Rawl is a misuse of a brand name from the past. It basicly means the plastic screw plugs found in packets at all the DIY stores. Some are garbage and some are OK. Try to relate them to a known trade supplier. Avoid those that carry a trade name such as Homebase or B&Q. The packet you buy them in will tell you what size and length screw they are made for. Read the packet for the screw length and drill bit size they are made for. It is very important to use the correct drill bit size as the expansion of the plug is caused by using the corrct screw diameter (and correct length). When you are drilling--do not wobble the drill around--the egg shapped hole will severly reduce the amount of load you can hang on the screw. Hanging kitchen cabinets requires a great deal of reliability and care. For instance--if the cabinet door operator is a gentle person the factory specs may be OK for screw size.. If it is like my old girl--who always slams every door--double the spec size.
Tee first size is the length - sometimes specified in metric but often not. The second one is the guage - the bigger the number the thicker the screw. Most screws intended for heavy fixing will be 8 guage or thicker
- with 8, 10, and 12 being the most popular.
These are as the name suggests designed to make screwing into chipboard simpler. They tend to tbe thinner with a very sharp point and a coarse thread. Not ideal for this task - but good for making stuff out of chipboard.
I expect you mean "Twinthread" - which as the name suggests has two interspaced threads cut into the screw. These are good general purpose screws well suited to power screw driving. The twin threads mean they screw in twice as quickly as a single thread (i.e. half the number of turns qre required) - they will grip and hold as well as a single thread screw, but are not able to "pull in" quite as hard as a single thread screw.
Twinthread are the type I use most often, and they would be well suited to the task.
Brass tend to be used where you want the screws to either look pretty, or you need additional corrosian resistance. Most modern screws will be zinc plated to stop them rusting. Stainless tend to be used in special cases where the greatest strength and corrosian resistance are required (like boat building for example).
You makes a certain amount of sense - but in fact plugs are almost always designed to take wood screws.
This means a two and a half inch long screw, of size 10. The screw size refers to the diameter (though not directly in any measurement unit with which I am familiar). No 4 is a weedy little thing, and No 14 is prettty fat. Nos 6, 8 and 10 are the most common sizes used in DIY work.
Chipboard screws are fine. They are like 'ordinary' wood screws, but threaded all the way up to the head rather than having a plain shank.
You won't! A rawlplug is simply a device which enables you to use a woodscrew in brick, block or concrete. The screw screws into the soft material of the plug, and expands it so that it is a tight fit in the hole - enabling a firm fixing to be made.
You can still get the fibre rawlplugs (Although who they're made by I don;t know). I still think they give a better grip than plastic, but then I'm an old fart.
Just to add a key piece of advice to what others have said, often mentioned in this newgroup, which is that if any plugs and/or screws have been provided with the brackets, dump 'em NOW! and buy some new plugs; and use the screw and masonry drill sizes specified on the plugs.
I agree (with the grip bit - don't know about the fart! ) - but they're more fiddly to use, so I only use them for heavy duty stuff.
With plastic plugs, you just push them in and then screw the screw into them. Being tapered, they grip well enough not to twist in the hole as you do the screw up.
Fibre plugs, on the other hand, being parallel, do tend to twist unless you partially screw the screw in to expand them before inserting them. I always chamfer the bottom end, too, for good measure!
And occasionally they do get too tight, especially with big screws, needing a little vaseline. Interestingly (or not!) I did find them very effective for light fixing into plasterboard, if hole is drilled for a tight fit before inserting screw.[1]
Interesting tip on chamfering - I must try that.
Cheers
Tim
[1] When plasterboard is dabbed onto blockwork, so cavity fixings don't work and the screw gauge is too little to get the length for fixing into the backing blockwork. Boy, do I hate plasterboard.
Thank you to all those that have replied to my original question.
I know it's a simply question, but I've only been doing DIY about a year.
Besides I am sure this will help someone in the future.
But for me in summary if I understand
10 x 60mm
10 x 2 1/2"
is the same (ok no ruler near me but if we assume 60mm is 2 and a half inches) The 10 is a gauge, and although we now use MM rather than inches the 10 part is the same
By the way, I read that the gauge is taken from when screws were invented. So thats' why I am making this summary statement.
You can use woodscrews, chipboard screws, self tappers, twinthreads, plasterboard screws, or any other coarse thread screw. While there are some diffrences between them, none of the differences will stop them working fine with a rawlplug.
Why were screws sold by 'gauge' and not simply the diameter? Metric screws confuse me a little but they are much more logical.
Does this have anything to do with electric cable in the USA being refered to by 12 gauge, 14 gauge etc and am I right in thinking that a lower number means a bigger cable?
Is this anything to do with shotguns being called 12 bore or 12 gauge?
Doubt it! We have wire gauge in UK too - used for drawn wire (not electrical cable) and sheet metal - where the lower the number, the fatter the wire - as indeed it is with knitting needles.
But screw diameters go *up* with increasing numbers.
This tends to happen if the screw is not fully threaded, and the plain shank enters the rawlplug. If you keep turning, the screw will shear. In such cases, you need to recess the plug down the hole a bit - so that only the threaded portion of the screw goes into it.
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