Depth of pilot holes

[Frederick Williams]

Should a pilot hole be equal to the length of the screw, or less?

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Frederick Williams saying something like:

I'd normally put them about half the depth, but depends on the screw size and material.

[John]

" But thin shanks screws are wonderful.

Except in wallplugs where the taper of a traditional screw expands the plug rather than just allowing a thread to be cut in it. IMHO

[Weatherlawyer]

I think they are designed for use with a different type of screw driver too. Either that or they are using the sort of steel that would be binned for recycling in a modern hi tech society. Remember those scissors that were so ubiquitous a decade or so back? Made from old railway lines.

Mild steel - almost pure iron.

There are two types of predrilling.

1. A pilot hole designed to stop the wood spitting and
2. The recess hole to get a short screw into the second layer or to drop it below the surface.

You need a pilot in mdf whatever you may think or use. These modern screws are ideal for use in modern materials and shit to use in modern screwdrivers. Even with a pilot hole the slot will burr over.

A pilot hole can be any depth as long as it is narrow enough to allow the screw to grip.

[The Medway Handyman]

Agreed. I carry Turbogold & Quicksilver on the van. Quicksilver for plugs, Turbogold for timber.

Turbogold will go straight in no problem.

Turbogold are designed for drill drivers.

'Slot'? What slot? Pozidrive is the way forward.