I have heard that drywall screws is the way to go when building benchwork. So I want to give it a try, but there are a lot of different types here in Sweden. Can someone please tell me more about this. Maybe someone can point me to a picture of the right type?
Phillips Head ,Or Square drive.thay are usully black ,Fine or corse thread.corse thread hold better as its a better grip.i can go on i used em
Carl…
Thanks, what sizes do you recommend?
What size plywood are you going threw and what are you going into ? 2x4?
No plywood, just 1x4, 1x3 and 1x2.
kinda lost on what you are going threw ,??? For a top, bench, Ect ?
Think grid benchwork or l-girder, sorry [:D]
I you can find screws with a Torx head, I would use them. The heads don’t strip out as easily as Phillips head screws. The Torx head is recognizable because it looks like an Allen head screw, but if you look closely, they have a star pattern in the head instead of a normal 6-sided Allen head arrangement.
Here’s a link to information about the Torx head fasteners. Hope this helps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Torx_head.png
Maybe this one?
Comes in four lengths, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mm. 3 to 6 USD for 100.
electrolov,
If you are planning to use open grid and given the amount of benchwork you will be constructing, you might want to check out using pocket hole joinery.
Example of pocket hole in 1x2
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/tombryant/adk
Example of pocket hole screw
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/tombryant/adl
Example contruction (this work was done by Don Z)
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/tombryant/adm
Here’s the thread that started me on the pocket hole journey.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=1&TOPIC_ID=57523
I’ve sent you an email with links to where you can get the jig.
Regards,
I use 1 5/8" (not sure how that would translated exactly to metric about 40mm) with a square head. when you are fastioning at the end of a board you might want to drill a starter hole to prevent cracking of the board. By the way the 1x4 that I am using on my layout that I purchased at Menards came from Sweden, the land of my Grandfather. Hope this helps you
Randy
To me, the ideal screw size is just short of the combined thickness of the two pieces I’m fastening together, so I get the maximum penetration into the second piece without coming out the other side.
I use Phillips head screws, because they are readily available, and I have a Phillips head driver for my electric drills, both corded and cordless. I don’t have a bit for Torx, and I’d rather use a Phillips than have to run down to the basement and search through my car tools for a Torx driver any time I just want to toss in one screw.
I use these for mounting all sorts of stuff - reverser circuit boards, terminal strips, even my control panels are mounted with drywall screws.
Remember that drywall screws will not pull boards together. They have to be clamped together or drill a pilot in the top board. This is because drywalls screws are all thread. One type called cabinet screws have thread 1/2 way.
Good point, Ned. When building benchwork trestles, the little T-bars that hold up the foam or plywood in cookie-cutter designs, I pre-drill the holes in the front pieces. I’ve found that low-grade 1x2 tends to split if I just drive a drywall screw into it. I ended up buying the more expensive clear 1x2 pine for these, because it doesn’t split as readily.
When I put these trestles together, I squirt some Liquid Nails for Projects into the joint before I tighten the screw. That allows me to get by with just one screw without worrying that the joint will rotate.
I think you are going to want some 30mm and 40mm, electro.
1" thick wood is not 1" thick when they are done with it, more like about 3/4". If you are screwing 2 of those together on the 1" sides, 40mm is probably going to pop through the edge slightly. This would be the case when you are attaching risers to cross beams, for instance.
Attaching legs to the L-girders (or beams), or attaching cross beams to the top of the L-girder, 40mm will work fine since legs are usually 2" thick and in the case of the cross beams, you are screwing into the edge that is 3 or 4" deep.
When I built my benchwork I used a ton of both 1-1/4" and 1-5/8", which are about 30 and 40mm respectively.
There’s drywall screws and regular wood screws.
Wood screws are slightly cheaper. Drywall screws are designed to hold drywall to the wall (obviously).
Most common size is #8 here (.125" across) or about 3mm there. Be sure to predrill a hole slightly smaller than the screw size. It greatly reduced the chances of splitting or stripping the wood.
Be sure to grab a countersink bit. You’ll need it.
Have fun,
~Don
Take a hard look at those pocket screw links. There’s a reason that Kreg has taken over the cabinetry market. One advantage is the square driver holes that blow the doors off regular screws, even torx. I use those screws exclusively, in 1.5 and 3 inch, pocket or regular holes. Don’t mess with the fine threaded screws for hardwood, the coarse threads are the way to go.
Minimum 14.4 volt cordless drill. An 18v will do more work between charges, but they’re a lot heavier too. With a beefy drill, the Kreg screws will pull two pieces tight, clamped together or not.
I used 1 and 15/16" drywall screws on my bench work for the horizontal parts, and 1" to attach the plywood table top to those. They work great.
Trevor
The Robertson heads (square) are very good, but the quality of the screws can render them more a liability than an asset when time in a hobby is somewhat precious. I use Robertsons exclusively because of their design and ease of use. However, cheaper metallurgy in some brands of screws, especially when driving into deep, dense, hard wood, will result in the driver torque rotating the bit around the inside of the screw head, thuse leaving a completely useless, unretractable screw with a newly rounded hole.
My advice, EL, is to try several small samples initially, and see which screws give you the least amount of grief.
Thanks guys for your answers. I did not know that this was so hard to decide [:D] I will make some tests and see what I like most.