. Works for me.
 
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McFeeley's

I have used McFeeley screws for years and have NEVER snapped one off. Doesn't matter what kind of wood.

My 2 cents

Jack
 
A bar of soap works just as well and is a lot less messy to carry and handle than the sticky toilet bowl wax.

Soap??? What's that there new fangled stuff? Do you have to have running water to use that?

I'm just kidding of course. I have used soap in the past, and you are right, it does work just as good.
 
It seems we have let the some of the older proven methods fall by the way side. Possibly from haste or maybe from pure lazyness.

I've never heard mention on a show or read lately the word anchor hole but everything seems to need a Pilot Hole. But if we'll drill an anchor hole the minor diameter of the screw or maybe a few thousandts smaller and a pilot hole a few thousandts larger than the major diameter of the screw most of the screw problems will be solved. Let the screw head do it's job.
 

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I have been using Deerwood Fasteners with nibs, 1 1/4", 2" and 3" for at least 5 years. They work well but I buy them in large boxes. The 1 1/4" as I recall comes 4000 in a box? :dunno:This may not help but it is what I use. Cannot tell you what joy it is to have the head break off of a screw!!!!!! You have to experience it for yourself. :D
 
"Bob,
I've never heard mention on a show or read lately the word anchor hole but everything seems to need a Pilot Hole. But if we'll drill an anchor hole the minor diameter of the screw or maybe a few thousandts smaller and a pilot hole a few thousandts larger than the major diameter of the screw most of the screw problems will be solved. Let the screw head do it's job."

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Yepper, that is what I do. Drilling a single size hole will often result in an incomplete seating of the two work pieces or spliting. Seems like more work but to me it works better.
 
"Bob,
I've never heard mention on a show or read lately the word anchor hole but everything seems to need a Pilot Hole. But if we'll drill an anchor hole the minor diameter of the screw or maybe a few thousandts smaller and a pilot hole a few thousandts larger than the major diameter of the screw most of the screw problems will be solved. Let the screw head do it's job."

Attached Thumbnails

Yepper, that is what I do. Drilling a single size hole will often result in an incomplete seating of the two work pieces or spliting. Seems like more work but to me it works better.
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I use this drill on occasion as a labor saving tool. It bores a anchor hole, pilot hole, counter sink and will counter bore if desired to about 3/16". The original anchor hole section broke on about the third hole I drilled but I may have been using a portable drill. I made a new anchor drill part from a No. 8 dry wall screw and it's tuffer than a boot heal. This one is for No. 6 screws. As for lubrication of screws I've been known to kind of row them all up on a paper towel and give them a squirt of silicone.
 

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