Brass wood screws

[Packard]

I like brass hinges for small projects, but the problem with them, is they come with tiny brass screws. Even when pre-drilling, there is the risk of snapping the screw in two.

The standard advice is to lubricate the threads by rubbing either paraffin or bar soap into the threads. It helps, but it is not a sure-fire remedy.

What I do nowadays is to keep on hand zinc plated screws the exact size as the brass screws. I drive the zinc plated screws into the pre-drilled holes and mount the hinges. Then I back out, one at a time, a screw and replace it with a lubricated brass screw. Since the threads are already cut from the steel screws, the brass screws drive in with only moderate resistance.

You can still over-tighten the screws and snap them off, but only by over-tightening them after they have been fully tightened.

Some people have suggested to me to use a larger pilot hole, and while that makes driving the screws in easier, it greatly reduces the holding power. By using a steel screw to pre-cut the threads, I retain the holding power of the screws, and reduce (eliminate) the broken screw problem.

Yesterday, I had to drive several 1-1/4”, #8 brass screws to join two layers of 3/4” pine. I used the same process and it worked fine. I have done the same with oak and I have not snapped a screw since adopting this process.

I hope this is useful.

 

[tjbnwi]

Tapered drill bits help.

Tapered Drill Bits

Peachtree Woodworking Supply is your one stop supply shop for all your woodworking needs.

www.ptreeusa.com

Tom

 

[Michael Kellough]

That’s a good old trick that usually works fine. It gets iffy when the screw is too close to the end of a stick. In that case there is a risk that the wood will split. To prevent that, without resorting to a larger pilot hole, just put a clamp across the end of the stick. This will force the wood right around the crew to be crushed rather than push the surrounding wood away, which would become a split.

 

[Jamie_MA]

The issue I have experienced is that the hinge manufacturers ship their high quality brass hinges with crap screws. The last time I snapped one off in a near finished jewelry box, even after pre-drilling and threading with a steel screw, I gave up. I now through the screws out and use high quality brass screws from Jamestown Distributors. They cater to the boatbuilders and I find their fasteners to be far better. I’m sure there are other sources out there but these folks are close to where I live. Pricey but worth it to me.

 

[Steve1]

I like brass hinges for small projects, but the problem with them, is they come with tiny brass screws. Even when pre-drilling, there is the risk of snapping the screw in two.

The standard advice is to lubricate the threads by rubbing either paraffin or bar soap into the threads. It helps, but it is not a sure-fire remedy.

What I do nowadays is to keep on hand zinc plated screws the exact size as the brass screws. I drive the zinc plated screws into the pre-drilled holes and mount the hinges. Then I back out, one at a time, a screw and replace it with a lubricated brass screw. Since the threads are already cut from the steel screws, the brass screws drive in with only moderate resistance.

You can still over-tighten the screws and snap them off, but only by over-tightening them after they have been fully tightened.

Some people have suggested to me to use a larger pilot hole, and while that makes driving the screws in easier, it greatly reduces the holding power. By using a steel screw to pre-cut the threads, I retain the holding power of the screws, and reduce (eliminate) the broken screw problem.

Yesterday, I had to drive several 1-1/4”, #8 brass screws to join two layers of 3/4” pine. I used the same process and it worked fine. I have done the same with oak and I have not snapped a screw since adopting this process.

I hope this is useful.

That's what I do too -- form the thread first with a steel screw.

I looked for brass plated steel screws, but the only ones I could find looked horrible.

 

[Packard]

Bronze screws are much stronger, but the color is a bit “off” from the brass hinges. I do use the tapered pilot drill bits, but it does not seem to eliminate the problem entirely.

I have used machine screws in hardwoods by first using a metal working tap. But I am not sure that results in the same pullout strength. I would not use it in pine however as I think the wood is to soft.

 

[PaulMarcel]

Like others, I buy steel screws of the same size to form the threads in the wood.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Bronze screws are much stronger, but the color is a bit “off” from the brass hinges. I do use the tapered pilot drill bits, but it does not seem to eliminate the problem entirely.

I have used machine screws in hardwoods by first using a metal working tap. But I am not sure that results in the same pullout strength. I would not use it in pine however as I think the wood is to soft.

I have a knock down router table tough enough to run a PC 7518 in a lift. The phenolic top is attached to the melamine covered particle board sides with 1/4-20 flathead machine screws. (The sides are joined with piano hinges so that they fold together into one 2-1/4” thick stack.) The big machine screws are run through 1” poplar dowels that pass through the melamine panels. I first drilled the usual pilot hole through the particle board and dowel and then ran a long tap through it all to make the thread in the dowel. It’s been assembled many times and remains very tight. The machine screw has a Phillips head and I don’t really have to worry about stripping the thread in the dowel because the bit will cam out unless I really bear down and try to wreck it.