Screws

[smessick]

I have recently twisted a couple of screws I got at Lowes in two and would appreciate any thoughts anyone would care to share about who makes or sells the better screws. I have had a now dwindling supply of indestructible black wood screws I got from a furniture maker many years ago and, short of travelling to maybe High Point to try to find the industrial woodworkers supply house that once was there, I don't know who to trust.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Stan Messick
smessick@skybest.com

 

[FredP]

mcfeeleys.com cant find the link but search for this. good screws and delivered to your door.:-D

fred p

 

[SteveColes]

mcfeeleys.com cant find the link but search for this. good screws and delivered to your door.:-D

fred p

I agree. Here

 

[Splinter]

I agree also. I have used them for a few years now. Great service and good products. Especially like the square drive screws.

 

[NCPete]

yup, McFeely's is good. I have recently broken several screws while fixing a broken bed rail, and I was just screwing through poplar into plywood with properly sized pilots and countersinks. :BangHead:--- but, I am not going to use the good ones I have in the shop for work, until work starts paying me for materials.

 

[smessick]

Thanks, folks. Having just spent the last 30 minutes or so becoming unbewildered I have located and bookmarked the screws I need, as well as the square drivers. I will engage in some income distribution later today.

Stan Messick

 

[NCPete]

yup, square drive is good.

 

[pcooper]

I also buy from McFeely's, never had a problem at all with those screws. I also buy the driver bits from them as they seem to last a LOT longer than BORG bits.:icon_thum

 

[tdhetrick]

I don't know the name of the screws, but I bought them from Klingspors and they have been very good. I can drive them into oak all day long with out a pilot. I think they are very similar to the McFeely's, but wuth out the shipping cost. Also square drive.

Todd

 

[Mark Anderson]

i like to use brass screws witch are just soft to begin with. i keep a large candle lit and just dip the tip into the puddle of hot wax, works like a charm the was will harden before it will drip onto the wood.

 

[DavidF]

i like to use brass screws witch are just soft to begin with. i keep a large candle lit and just dip the tip into the puddle of hot wax, works like a charm the was will harden before it will drip onto the wood.

I always drive a steel screw in first when using brass screws AND use the wax; been caught too many times in the passed with a broken brass screw:BangHead:

I second the McFeelys reccomendations

 

[pcooper]

I bought screws at Klingspor that were Kreg, goes with the Kreg jig. They are good screws too, but I like to buy in bulk from McFeely which makes the overall cost with shipping about the same or a little less than Kreg.

 

[McRabbet]

I buy all of my screws from Custom Service Hardware in Wisconsin at excellent prices and rapid delivery. They have a large number of varieties, lengths and types and I believe their prices are lower than McFeeley's. Just my .02

 

[DIYGUY]

I recently relaid my deck with new PT deck boards. Decided I would use SwanSecure SS 2 1/4" screws. Darn they are expensive! I worked it out that they cost around 20 cents apiece - and I could not have sourced them much cheaper.

Anyway, they are square drive and I thought that was the way to go - but noooo .....

They use a #2 bit and annoyingly often enough the bit would cam out when trying to drive in the screw, boogering up the head so it was useless. Then I would have to back out the screw with pliers and start over - can you say PITA? I pre-drilled the holes as well. If that weren't problem enough, more often than I cared for, the head would snap off when trying to pull down a deck board a tad tighter or even just trying to sink the bugle head flush with the surface. SO ... I don't recommend square drive, I don't like SwanSecure (Taiwanese) products and I have my fingers crossed on how "stainless" the screws will turn out to be in the long run.

Just my 2 cents ...

 

[WoodWrangler]

Gonna have to vote for McFeely's (www.mcfeelys.com) also. The Klingspor's ones are good too -- never had a problem with them either.


What I can't figure out ... why doesn't Woodcraft carry quality screws in a wide variety of sizes? Sure, they carry few... but not nearly enough. Seems like a huge miss on their part.

 

[cpowell]

I have been using this style square drive screw from McFeely's for several years now for general purpose work. http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/0812-WAL/Round-Washer-ProMaster-Saw-Tooth-Dry-Lube-Screws

They appear to work as advertised and are affordable. I trust them.


Chuck

 

[smessick]

Chuck,

Thanks. I had bookmarked all lengths of the #8 flat head Dry Lube screws which is what I may stock up on. I'll have to switch from the phillips head screws I'm used to but that's O.K.; I was used to slotted before that and have two different sets of really nice woodworker's screwdrivers that I seldom use any more.

What is Dry Lube? Is it a coating that makes the screws go easier?

Stan

 

[Jim Murphy]

I recently relaid my deck with new PT deck boards. Decided I would use SwanSecure SS 2 1/4" screws. Darn they are expensive! I worked it out that they cost around 20 cents apiece - and I could not have sourced them much cheaper.

Anyway, they are square drive and I thought that was the way to go - but noooo .....

They use a #2 bit and annoyingly often enough the bit would cam out when trying to drive in the screw, boogering up the head so it was useless. Then I would have to back out the screw with pliers and start over - can you say PITA? I pre-drilled the holes as well. If that weren't problem enough, more often than I cared for, the head would snap off when trying to pull down a deck board a tad tighter or even just trying to sink the bugle head flush with the surface. SO ... I don't recommend square drive, I don't like SwanSecure (Taiwanese) products and I have my fingers crossed on how "stainless" the screws will turn out to be in the long run.

Just my 2 cents ...

It's not the drive, it's the metallurgy. Contrary to poplar (used a tree term when the real word wasn't as cool) opinion, stainless steel is much, much softer than regular steel due to the high concentration of chromium. I put $250 worth of phillips SS screws in my Fiberon deck, and had no problems, but I was careful, pre-drilled and set the torque low on the driver.

SS screws notwithstanding, I concur on the McFeely recommendation. Good Virginia people.

Oh, FWIW, my SS screws have been down five years in fiberboard and they are (Putting on my Conway Twitty hairdo: Hello Darlin', nice to see ya, it's been a long time, you're just) as lovely as they used to be. Cost me a quarter each in 2002, though. When I dropped one, I sent the boys underwater to retrieve.

And I second the impact driver suggestion. I drove McFeelys TREX screws in a whole bunch of SF of TREX and they float in. If they goof up, they do come out. I drove the SS screws with standard cordless....never again.


Jim

 

[charlie s]

Mark:

I have a suggestion for you, particularly if you're paying 20 cents per screw: get a cordless impact driver. You just won't believe the difference it will make driving the screws, but what is even more surprising is it will allow you to back out screws that are hopelessly stripped. I was a doubter until I got an inexpensive 18v driver, now I won't use my drills to drive screws at all.

Charlie S

 

[cpowell]

Chuck,

Thanks. I had bookmarked all lengths of the #8 flat head Dry Lube screws which is what I may stock up on. I'll have to switch from the phillips head screws I'm used to but that's O.K.; I was used to slotted before that and have two different sets of really nice woodworker's screwdrivers that I seldom use any more.

What is Dry Lube? Is it a coating that makes the screws go easier?

Stan

Yes, the dry lube is to reduce friction. It's just easier than coating my threads in wax. The saw tooth design also helps the threads cut more easily.

I use these a LOT without pilot holes. If alignment is critical or I'm nervous about splitting then I drill a pilot but it can be a small diameter hole. They grip very well.

Chuck