Old Technology

Just re-fixed some hooks to the outside wall to hold up my ladders (bought in the 1970s). One of the new fangled cross head multi purpose screws had snapped off by the head. The rest were a bit wobbly.

I had a root around and all my newish cross-head screws are very thin and don't have that smooth part near the head which grips. Presumably most new screws are multi-purpose as opposed to the traditional wood screws.

So I dug out some old stock of slot head steel self coloured wood screws (probably 20 years old). I dug out my venerable B&D quattro hammer drill because my newer SDS is too brutal for drilling holes in 1930's red brick.

All fixed now and pretty solid, although it did remind me what a pain it is working with slot head screws as opposed to cross head.

So older technology sometimes works better. Can you get the equivalent profile of the old steel slot head wood screws in cross head? Nearly everything these days seems to be an amorphous gold colour, very skinny, and threaded almost right up to the head. Wonderful for quickly screwing into wood with a cordless drill/driver without having to drill a pilot hole first. Not nearly as robust as the old stuff for heavier fixing.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts
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I have certainly bought traditional shaped woodscrews with a pozi head, because I prefer them for fixing skirting. They were in stainless steel though (required as skirting was oak).

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they do not seem to have plain steel... Stainless are fine for many jobs, though they aren't as stong - but likely they are stronger than the substrate you are putting then into in many cases.

Reply to
Tim Watts

You can get all sorts of types, including trad woodscrews. Most people prefer the modern types, they behave better in most situations.

NT

Reply to
NT

It is now but give it a few years and those steel screws rusted... I don't use anything but brass or stainless steel outside, this is why:

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Reply to
Dave Liquorice

You can still buy standard woodscrews .. most people have moved off them ... the modern screw are parallel shank ... so if it starts going in well - it keeps going in well. Some have twin threads to speed up screwing (but usually not as strong a grip)

The standard screw has a taper shaft and that is the problem ... as you get deeper into wood the screw is becoming a wedge, making it harder to drive in, more likely to split wood, and there is no holding grip into the wood over perhaps 25% of screw length.

BTW ... as a side issue I use Stainless Self Tappers for most of my outdoor work ... fixing guttering brackets, posts, hinges etc. They have a parallel shaft .. but thicket than gold screws (which often snap) ...and they hold superbly in wood as they have very deep threads.

I seem to get through loads of the No 10 an No 12 pan head pozidrive variants.

Reply to
Rick Hughes

I've found - at least here in the US - it pays to shop around, and to use physical shops rather than online so you can see what you're getting; there's a lot of variation in quality.

I had a box of really shitty ones at one point - they were quite prone to shearing just below the head unless a pilot hole was drilled first, and that was only going into SYP rather than anything particularly hard.

cheers

Jules

Reply to
Jules Richardson

SS STs are very useful: no 'wasted' shank, better selection of heads, strong. They're good for light loads on skinned doors - I've used them for things like tie racks and vents; also use quite a lot outside.

Reply to
PeterC

The problem I see with the new versus the old is that with the old type the screw thread is used to pull in the final smooth tapering wedge to give a friction fit whereas the newer type relies solely on the ability of the thread to pull against the substrate. This substrate is already chopped up by the thread going through it so it doesn't seem to hold as well in things other than wood. My problem is with screw and plastic plug into masonry. The old style screw seems to get a much firmer fit in the last few turns. Yes, this makes it harder to screw in and easier to damage the screw head. OTOH it seems to hold more firmly. YMMV obviously.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts

Oh, and another thing. If you are fixing e.g. a piece of batten to a wall, with old style screws the thread is in the wall and the shank is in the batten so the screw shank can slide in the batten to get the fix good and tight with the last half turn of the screw. With screws threaded all the way down, there is a tendency for the batten to rise slightly when the thread starts into the substrate and then be held away by the screw thread. Much harder to pull the batten in flush with the wall (or another piece of wood).

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David WE Roberts

I don't like old style screws but with either style I would have drilled a clearance hole through the batten which eliminates the cited problem.

Reply to
Roger Chapman

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