Tapered or parallel plugs for screws in masonry?

[Bill Woods]

Which sort of wallplug for brick/masonry do posters here prefer?

(1) a plastic wallplug which looks like a sort of cylinder (and looks parallel when seen in profile).

For example:

a wallplug which tapers a bit (which looks a bit like a cone) and often has a row of small bumps at the pointed end.

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I ask this because a lot of products I buy which need to be fixed on the wall come with two screws and two "conical" wallplugs.

Personally, I can't really see how I drill a snug hole for a conical plug. In which circumastances I would want to use such a plug? Am I overlooking a use which this sort of wallplug is designed for?

[--s-p-o-n-i-x--]

My personal preference was for the plastic 'stick' type plug that you had to cut to length yourself, like the one two-thirds of the way down this page:

liked them because you could use a longer plug/screw if the wall was a bit dodgy.

Haven't seen them for a few years, though. Anyone know if any of the sheds stock them?

sponix

[Andy Dingley]

Slice the flange off another wallplug and shove that in afterwards.

Or else just poke them down with a drillbit. Unless you're using huge screws, you only need one plug's length of grip, you just need it further in where the wall is stable.

I saw them recently, but the price was ridiculous.

I also saw "Rawlplug compound", or at least a modern version of it recently. A compound-filled paper "coffee filter" that you wet, then shoved down the hole.

[David Lang]

Hi Bill

Rule number one. Unpack product, find screws & plugs supplied, throw in bin, use some proper ones.

Dave

[P.R.Brady]

The end of the cone expands as the screw is put in. Personally, I think the rolls-royce of wall plugs is the Plasplug. That plus a matchstick to bulk it up for narrow screws is great. It has thin fins so it doesn't rotate in the hole, it is flexible enough to allow some variation in screw size, and works every time for me. All others seem to bring out my ham fistedness. Phil

[nightjar]

An off-cut of wood trimmed to fit with a Swiss Army knife, hammered in until the bit sticking out seriously starts to mushroom and finally chiselled off flush with the wall.

Colin Bignell

[Bill Woods]

The type of Plasplugs I have seen and used do not tend to have fins. See

"Supergrips" is the parallel plug and there is a conical dark brown wallplug by Plasplugs called "Multifix" (which is not shown on their UK website). But neither seem to have those thin fins.

Rawlplug do one though which they call simply "Nylon Plug":

it is flexible enough to allow some variation in screw

[fred]

In article , Andy Dingley writes

Recently found some of the old stuff in my dad's shed, ingredients: Asbestos Fibre 100%, I remember him mixing it with a gob of spit in his hand when making fixings, ah, those were the days :-)

[Bill Woods]

I remeber that stuff. It actually works very well and when set it forms a hard and non-fragile compound. Er, yes, the asbestos is a drawback!

[Goedjn]

And what did he die of? I'll bet it wasn't lung cancer.

--Goedjn

[fred]

In article , Goedjn writes

Correct :-)

[Homer2911]

An off-cut of wood trimmed to fit with a Swiss Army knife, hammered in until the bit sticking out seriously starts to mushroom and finally chiselled off flush with the wall.

Colin Bignell

I'm with Colin, particularly where a heavy load is concerned - a good plug of wood, tight enough in the hole to require hammering in with a degree of force, will hold anything!

[Paul Mc Cann]

Bos of wooden matches with the heads snapped of. Keep pushing one in until the hole is full

Paul Mc Cann