Particle Boad screws

What kind of screws should I use to connect a metal bracket to 3/4"-thick particle board?

(The original screws are blunt -- they are not pointed (like a wood-screw) -- and the threads look more parallel than angled).

How do I drill pilot holes for the new screws?

Reply to
gary
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"gary" a écrit dans le message de news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com...

Reply to
G.Dubois

Not a normal wood screw,

Melamine, particle board, and MDF (medium density fiberboard)

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Reply to
Leon

The SPAX® MDF SCREWS are too long. They're 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" inches long but my particle board is only 3/4" thick.

Reply to
gary

The screw I need will go through one "leg" of a "C"-bracket and into a 3/4" thick particle board (without going through the board,

The 5mm x 40mm screws your recommend have nominal length of 1 1/2" for use with 1/2" thick materials.

Reply to
gary

Personally I'd through-bolt it--if the other side has to be flat I'd use flat-head machine screws.

But if it absolutely has to be a blind hole, your best bet is probably to use something like these:

Note that they come in different lengths and diameters and in several styles.

Reply to
J. Clarke

One leg of the "C"-bracket is screwed into the bottom of a pull-out keyboard shelf. The other leg of the bracket is screwed into the bottom of the desk top. The shelf and the desk top are each 3/4"-inch thick.

The screws cannot go all the way through the shelf or the desktop.

Reply to
gary

gary wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

The shelf isn't a problem, since gravity will hold it on the bracket and the screws just need to stop it sliding around, you could use most any screws there.

The top is a problem since gravity is going to pull the screws out of the top. There are no screws which will work for that application, particle board is simply too weak to hold a screw in that orientation. Your solution is to replace the top with a material more suitable for the purpose.

John

Reply to
John McCoy

In this application screws will definitely not work. You will need to use an adhesive. Another alternative would be to add additional structure.

Reply to
Gordon Shumway

What I was recommending was confirmat screws and drill bits for these screws. They come in all sizes.

I figured you would be able to determine the correct length, I was not suggesting any particular length, just answering the questions that you asked.

Reply to
Leon

Or - possibly - to glue a piece of wood to it.

Reply to
dadiOH

"dadiOH" wrote in news:mns00b$gdj$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

That would probably work. Or you might be able to squirt epoxy in the hole and strengthen the particle board some to hold threads. Or perhaps use the kind of EZ-Lok threaded inserts that have deep threads, and spread the load over more volume.

But really, particle board is the wrong material if the OP needs to fasten into the face of it. Running screws into particle board only works if you're going into an edge - it's not a coincidence that all the screws are 1.5 inch long or more, they're intended to go deep into an edge.

John

Reply to
John McCoy

A computer keyboard and a mouse sits on the shelf that gets pulled-out and pushed-in many times every use.

Reply to
gary

It sounds like you have a very cheap piece of furniture. The best solution may be to scrap the whole thing and start over with something higher quality.

Reply to
Gordon Shumway

"Euro Screws"or "Blum System Screws" from Lee Valley. Same sharp thread like on a Confirmat.

Reply to
Richard Mullin

This is the complete opposite of the facts. You can buy particle board scre ws from 1/2 inch long. Screws for the edge of particle board are called "ca rcase" screws, and have a coarser thread than normal P.B. screws. This is b ecause it is very hard to get a good fixing in the edge of P.B. Have you ever seen P.B.?

Reply to
Limey Lurker

Neither Lowes' nor Home Depot's websites list "Euro Screws" but both stores are within 3 miles of my house so I went to Lowes.

The manager of Lowes' hardware department said they don't carry "Euro Screw s" and he said they had no other "fasteners" that would work for my situati on (i.e., the fasteners on underside of a particle-board desktop that would resist the downward force from the slide-out keyboard shelf on brackets be low the desk top).

I then found EZ-Lok threaded inserts on Amazon for $5.00 and added that ite m to another item I ordered two days earlier so the shipping was FREE for b oth items.

Reply to
gary

Neither Lowes' nor Home Depot's websites list "Euro Screws" but both stores are within 3 miles of my house so I went to Lowes.

The manager of Lowes' hardware department said they don't carry "Euro Screw s" and he said they had no other "fasteners" that would work for my situati on (i.e., the fasteners being attached to the underside of a particle-board desktop that would resist the downward force from the slide-out keyboard s helf on brackets below the desk top).

I then found EZ-Lok threaded inserts on Amazon for $5.00 and added that ite m to another item I ordered two days earlier so the shipping was FREE for b oth items.

Reply to
gary

Neither Lowes' nor Home Depot's websites list "Euro Screws". But since bot h stores are within 3 miles of my house, I went to Lowes.

The manager of Lowes' hardware department said they don't carry "Euro Screw s" and he said they had no other "fasteners" that would work for my situati on (i.e., the fasteners being attached to the underside of a particle-board desktop that would resist the downward force from the slide-out keyboard s helf on brackets below the desk top).

I then found EZ-Lok threaded inserts on Amazon for $5.00 and added that ite m to another item I ordered two days earlier so the shipping was FREE for b oth items.

Reply to
gary

Both Lowes and the BORG carry threaded inserts here. They may not be optimized for particle board but they work (they probably have ones intended for PB in their furniture hardware section).

Reply to
krw

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