Wood screw shank size

[-MIKE-]

Scott, I think you read to fast. :-) I'm not talking about things that are already antiques. Today's glue is light years ahead of the stuff form a century ago.

[Sonny]

The old hardware often allows for dating (date range) an old piece of furni ture: handmade vs production screws and nails (fasteners), hinge and pull styles/designs, etc., similarly as the woodwork, itself, design/styles. E ven tool marks can aid in determining interesting/relevent aspects of an ol d piece.

Sonny

[Scott Lurndal]

True, yet I remember much gnashing of teeth about Norm's use of brads as a method of clamping some glued joints (often joints that would be difficult to clamp).

I've no problem augmenting glueblocks with screws when the potential for racking forces exist, particularly around the base skirt/feet on a chest of drawers or tallboy cabinet. Visible screws would be tacky, but if they're not visible...

[-MIKE-]

Norm used brads as temporary clamping until the glue dried. Apples/Oranges Using screws to augment modern glue is completely unnecessary. It's akin to strapping down a tool box you bolted to the bed of your truck.

[John McCoy]

[e-mail] (Scott Lurndal) wrote in news:EyPyw.2116955$ [e-mail]:

I think a lot of that was because the brads were visible in the finished piece, and the joint could have been clamped if Norm had wanted to try (and, of course, that most folk doing cabinetry don't keep a loaded air-nailer at the ready for such tasks).

John

[Larry Kraus]

"Temporary" is what he kept saying, but I never saw him pull one out.

[-MIKE-]

Wow, really? You think that's what he meant by temporary? You actually thought he was going to remove them? Of course you didn't.

When I hear him say that I'm thinking they hold the piece together until the glue dries. I never thought for a second he'd remove them.

He's using something that's much weaker than a cured glue connection to hold the pieces together until the glue dries.

When people, today, use glue and screws, they are being redundant. The screws are doing nothing once the glue dries. I've used pocket screws in unseen locations to clamp bookcases together while the glue dries, because I didn't have enough clamps. I actually take the pocket screws out and reuse them.

[Larry Kraus]

I understood what Norm meant, I just always laughed every time he said it.

"tem·po·rar·y ?temp??rer?/ adjective

1. lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent. "a temporary job" synonyms: nonpermanent, short-term, interim"

You are using your pocket screws as temporary fasteners (and in hidden locations). Norm's brads are still in place, they are permanent. My quibble with Norm's word choice was that he did not say "These brads will be sufficient to hold these parts together while the glue dries, if I am careful not to stress the assembly."

(And he used them in very visible locations).

[DerbyDad03]

Oft-heard DIY repair adage:

It's only temporary...unless it works.

;-)