Types of screws and when to use them
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For those who’ve ever been to the fasteners part of a ironmongery shop of house middle you understand how intimidating this expertise could be. You might solely want a couple of screws, however what variety do you have to get? There a bazillion totally different sorts of screws and there isn"t any method I can cowl them all, so I’ll provides you with an summary of the most typical varieties of screws and what you will have for woodworking.
What varieties of screws do you have to use in your tasks?
For woodworking you"ll be able to slender it down to just some decisions. Listed here are my backside line suggestions; the most effective screws for woodworkers.
- I extremely advocate utilizing premium or multi-objective screws, reminiscent of Spax, GRK or Hillman.
- Get flat headed screws, those with the tapered heads for countersinking.
- Should you can, use sq. or star drives. They work higher and will save you numerous of frustration.
- The most typical screws I use and like to hold available always in my store are #eight 1-¼” star head screws.
Why use screws?
I would like to level out that I don’t actually use lots of screws in woodworking. Often I use wood glue, which is stronger and leaves no seen fasteners. The downsides to glue are that you"ve to await it to dry and when you’ve assembled one thing, you"ll be able to’t take it aside.
I typically use screws for store tasks and jigs. With these, I’m not involved concerning the look as a lot and love the time-financial savings screws give me.
Screws are additionally used to maintain issues collectively the place enlargement and contraction of the wood could be a problem. A standard use is to connect a tabletop to a base. The screws will probably be set right into a slot, permitting the wood to transfer as humidity modifications.
For some tasks which are type of within the center floor between making an heirloom dresser and a workbench, I like to use pocket screws. They"re nice for making cupboards and different casework. They make assembling these varieties of tasks, say a bedframe, a lot simpler and faster. And of course, you need to place the pocket holes on the undersides or again of tasks the place they gained’t be seen. Study the fundamentals of pocket gap joinery.
What’s the distinction between a screw and a bolt?
There isn"t any settlement on this, however personally, I view a bolt as a fastener that goes throughout two materials with a nut hooked up, whereas a screw pulls two items collectively and solely the top of the fastener is seen. However I can assume of lots of exceptions such a machine screws.
Are nails utilized in woodworking?
There"s a widespread false impression amongst non-woodworkers that we use rather a lot of nails. Nothing might be farther from the reality. Within the ten years of tasks on this channel, I don’t assume I"ve ever used nails in a undertaking, aside from for ornamental functions. Typically I use brads for holding boards collectively whereas glue dries, however by no means as a sole means of meeting.
Nails are a ache to hammer in, can bend, and you"ll be able to simply mar the floor of your undertaking with the hammer head. Not solely that, however they don’t maintain almost as well as screws and can work themselves unfastened.
Elements of a screw
A screw is made up of four elements:
- The tip
- The shank
- The threads
- The head
The Tip
Screws utilized in woodworking may have a pointed tip to assist information the screw right into a exact location. Self-drilling screws have a cut up level that cuts into the wood like a drill bit. Different screws, comparable to machine screws haven"t any level.
The Shank and Threads
The treads of a screw wrap across the shank. Collectively, that is the half that drives into the fabric. The threaded half of some screws stops earlier than it will get to the top, whereas different screws are absolutely threaded.
Shanks and threads come in several sizes. The diameter is indicated by a quantity. The most typical wood screws are quantity 6, eight, and 10, the bigger the quantity the larger the thickness. I virtually all the time use #eight diameter screws. Longer screws are often #10s.
Within the U.S. threads are typically indicated in threads per inch, often 24 or 32 tpi. These are essential to know with machine screws or bolts the place you want to get a nut to match. Typically wood screws are available coarse or high quality threads. Use positive threads for hardwoods and coarse threads for softwoods and plywood.
So when you"re studying a field, the primary quantity will inform you the screw diameter. It will typically be adopted by the threads-per-inch, then then size of the screw.
The Head
There are two elements of a screw head. It’s head form and It’s drive sort. Learn on to study these.
There are tons and tons of differing types of drives, however fortunately, there are only a few widespread ones you want to know.
Slotted: What"s a “flathead” screw?
Slotted screws are the unique technique for driving a screw. Just like the identify implies, it’s only a slot that a flathead screwdriver turns. Because of this, these varieties of screws are generally referred to as flathead screws far more typically than slotted screws.
Flathead screws require quite a bit of endurance to use and are very troublesome to drive with a drill or impression driver. It’s bizarre how widespread they nonetheless are, nonetheless available at hardware shops. Principally they suck and I might by no means advocate them for woodworking with one exception: if you need to make a interval piece of furnishings with historic accuracy. Aside from that, keep away from slotted screws each time attainable.
Phillips
When Phillips screws got here out within the Nineteen Thirties, they have been an enormous enchancment over slotted screws. A Phillips head driver will keep in place so much higher, however they nonetheless have an annoying tendency to cam-out, or slip when driving the final bit into wood. This could spoil the top and additionally ruins the driving force.I"ve heard that they have been designed to do that so as to forestall over tightening, however I’m unsure if that’s true.
They arrive in several sizes so all the time be sure that your driver matches and matches well. I actually want Phillips screws would turn out to be out of date, however they"re nonetheless extraordinarily widespread within the U.S. the overwhelming majority of screws bought at hardware shops are nonetheless Phillips.
Square (Robertson) drives
Square drives are an enormous enchancment! They"re additionally referred to as Robertson screws and are commonest in Canada. They"re undoubtedly more durable to discover within the U.S. Their sq. form enormously reduces, virtually eliminating cam-out and driver slipping. Right here within the U.S. you"ll principally discover these in pocket screws.
Star (Torx) drive
Star drive screws have gotten extra and extra widespread within the U.S. and are my absolute favourite sort of drive. The star form nearly eliminates cam-out and the driving force virtually by no means slips out. Plus they will accommodate so much of torque. Often they"re bought on premium high quality screws that gained’t snap if tightened an excessive amount of. And when you purchase a field, it often comes with the driving force tip you want.
Head shapes
Just like the drive varieties, there are all types of head shapes. Fortunately, there are actually solely two that widespread in woodworking.
Flathead
That is the place the terminology can get a bit of complicated. It’s straightforward to confuse a screw with a flad head, and a slotted screw that we frequently name flathead screws. For woodworking a flathead screw is the most typical type of screw to use. It has a beveled head that seats neatly into the wood, making it flush with the floor
You"ll be able to simply energy the screw into the wood to make it flush, however you"ll get higher and cleaner outcomes when you use a countersink bit to drill a pilot gap, or use a countersink to cut the bevels after you drill a pilot gap.
Panhead of rounded
Panhead or roundheads can have shallow or deep domes. They sit on prime of the wood and aren’t used a lot for woodworking. You will want to use these when attaching another materials to wood…one thing you could’t countersink, say metallic or plastic.
Normal Wooden Screws
Wooden screws are extensively obtainable in all house facilities and hardware shops and are designed to be a part of two items of wood collectively. They"re threaded half of the best way and then have a clean shank on the prime. This helps maintain the screws in place. They"re comparatively cheap and come an all types of diameters and head shapes. You"ll often need to use those with the tapered heads. Sadly, within the U.S., most woodscrews are nonetheless solely out there with Phillips heads as an alternative of star or sq. drives.
Drywall screws
Quite a bit of woodworkers use drywall screws, principally for store tasks and jigs. They"re cheap, often cheaper than wood screws and straightforward to discover nearly anyplace. They"ve thinner shanks than wood screws, often about equal to a #6 screw and threads that run your complete size of the screw. As a result of of their thinness they"re actually brittle. Particularly ff you"re drilling into hardwood, they"re actually susceptible to snapping, however I’ve had this irritating expertise with utilizing them for 2x4s too. Like wood screws, within the U.S. the heads are virtually all the time Phillips. Additionally, the heads have a bugle form to scale back tearing the paper on drywall. They don’t match the beveled form of a countersink. Typically, I don’t advocate utilizing drywall screws for woodworking tasks.
What’s the distinction between a drywall screw and a wood screw?
Multi-objective (manufacturing) screws
Manufacturing or Multi-objective screws are my absolute favourite varieties of screws. Widespread manufacturers embrace Spax or GRK. These screws are made with hardened metal and are extremely robust. I don’t assume I’ve ever had any break. They"ve self-drilling factors that get rid of the necessity for a pilot gap, however I might nonetheless pre-drill for important items. Particularly close to the ends of boards to forestall splitting.
The perfect half is that they arrive in star or sq. drives so your driver stays in place and gained’t slip out like with Phillips. Plus, when you purchase a field, it comes with a driver bit. There"s actually solely a single disadvantage to utilizing these: they"re costly. Perhaps twice as a lot as common wood screws. And whereas my Mere Mortals philosophy is all the time to be frugal, that is one occasion the place I consider it’s value spending the additional cash. The quantity of time and frustration these varieties of screws save is gigantic.
For those who’ve by no means used multi-function or Spax screws, simply get one field and attempt them out. I assure, you"ll marvel why you didn’t attempt them sooner!
Different varieties of screws
Deck screws
In case you are building outside tasks, use deck screws. They"re made of hardened metal and have a corrosion resistant coating.
Chrome steel screws
For even higher corrosion resistance, particularly on boats and in salty marine environments, you possibly can use chrome steel screws. Whereas they provide the most effective safety from the climate, they don"t seem to be as robust as deck screws and are very costly.
Pocket screws
Pocket screws are self drilling and have a large head that grabs the flat shoulder made by drilling pocket holes. In the event you use common wood screws with pocket holes, they could drive right through, or probably cut up the wood. I use the Kreg pocket screws, however you may find a way to substitute pan head screws. The Kreg screws have a sq. drive which makes them very easy to seat. Watch my pocket gap fundamentals video to study much more about pocket gap joinery.
Machine screws
Machine screws haven"t any factors and are meant to use in holes which might be already tapped or with a nut. They"re threaded alongside all the shaft are bought in threads per inch. If you purchase them, make certain the nuts’ threads match. Chances are you"ll sometimes want machine screws to fasten a pair boards collectively, however they aren’t widespread in woodworking.
Sheet metallic screws
Often sheet metallic screws are tiny with a pointy level meant for piercing and driving into sheet metallic. Assume of heating ducts as an example. They often have pan heads and will in all probability work as a wood screw in the event you want a substitute.
And there’s a primary take a look at the varied varieties of screws. Whereas there are quite a bit of decisions obtainable, there are just a few differing types of screws a woodworker will ever want. Know what sort you want on your undertaking earlier than going to the ironmongery shop or house middle. Simply purchase what you want. I don’t advocate stocking up on something aside from #eight 1-¼” screws. I all the time like to have these available.
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