Wood screws......

[clogs]

just a thought came to me from another thread......

what kinda wood screws do you guy's and gal's use for general work......
I only use the gold type hardened screws now for everything unless the job requires St/Steel or brass.....
pozzi mostley but now moving into the Torx style head.....
this is not for furniture more for workshop cupboards and general duty jobs.....
all my new boxes of the old type silver plated (soft) screws were given away in the last house move.....no point moving stuff I wont use....
Mostley everthing is driven with an impact driver now and the odd time my old Stanley pump action, to stop it going rusty....
Arthritus has seen the hand turned screws as a thing of the past for me.....unless it's very delicate .....

be interesting to here from you....

 

[AJB Temple]

I tend to use Reisser for everyday and especially when not in view. Mainly because I can get them very easily in a wide range of sizes and I like the self cutting action.

Torx is good - but when clogged with oil or paint, is harder to clean out.

For my own higher quality work I also use brass slotted a lot (in pilot hole and with a sacrificial screw to pre-cut the thread) and marine stainless steel (stupidly expensive).

 

[sammy.se]

I love torx head screws, but I find myself buying Pozi drive for a) convenience and b) price.
I just bought 1400 Turbogold woodscrews from Screwfix for £21, variety of sizes, so that will keep me going for a while.

For any heavy duty fixings (e.g. 120mm+ screws), I try and get torx head screws so that my impact driver can do it's thing and drive it home nice and tight without rounding off the heads.

 

[clogs]

just to add I have a Milwauke 3/8 impact wrench.....
this I use with coach screws as well as monster stuff.......
trouble is the impact driver bits are either too hard or too soft....
at the mo using Whira.....tried Bosch and Dewalt but they dont seem to hack it....
not found any proper impact bits here in Crete yet so supose have to import them....
I buy em by the box......
any decent results for u.....

 

[sammy.se]

Wera for me have stood the test of time. The gold coloured ones.

Milwaukee were utter rubbish, and DeWalt were reasonable

 

[AJB Temple]

Snag I find with buying screw sets, is that most of the sizes are not useful. I prefer to buy boxes of 400 of the sizes I use a lot. Turbogold from Screwfix are used by lots of people. Personally I find they snap easily if driven into oak with an impact driver. I have never snapped a Reisser screw, but they are more costly.

I have Milwaukee impact drivers: the standard type and the less aggressive oil driven "surge" type. Milwaukee bits are useless. I just buy boxes of hardened impact driver double ended bits on line. Were. Not the cheapest.

For hex heads I tend to use the ones that come with boxes of timberfix screw bolts. The magnetic inserts give up eventually but they easily last for more than a box of screws.

 

[Oddbod70]

Another vote for turbogold. Not the best, but good enough for every day.

 

[Rich C]

I snapped a turbogold going into a softwood joist, they've mostly been fine though.

 

[Doug B]

Another vote for Reisser, in part because my local timber yard sell them but also because I’ve found them superior to screws from Toolstation & Screwfix.

 

[Richard_C]

Not a big cost item for me, don't get through many. Discovered Reisser a few years ago, not planning to change. I buy boxes of 200 in the sizes I mostly use.

When I moved here I got a multi pack set of 2000 ??? Twin quick or similar because I had a lot to do, still got hardly touched boxes of some odd sizes, and that's after 24 years. How many 4" no 10s will I use in the next 24 I wonder...

 

[Roseland 2]

I've recently discovered Spax Wirox. They have a Torx head, which I like, are nicely finished and with their slim shank and deep thread cut easily and hold well. Plus they're readily available from Toolstation and Axminster.

Andrew

 

[fatjames]

I love the spax wirox too. I managed to get a box of 2000 (and a ‘free’ coffee flask) for £20 on eBay a few months back. I wish I’d bought all the stock but didn’t realise how cheap they were at the time.

 

[sammy.se]

Oh, I did forget to mention that I really like Spax screws - but price leans me towards the cheaper options.
I did try cheaper MDF screws rather than the Spax ones, but I was disappointed with the quality and so I will spend a bit more and buy the Spax MDF screws next time.

One thing I have noticed lately is that screws with 'anti-jacking' features are becoming more common. I really like those especially when I can't clamp pieces together before screwing.

 

[BHwoodworking]

woodspur. in torx. although riesser comes close behind

 

[owen]

I don't understand using torx screws? What's the point when pozi's work just fine and are cheaper?

 

[AJB Temple]

I don't understand using torx screws? What's the point when pozi's work just fine and are cheaper?

Torx do not cam out. The engagement with the bit is far more positive. And the screw can be positioned on the bit for use in hard to reach applications. Also very useful in robotic assembly for that reason.

 

[billw]

Are flathead screws really now only used in fine furniture making?

 

[Rich C]

Are flathead screws really now only used in fine furniture making?

They are only used to give a traditional look since they are inferior to almost any other drive pattern (except maybe Philips. ).

 

[Eshmiel]

They are only used to give a traditional look since they are inferior to almost any other drive pattern (except maybe Philips. ).

Whilst this is probably true, the slotted screw does have a better look in many traditional styles and designs of furniture. So if a screw is going to show in the piece .....

Moreover, slotted screws - even those of brass, which in practice are the only slotted screws I seem to use - can be successfully driven without problem if a small impact driver is used rather than just a bog-standard drill-driver. An impact driver is far less likely to cam-out of a slot; and far less likely to break the shaft of the screw .... if a lower-powered model is used rather than those over-powered 18V things intended for carpentry on building sites. Mine's a 10.8V Makita, one of a small pair including a standard drill-driver. It's also lightweight and short, so easier to manipulate with furniture sporting a difficult-to-get-at screw or three.

Should you work with hand driven screwdrivers, a good quality flat blade screwdriver of the right size for the screw's slot will work well too. I find the current Narex slot screwdrivers very good indeed compared to most of the bog-standard designs, even those traditional items such as the Marples. They're very well designed and include some sort of coating on the tip that seems to hang on to the metal of the screw slot much better than just bare steel. The handles have a triangular shape with three facets and three bulges, which seems to provide a much better grip than either a round or an oval handle. They even have a nut built into the shaft so you can apply a spanner to increase the torque on recalcitrant screws. It works!

Eshmiel

 

[disco_monkey79]

For general work, then turbo gold from Screwfix. As stated, the 4mm snap in oak, but I've yet to have a 5mm dia. do this.

However, I recently got several packs of NOVI Pro "Stick Fit" from Jewsons. They "take" more of the bit than a normal pozi, so will presumably take more abuse before stripping/chewing.

That said, I'm still going to buy from Screwfix, 'cos I'm tight.