Strippimg screw heads

 It seems like every time I have to drive a Philips-head screw, say
for putting up window blinds or (today) a towel rack, I end up
mangling the slots in the head so that I either can't finish driving
it at all, or at best it takes a lot more effort than it should.

I'm sure there's something really basic that I'm doing wrong.  Can
anyone tell me what it is?


--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
                                   http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

 

Try drilling a pilot hole.

--
Bert Hyman    St. Paul, MN    bert@iphouse.com

 On 02 Jan 2011 16:55:40 GMT, Bert Hyman wrote:

Good thought, but I do that routinely.  Maybe I'm making the hole too
small relative to the diameter of the screw -- is there a guideline?

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
                                   http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

 On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 18:16:09 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:


Print this chart out: www.wlfuller.com/html/wood_screw_chart.html
--
Ski!:
     A shout to alert people ahead that a loose ski is coming down the
     hill.  Another warning skiers should be familiar with is "Avalanche!"
     (which tells everyone that a hill is coming down the hill).
        -- from "The Skier's Dictionary"

RocinanteREMOVETHIS@gmail.com
1/2/2011 6:18:11 PM

 On Sun, 2 Jan 2011 11:49:48 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:


Philips head screws will strip easily with too much drill torque. Either
drill pilot holes (a little smaller than the screw sizes) or use slotted
wood screws, which allow higher torque to be applied without stripping the
heads.

--
"Any technology indistinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."

RocinanteREMOVETHIS@gmail.com
1/2/2011 4:16:15 PM