wood screws?

I just bought 2 packages of #8 x 2" wood screws at Lowes. 5 in each pack and it cost $.88. I predrilled and counter sunk the holes in an oak step stool I'm making and 5 out of the 10 screws twisted apart. Are these things that bad? If so what brand of wood screws should I get and where? That is totally unacceptable in my book. It's not like I can't afford the change, but it just really pissed me off tonight.

Reply to
HomeBrewer
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Man those Lowe's screws suck, I broke more while building my cabinetmaker's bench than I can count. The ones that didn't break I stripped the heads on and they are too soft for a 'screwout' to work.

Kreg square drive screws are what I'm about to go to, I'll buy them mail order and the shipping will suck, but they will be a lot less trouble. Or maybe the McFeely screws they are square drive as well.

Reply to
KYHighlander

"HomeBrewer" wrote in news:c09ir3$14ok70$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-197365.news.uni-berlin.de:

HB; I would guess that your predrilled holes may have been undersized. I had a similar problem when drilling an aluminum boom (as in sailboat) and inserting SS screws. The drill holes had to be just right to prevent failure of the SS screws.

Brian

Reply to
Brian in Vancouver, BC

I thought the same thing at first. I used one of thosenifty tools that have a drill bit and counter sink on one end and then you flip it to the phillips head screwdriver. It was rated for #8 screws. I tried the next size bit and the screws didn't break, but they didn't tighten either. I'm thinking about taking the broken screws back to Lowes just to show them the crap they are selling. But I'm sure they know that.

Reply to
HomeBrewer

Wood screws at the BORG's are just about what you'd expect in the finest, Asian pot metal ... forget'em. Go to McFeely's online, or a local cabinet maker's supply, or hardware store that has yet to be assimilated, and get the quality screws your woodworking projects deserve.

Its got to the point that no self-respecting wooddorker will put up with the woodworking expendables at the BORGS ... leave such trash to the modern "custom builders" and yuppie DIY'ers who watch too much TV.

Reply to
Swingman

When you go back there to complain (which you are justified in doing) you might want to step into the hand tool area and pick up a small pack of those Kreg pockethole screws. That's all I use now and I have no complaints whatsoever.

Reply to
TexasFireGuy

Yeah they are plated cheese. Like others have said, buy your screws from McFeeleys. They come in boxes of 100 and cost 4 to 5 cents each irregular sizes. A REAL bargain by comparison. They are square drive so that you have no more caming out and slipping when you drive them and they are STRONG. If you buy your screws from them you will not have a bitch with your screws anymore...I promise. Be sure to buy a couple of square drive bits while there.

Reply to
Leon

Yep, HD screws also suck. Go for something from McFeeley's or Jamestown Distributors for brass. I've never twisted off a McFeeley's screw yet.

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

Some of it probably is the quality of the screws from HD. However, if you put some beeswax (not soap, not car wax, not paste wax), they may turn easier. I had this problem, and used beeswax, and the crappy HD screws worked.

A while back, someone posted a table that they got off a web site - may have been McFeeleys - it told you exactly what size bit to use for what size screw, depending on whether or not you were using hardwood, or soft. I'd also search McFeeleys and see if that table is there. Sorry I don't have the link, I just printed the table out, and threw it in my WW Reference file.

Interestingly, I used some screws I bought from Lee Valley, didn't use beeswax, and had no problem.

FWIW

Nick B

Reply to
Nick Bozovich

Are you sure they were wood screws and not DRY WALL screws? No slight intended, jus asking.

Reply to
nsum

Don't know about HomeBrewer's screws, but I know the ones I was referencing were definitely wood screws -- those that didn't cam out snapped as soon as the screw snugged up. Wound up actually throwing them away. I think they get by selling these things because a lot of people use these only in the soft, wet white-woods that the Borgs sell.

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

cabinetmaker's

Where appearance isn't a big issue there is no substitute for drywall screws. Three pound box for a couple of bucks.

Reply to
John Keeney

Go with Jim Ray at

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If those were brass screws, though, you're going to continue to have twist offs unless you go up a hair on thepilot hole size and wax the threads before driving the screws.

Stainless steel will help, but you're not getting 10 of them for 88 cents.

Charlie Self "Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?" Lily Tomlin

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Reply to
Charlie Self

In my experience, drywall screw heads will easily twist off in hardwood. I've used them by the hundred in tubafours and plywood, where only occasionally a head will come off. I'll agree they're fine for that.

Real wood screws aren't that expensive to use in furniture.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

Yep, they are wood screws..Like someone posted earlier, the black drywall screws are 10 times stronger than these wood screws.

Reply to
HomeBrewer

In my experience, even the plain old Hillman screws from your typical Ace or True Value are head and shoulders (pun intended ;^)) above BORG screws. They aren't expensive, either. Typically about $3-4 for 100 FH wood screws.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

HomeBrewer wrote: : I just bought 2 packages of #8 x 2" wood screws at Lowes. 5 in each pack and : it cost $.88. I predrilled and counter sunk the holes in an oak step stool : I'm making and 5 out of the 10 screws twisted apart. Are these things that : bad? If so what brand of wood screws should I get and where? That is totally : unacceptable in my book. It's not like I can't afford the change, but it : just really pissed me off tonight.

: -- : HomeBrewer

Your problem is not thescrews. If you seleted the right pilot hole bit it's not the pilot hole bit.

Your problem is that when drivign screws into oak or other hardwoods you have to lubricate them first. Some use beeswax (the real thing). I like to use linseed oil as that helps keep the wood fresh.

Use what you like, but you must lubricate the screw.

--- Gregg

My woodworking projects:

Replicas of 15th-19th century nautical navigational instruments:

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of my 82 year old Herreshoff S-Boat sailboat:

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FAQ with photos:

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"Improvise, adapt, overcome." snipped-for-privacy@head-cfa.harvard.edu Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Phone: (617) 496-1558

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Reply to
Gregg Germain

My company, McFeely's, sells screws, so the following is biased!

Many of the hardware store screws are problematic because they are not hardened. Even drywall screws are hardened, and they only need to go through compressed gypsum and a softwood stud or thin steel stud. The result is a screw that breaks very easily. The solution is to lubricate the screw with beeswax or one of the commercially available fastener lubricants such as Akempucky, then drill slightly oversized pilot and body holes. Many of the hardware store screws have shank diameters equal to the outside diameter of the screw threads which is why it is important to drill a clearance hole in the first board. Consult one of the many pilot hole charts available for a recommendation on body and pilot hole sizes, (ours is at

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or do what craftsman have done successfully for years - hold a drill bit up to the threads and pick a size that just shades the root diameter (for hardwoods) or almost shades the root diameter (for softwoods).

Remember too that solid brass, silicon bronze, and even stainless steel are inherently softer than a good hardened steel screw, and thus require more care during installation. Prethreading the hole with a steel screw can be effective way to prevent breakage, or you may simply increase the screw size to the next larger wire diameter.

If you need additional information, feel free to give my technical director, Darin Lawrence, a call at 1-800-443-7937.

Jim Ray, President McFeely's Square Drive Screws

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Reply to
Jim Ray

Reminds me of of the time I got four boxes of finish nails at menards. I don't know what these things were made of but my guess was soft lead; at least that is what it felt like. I could not get one of these nails in if my life depended on it; didn't matter if it was fur, pine, balsa! I did go back and tell the manager and he said, "well you need the hard wood nails" which were great by the way. I asked him why he stocks 90% crap nails and 10% good nails...blank stair. I challenged him to pound one in a pallet that was right there. Between them, the store manager, hardware assistant, and a couple workers, they got 2 in about 25 tries.

What a joke.

HomeBrewer wrote:

Reply to
Mike Coonrod

Not really.. Way too brittle, and way to light weight for working with hard woods. Save them for dry wall. Been there, done that , and have the torn T-shirt.

Reply to
Leon

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