Wood screw shank size

[Jon Danniken]

I went to the local Ace store today and bought a box of wood screws, size 10, Hillman brand. When I brought them home I decided to check the shank size, and was surprised when they came in a little small, about

0.150", instead of the 0.190 that I was expecting.

Thinking I might be losing my mind, I measured an old wood screw that I had laying around, which my mind told me was a #10, and it measured

0.190". I even called the local fastener store, and they confirmed that 0.190" (or 3/16 as they put it) is the proper shank size for a #10 wood screw.

So what's the deal now, did I end up with a mislabeled box of wood screws, or did someone change the specs on these things while I wasn't looking?

Jon

[DerbyDad03]

[Sonny]

Check this out:

Sonny

[dadiOH]

[Electric Comet]

and the 12oz. pint of beer people in the glass that's not full so it's about 11oz if lucky

now what did they do to 1/2 gal. ice cream? and 3/4 plywood

[Ed Pawlowski]

Ice cream is now 1 1/2 quarts, plywood is about 1/16" under.

[Jon Danniken]

Oh, they are definitely going back, that is for sure, and if I'm not too lazy I probably should ask to speak to the hardware manager.

Jon

[John McCoy]

Jon Danniken wrote in news:mabg4v$44c$ [e-mail]:

They are cheap, low quality screws. Home Depot quality. That's all that can be said for them.

On a standard wood screw, the shank should be the same diameter as the major diameter of the threads. On your screws, it's the same as the minor diameter of the threads. That's normal for deck screws and drywall screws, but not for standard wood screws.

John

[Electric Comet]

One of the kings of yore decided they should collect all gold coins in circulation and they did so over time. But later people discovered that the coins had had some gold shaved off of them at the king's request. it didn't go over well and was considered bad policy

now they just print more $$ when needed plus pay no interest to us and charge us interest to borrow

[Jon Danniken]

Home Depot screws are worse; the heads aren't even round.

I think you're on to something there; the threads are indeed bigger than the shank, coming in at 0.180", still smaller than the shanks are supposed to be. The minor diameter is correct, coming in at 0.130, so at least they got that right.

I can't be the first guy who has noticed this, but I'm guessing most people just maybe don't care. Still, why don't they just sell the proper size screws and raise the price fifty cents or whatever it would have to be. Bastards.

Jon

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------------------------ If you want quality wood screws, check out Jamestown Distributors.

They serve the marine market.

Good stuff.

Lew

[Swingman]

fify ..

[-MIKE-]

I guess I don't understand what all the hubbub is about. Perhaps the metal is stronger, thus the smaller diameter.

I don't remember the last time I bought off-the-shelf Hillman type fasteners. Technology has left them in the dust.

Specialty screws like Spax, GRK, HighPoint, Kreg, FastenMaster and others have made standard zinc screws the floppy disks of fasteners. The last package of cabinet screws I bought from GRK were about half the thickness of a zinc screw of the same strength.

I used structural fasteners for my post/beam outbuilding this summer. They were almost half the thickness of equivalent lag bolts or galvanized bolts, but rated much higher in both sheer and tensile strength.

For standard wood screws, I either buy from McFeely's website, my local woodcraft, or the specialty shelves at Lowes or Home Depot. Run-of-the-mill zinc screws are my absolute last choice and I always feel like I'm being paid back for poor decisions in life whenever I'm forced to use them. :-)

[John McCoy]

-MIKE- wrote in news:mac5po$419$ [e-mail]:

If there's sideways loading on the screw, you want the shank to bear against the sides of the hole. You don't want all the load to be carried by the screwhead bearing on the countersink.

If the screw is purely in tension, then it doesn't make any difference (as long as the strength of the shank is still adequate).

Granted, for most any application where you did have a sideways load you wouldn't use a Home Depot grade screw anyway (and it would likely be stainless or silicon bronze, not a common galvanized screw).

John

[Leon]

Most of the screws that HD sells are not worth having but they do sell SPAX screws and I think you would be hard pressed to find a better screw.

[whit3rd]

It's about the failure of the wood, not the metal. A smaller diameter than the clearance hole means the shank of the screw takes sideways loads on a small part of its area (and lbs/sq. in. stress is higher). That will crush the adjacent wood fiber and prevent the item from becoming a treasured, intact, antique... rather, it's another old creaky chair/desk/gibbet.

Inexpensive (sheetrock-style) screws work OK for holding a glued joint shut, and the glue prevents shifting, but that IS NOT always what the designer wants.

[-MIKE-]

You glue OR you screw. Not both. If someone is making furniture today that they intend to become an antique generations from now, and they are using screws, then it's not an antique I want to look at.

[Larry Blanchard]

For good holding power where appearance is not important I've sometimes used the Tex lath screws. The washer head is that much more resistance to twisting, they're cheaper than Kreg screws, and the washer is larger.

[John McCoy]

-MIKE- wrote in news:maeb7v$vdv$ [e-mail]:

Going off on a bit of a tangent, but while this is generally true for cabinetry, where loads are small, it's not the case for things like boatbuilding, where large forces at strange angles are common.

John

[Scott Lurndal]

That seems a bit, well, elitist.

I Disagree. I've see plenty of antique furniture that uses both glue and screws, dating back well over 100 years. High quality furniture.