Tap for M3.5 Screws

[Adam Funk]

Fair enough --- I think this is just a matter of personal taste, and you're more tasteful than I am.

[Vir Campestris]

Now lets see you get them out when somebody has painted over them...

Andy

[alan_m]

You heat up the end of the screwdriver with a blow torch or on the gas hob. This eother melts or burns the paint way from the screwdriver slot in the screw.

[Paul]

Those particular screws aren't long enough to put up a fight.

The screwdriver, the tip isn't cut sharp on the end, and if you drilled out the recess in the screw, the driver will sink down enough to get a grip.

I have some regular steel screws, 3" to 4" ones, with Robertson drive on them. And those are hard to get out.

The one on the left, is for the flange on the table leg.

The second from the right, now those are a handful to remove at the best of times. The forces approach the yield strength of the screw, so you can snap those off. It's tricky picking a pilot size for those. Getting paint on those would be bad.

The right-most one, is a better design at the four inch length. It doesn't feel like it wants to snap before the job is done. For some reason I bought a box of those (maybe that was the only way they were packaged, was by the box).

The chain stores don't have a good selection. The Italian hardware store, for example, it has all sorts of useful stuff. I can find a #7 screw there. They even have twelve inch long finish nails (for when you're building Noahs Arc). These cost about a buck a piece, or they used to.

Paul

[Vir Campestris]

That should help the tempering of the steel blade.

Andy