Is there anything worse when diy’ing than cheap screws? Had to purchase some from the local b an m store, tips as sharp as a kerb which drift all over. One lovely slip with the cordless and I’m now nursing a throbber 🤣

Pisses me off when stuff that isn’t that cheap still gets supplied with the cheapest possible fixings.

I’m now nursing a throbber

Is that like nursing a semi?😉

you should try thailand for cheap screws
all the chinese made spoons about 1mm thick, brake pads that last all day,genuine honda chains that last 100miles, you name it,they sell it

I’m now nursing a throbber

There’s a cure for that – and that’s to find some cheap screws.

Its a bastard isn’t it.

Its always the last one i find aswell.

And who in the name of all that is holy uses slotted head screws nowadays? Awful things.

My father was a director of a big joinery company. They used an inordinate number of screws and nails of all sizes. It was cheaper for them to buy in bulk from China and stand transport costs than to buy “quality gear from UK.

The time saved and in this case finger end is well worth the extra cost. Sharp point twin thread screws any day over the ones I’ve used today, running the cordless in second gear and just watching the screw spin rather than bite in is such a pain in the arse! I ended up starting a load with the claw hammer as they were that bad!!!

And who in the name of all that is holy uses slotted head screws nowadays? Awful things.

True, but it’s very easy to round off a pozidrive or Philips head, so you then need to try to cut a slot in the head to use a flat blade driver to unscrew it.

Ambrose, are you one of those people who fixes everything regardless of visibilty/countersinking/colour of the item being fixed?

Worse than cheap screws are cheap screw driver bits. **** me static – I’ve gone through about 100 in the last few months..!

Philips and Pozi drive were both designed to suit production line tooling where the fact that the bit “cams out” as you tighten the fixing stops them from being over-tightened. Nowt wrong with a slotted screw – just need to use the correct size screwdriver to match the slot.

Claw hammer = London screwdriver

Cheap screws make great ring nails…

And who in the name of all that is holy uses slotted head screws nowadays? Awful things.

People who know how to use them properly.

Horses for courses. I’m talking about general carpentry situations. The doors in this house were re-hung by the previous owner about 15 years ago.

Are slotted screws ‘thicker’ than their Phillip’s/ Pozi counterparts? Perhaps useful for a bodge to fill an oversized (re-used?) hole.

Proper wood screws will have a shank diameter under the screw head and a smaller core diameter for the threaded bit. Lots of “self drilling” screws have a constant core diameter without a larger diameter shank under the screw head. Use one of these in place of an old-style wood screws and it’ll rattle around a bit in the hole.

Slotted? Torx head is where it is at these days, baby!

Whenever I buy fittings etc that come with their own screws I automatically throw them away.

If I’m going straight into wood I use Reisser Cutter or Spax screws which have their own countersink cutter under the head. If I’m fitting a metal plate like a hinge I don’t use the self-countersinking ones. Maybe Quicksilver, but some of those have just been “upgraded” to self countersink, so now useless for me.

When joining boards together to make cabinets I use Kreg Pocket Hole screws, but that’s a completely different subject. They have square drive heads.

I agree that Philips was designed to cam out. Pozi is designed not to.