OT: What the heck is going on with the price of screws?

Price of steel/gas skyrocketing.

Sorry, what does the price of gas have to do with it?

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

The price of petrol pretty much affects the price of everything, since virtually every means used to move stuff around requires it.

Fuel is used to haul the iron ore/scrap steel to the steel mill. Fuel is used again to haul the steel to the screw plant, and finally fuel is used to get the screws to your local store.

Brian Elfert

Where should one buy drywall/construction/deck screws if not a home center?

I certainly wouldn't buy screws for woodworking at a home center, but I am finishing my basement as a shop that requires a fair number of screws for drywall and such.

Brian Elfert

Ya need to buy China screws.

Ray

"The price of petrol pretty much affects the price of everything, since

virtually every means used to move stuff around requires it."

Add to that manufacturing requires some sort of energy. Even if it's coal, petroleum-based fuel is used to mine and move the coal

It seems like this has been the case for the last 3 or 4 years. 1 lb boxes have been about 5-$6 for quite a while.

I've pretty much gone to ordering ALL my screws online, usually from McFeely's - and they DO have "genuine drywall screws" for sale in the catalog, as well as deck screws, lag screws, just about anything you want if it is a screw. Not necessarily the CHEAPEST prices, but definitely QUALITY products

John

Hi -

In Canada - some screw imports have been assessed with a 170% duty, as China has/had been found to be "dumping"....even screws purchased from the US (if the Country of origin is China).

I suspect that this is case south of the border too....

Cheers -

Rob

Sorta hard to make steel without furnances/smelters/etc. Cost for producting that heat is a major factor in the cost of making and recycling steel

John

In our small company the price of natural gas is going to be $40,000 more than last year, the price of electricity about $60,000. Where do we get that money from?

Companies that make screws use the same utilities, plus, the price of steel has gone crazy. Even the box the screw come in is probably 25% more than a year ago. This sis the trickle down effect, but it is more cascade than trickle.

Yeah, I was at Menards yesterday after 2 years and saw 5 lb Galvanized screw in many sizes for $5, so I got about 10 boxes, but am not sure if there is any big diffrence between Galvanized and Stainless steel for furniture making or capinets. I think Galvanized sould be as good as others. MaxEN

Doug Miller wrote:

The person I was replying to implied there are cheaper places to buy screws than a home center. McFeely's makes good stuff, but not cheap.

I don't need McFeely's quality to hang sheetrock.

Brian Elfert

Galvanized will react with the moisture in some woods. Stainless is normally a bit stronger.

When comparing apples to apples McFeeleys is cheap. You will normally find that their quality screws range in price from 2 cents each to 10 cents each for the big screws. Home centers usually have a bag of 6 or 7 plated cheese screws for 89 cents. I bought stainless steel 3/8" 3" long lag screws from Mcfeeleys for almost half the price of the home centers galvanized price.

"Dave" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

I must say I am disappointed. Several replies and no-one has stooped to the obvious remarks about "getting screwed". Tsk tsk.