I'm making a wall mount simple wine rack with butt joint shelves. I'm using oak, an 18v Dewalt drill and #8 2" all purpose wood screws. I pre-drilled holes using a #8 countersink bit. The screws break at the point they are almost in. What am I doing wrong? What should the drill tork be set on? I have it on the screw driver setting. Should my pre-drilled holes be deeper for hard oak?
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Greg Hill
Wed, 12/03/2014 - 10:19
Screws breaking
I'm a little new at this but maybe my suggestions will help.
You can buy a screw predirll bit at home dopot or lowes, and other places I'm sure, that is tapered the same as the screw you are using and it has a counter sink bit attached that is setable to the depth of the screw. Therefore you can dirll the hole to the depth of the screw and counter sink.
Something I have done to make sinking screws easier when building decks is to coat the screw with soap. This provices lubrication. However; this might cause a problem when applying the finishing.
jhancock42
Wed, 12/24/2014 - 14:01
Try spax screws from the big
Try spax screws from the big orange store. I've had great luck with them and they are very cost efficient. And tough
In reply to Try spax screws from the big by jhancock42
cmcmassage
Thu, 12/25/2014 - 07:11
Spaxx screws are the best
Spaxx screws are the best ones out there. My brother in Tampa, FL had no problem finding them at Home Depot but I only found one HD in my area of Houston, TX that has them. You can also order them on Amazon if your area doesn't have them. They're apparently self-drilling but I almost never use this feature, especially on something that I'm going to be finishing/staining. What I've been doing with my pilot holes is taking a longer and smaller bit than the screw I'm using and drill it as far as it needs to accommodate the screw and then I'll use a countersink with a tapering bit to open up just the area around the head of the screw. This has provided a super secure connection and also keeps my wood from splitting and the screw from dancing around where I don't want it to go.
jhancock42
Thu, 12/25/2014 - 10:07
spaxx screws.
I've used them without pre drilling, even in poplar(very prone to split) and close to the edge, with no splits. They are quite remarkable.
In reply to spaxx screws. by jhancock42
cmcmassage
Thu, 12/25/2014 - 16:06
Yeah the self drilling
Yeah the self drilling feature is awesome! It's not the screws I don't trust with it; it's my shaky hand sometimes! Glad someone else enjoys these as much as my brother and I do.