Alternatives to the discontinued Screwfix Turbo Ultra stainless screws

[Chris Green]

Screwfix have discontinued their Turbo Ultra stainless steel screws and I'm looking for alternatives - without much success at the moment.

While Turbo Ultra screws weren't perfect (it is easy to damage the heads and also to shear them in hard[ish] wood) they were my preferred screws for general outdoor use. As I said, I'm looking for alternatives now as my stocks of Turbo Ultra run out. Requirements are:-

Stainless (obviously) A2 is fine, A4 would be OK but more expensive I think

Easy driving without pilot hole This is the real stumbling block with most alternatives, the deep thread and 'rifling' with a cutting groove at the point seems to be very rare in stainless.

Pozidriv for preference Not vital, Torx or square would be OK, but pozi is 'easier to find' in dark inaccessible places.

Good range of sizes, especially in 5mm I'm getting very short of 5x60, 5x70 and 5x80 screws in particular.

The best alternative I've found so far are Axminster's Woodspur A4 stainless screws but: A4/expensive, not pozi and not available in 5x70 or 5x80 (or larger). Any suggestions anyone?

[polygonum_on_google]

Fischer Power-Fast Stainless Steel Woodscrews?

I got some ordinary passivated zinc Power-Fast screws recently and liked them. Link above was the first site at which I found stainless steel ones - no idea how they compare with other sources. They go up to 5.0 x 100 at that site.

Have to admit, for my purposes so far, I have drilled a pilot hole so they go exactly where I want them, so do not know what they are like to drive without.

[dennis]

Toolstation do a load of Spax SS screws but I wouldn't call them cheap.

[Chris Green]

No, they're not [cheap] are they! ... and I don't think they have the 'cutter' tip.

[Chris Green]

They look like a possibility, thanks, but they are quite expensive.

I've just discovered that screwfix.de have quite a lot of Turbo Ultra available still, at knock-down prices. Maybe I should take a short trip to Germany!

[Robin]

checked your local B&Q for clearance stock?

[dennis]

Some do.

[polygonum_on_google]

Yes - price is definitely an issue but I couldn't remember Turbo Ultra prices to make a comparison. Other stockists might be less expensive - there is considerable variation of the prices for the yellow ones.

Enjoy your trip!

[PeterC]

I used a lot of these when I built a shed. Into softwood, 4 mm pilot hole, had several screwless heads - they do seem to be rather weak. Another snag is that when removing an Ultra it brings out a lot of wood. Due to this I tried to pick up the same thread when replacing the screw - not easy, due to the irregular shape - and then had to be careful tightening it as the thread left in the wood was weakened. Pity that these aren't stainless:

[Andy Burns]

Reisser do stainless screws called Retinox, but they're not twinthread, probably not cheap either.

[Brian Gaff]

You know, I very much doubt if Screw thingy make their own screws, they probably buy them in from some company that supplies them by the zillion. Often they can pop up elsewhere under different brands. II used to find this a lot when I could see. The sheds stopped something but it was then available from another distributor. No idea how this gets to be, suspect its all to do with costs and mark up. Brian

[Chris Green]

I (OP) have some of them, sort of middling prices and they're OK but not as good as Turbo Ultra in many ways. For a given diameter they appear very thin and have no sort of rifling/cutting point.

[Chris Green]

Yes, but I've never seen any screws that look at all like Screwfix's Turbo Gold or Turbo Ultra, they're immediately recognisable. One does wonder if Screwfix are big enough to demand sort of trade mark rights over these designs.

[charles]

I always prefer to pre-drill a hole. It saves the wood plitting

[2987fr]

Trade marks have nothing to do with the size of the operation except in the sense that the bigger operations can afford the cost of trademarks.

[Bob Eager]

And I think he really means copyright, anyway.

[Robin]

I'd expect registered design

[2987fr]

Trouble with that line is the copyright is free. You just have to claim it.

He actually means a registered design which isnt necessarily that cheap.

[Bob Eager]

Yes, that's it. Thought it wasn't quite right, but I knew it wasn't a trademark!

[Chris Green]

I did say "sort of trade mark", what I meant was that Screwfix are maybe big enough to demand that suppliers don't supply the same screws to other sellers.

As I said I've certainly never seen anything that looks like either TurboGold or TurboUltra screws except the real thing.