Snapping of screw heads

[mac davis]

Earl has some very good ideas, especially testing the screws and holes on scrap of the wood your project is made of.. gotta remember that one!

What Earl's post reminded me of is that buying a $5 drill index really helped me in choosing/sizing drills/dowels, etc... for example, using Earls' advice, try different screws & drill sizes... but also run your screw through the drill index and see what "drill size" the shank is...

I just had to do that with my plug project.. I had the plugs cut but wasn't sure what hole size they plugged... lol I used the drill index to find that the "small" end of the plug was

21/64, and drilled my holes to that size.. YMMV

[Stanley]

Looks like you've solved it. For what it's worth, I hold the screw up to the light and pass drills in front of it till I get one a gnat's whisker smaller than the core of the screw thread. For brass screws in hardwood I was tought to put in a steel screw of the same size first to tap the hole. A bit of candle wax on the thread helps.

[Bob Haar]

Bees wax works pretty well and is less likely to cause problems with any finishes.

[Leon]

Gooooooood... ;~) Now the Borg does have square drive screws, known as Deck Screws. These are OK for pine but still not strong enough for hard woods.

[Bob Peterson]

You are probably using either a drywall screw or a cheap wood screw. Get some deck screws or higher quality wood screws and the heads won't snap off.

[Mike Marlow]

There certainly is a difference in screws, but as in all things there's more than one way to skin a cat. You've figured it out by going to a slightly larger pilot hole, and all is well. As long as your wood screw drove its way in (which is obviously did given a stripped screw head), you're good to go. Higher quality screws aren't going to add anything to the project. Good lesson in this - you don't always have to go to that higher quality solution - just figure out how to make what you have work properly and move on.

[Flippo]

Lubricating your screws with a little parrafin or just having a bar of soap handy to rub on your threads before driving them may help .

[Upscale]

You've had some suggestions for better quality screws. I'm sure you could go out and find them locally, but if you're not up to that, then you can order them from Lee Valley.

Standard Screws

Screws

[bugbear]

1) Pilot hole size needs to vary with hardness of wood 2) A non-power screw driver will give much better control of the process.

The best way I know of running in a screw with power, speed and control is a screwdriver in a brace (as in brace-and-bit)

BugBear

[Leon]

While Soap works, it is a poor choice for long term effects on the screw. Sop generally has lots of moisture and will cause the screw to prematurely rust.

[Jim]

Corey:

Send me an email with your address and I'll get you some samples.

Jim Ray, President McFeely's Square Drive Screws

[John]

First thought would be CRAPPY CHEAP screws. Second thought would be that you are not using a deep enough pilot hole and need to also engage the clutch on your cordless drill/driver

Many folks/resouces recommend a 1/8th in bit for pilot holes for #8 screws

For the crappy screws, junk 'em and then order some decent >Just when I think I have a little momentum...