Good old-fashioned screw

[Heliotrope Smith]

Size does matter here. The bigger the hole the looser the screw. Not good I like to screw into a tight one.

[John]

Do others agree that the old fashioned woodscrews were better than the modern ones when used with wall plugs? The tapered thread root created more force to wedge open the wall plug.

Modern screws tend to cut a thread and are not as effective in opening up the plug to form a tight wedge.

[Stuart B]

I presume you are referring to the screws that resemble self-tappers but it's not as if you can't get the "old fashioned woodscrews" .They are available in ,for example,Screwfix

[John]

I know they are available - but many items are even supplied with the "self tapping" type of screws.

I have built up a nice stock of modern screws from Screwfix over the years - but I realise I also need to have a stock of a few of the old type. Some sort of "hybrid" would be good.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And snap off before being driven fully home. ;-)

Think the range of sizes many plugs say they can accommodate is rather optimistic. So best to use one with the biggest screw it takes.

[Dorothy Bradbury]

Yes, but there are variations in wall plugs. Use Fischer Wall Plugs, size SX8, box of 100 for £2.50 on Ebay. Material is nylon, design is 4-way expansion to bite in all directions.

Better than 2-way expansion polythene which have poor retention.

[The Natural Philosopher]

:

No. I think you simply need to select the right screw, and plug, that's all.

[Andy Dingley]

No.

In the wrong place though. You need a dovetail, a tapered woodscrwew gives you a cork instead. Rather than locking into the brick, it's more likely to burst the top layer of plaster.

Use the right plugs. Use parallel plugs for parallel screws, not the old tapered plugs.

[Skipweasel]

I generally glue plugs in with polyurethane glue anyway - they /never/ come out.

[The Medway Handyman]

I use the Fischer 6 x 30 plugs or rather the pirate Screwfix ones

their Quicksilver screws. Turbo Golds (much as I love them) dont hold as well in plugs IME.

Good strong fixing.

[John Rumm]

Hijacking the tread a tad, what is it about the turbo golds that makes them better than the quicksilver? (I tend to buy quicksilver almost exclusively, and wondered if I was missing something).

[The Medway Handyman]

Really fast to drive, very sharp so they are easy to start, best of all, almost impossible to split the timber even close to edges. What it says on the tin really.

Buy a box & try them out.

[Stuart Noble]

Plasterboard screws are pretty good from that point of view. I use them for all sorts.

[Tony Bryer]

They're gold so they must be better

Without looking at the book, don't the silver ones have a thicker shank and less sharp threads, so are presumably better where acting in shear, but harder to drive?