Screwheads that are not made from cheese!!!

[Greenie9657]

Good Afternoon,

Im sure you'll agree, there is nothing worse than when you are doing a rubbish job where you have to remove screws and the head chews up with any sort of twist on it!! Well i was wondering if any tradesman out there can recommend any screws that don't shred when a little force is applied? I'm sure thousands have been used amongst us all. I just have never remembered the name of any I've used in the past

They will be used for fixing floorboard down in a bedroom so need to be at least 50mm but if i have any left then ill use then to fit boards in my attic.

Ive been looking at buildbase screws as I thought screwfix ones would be soft. Happy to be told im wrong!!

Thanks in advance

 

[omega015]

While these are probably overpriced for what they are, I have taken up and replaced back down the same floorboards no less than 10 times with the same screws and the head on them is still in perfect condition

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p65750?table=no

I'm still struggling to find some decent decorative screws for the likes of door handles. As far too often the head snaps off when I'm fitting the handles :/

 

[Greenie9657]

Happy days Omega.
I'm more than happy to pay £8 for 200 if they don't round off the minute they smell a cordless!!

 

[Greenie9657]

could also do with some screws which are about 100mm long. Any suggestions?

 

[omega015]

Unfortunately I haven't had much call for such long screws to give any recommendations on, hopefully someone else can give some recommendations (and smaller ones for comparison/choice)

 

[Burnerman]

Spax or Reisser for me!
John

 

[Doggit]

If it went in, then it should only require the same force when coming out (unless there's corrosion) and 9 times out of 10, the head getting chewed is down to a mismatch between the screw, and the driver bit, or maybe just sods law of course.

 

[John D v2.0]

I'd have said often it's mucky in the head or not getting the bit square in the slot.
My recommendation is the turbo ones that screwfix sell with the torx head. Work brilliantly and no pressure needed to keep the bit engaged.

 

[motorbiking]

impact driver will get most out. but as others have said. quality, correctly sized bit is key.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I've been using the Torx ones from Toolstation a lot in the House of Pain http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Screws+&+Fixings/d90/Torx+Fast/sd3267 - they're excellent, correct size bit in every box, part-threaded so they pull the job together, you don't have to lean on the driver to engage the bit, they stay on the end of the bit when you're working one handed. Only pest is you end up with a load of different size bits....... not sure how well they'll cope with a few years of dust and carp in them when it comes to any maintenance issues but the ones I've encountered in cars (up to 20 years old) have all cleaned out and moved easily enough

 

[Greenie9657]

While these are probably overpriced for what they are, I have taken up and replaced back down the same floorboards no less than 10 times with the same screws and the head on them is still in perfect condition

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p65750?table=no

I'm still struggling to find some decent decorative screws for the likes of door handles. As far too often the head snaps off when I'm fitting the handles :/

Good shout.

I bought these last weekend and they were perfect. No deformation on the heads at all.

Just need something longer now for another job. Many thanks Omega

 

[omega015]

Glad they worked out well, its a shame they don't do the longer ones though. If you try any of the other suggestions let us know how you get on with those.

 

[cjard]

Happy days Omega.
I'm more than happy to pay £8 for 200 if they don't round off the minute they smell a cordless!!

As doggit has indicated, the usual fault of this lies with the user, as very few people appreciate all of the following:

• Just because there's a plus shaped hole in the screw head and a plus shaped bit in your cordless, it doesn't mean they're compatible
• - PZ bits don't fit properly in PH screws
• - PH bits slop about in PZ screws
• There are 3 sizes of each bit in common use
• Bits wear out quite rapidly, especially if the monkey you loaned your cordless to skipped the bit around inside every screw head he wound in. Using a worn out bit encourages cam-out, ruining the screw head and bit simultaneously
• Winding screws in too fast encourages them to skip, as does dropping the cordless and bending the bit holder
• After your labourermonkey has wound 10 screws in and you've heard a "bzzzzzzzzzzzzzp" at the end of every single drive, that bit's knackered and needs throwing away. You might eventually be paying more for bits than your monkey saves you, and the monkey should be thrown away
• Some materials require predrilling, even with the fancy self drilling screws
• Impact drivers require impact rated bits
• Using the same bit to wind screws out as well as in increases the risk of breaking it, especially if you're using an impact driver

Don't buy Screwfix's Quicksilver range unless you have a new bit and are careful. The minute you're winding a Quicksilver screw in and the bit skips, wind the screw out and toss it away. Silverscrew and Goldscrew are only marginally more expensive and work fine.

I've driven nearly 20,000 collated PH2 screws while plasterboarding my current house, using the same bit. The tip is barely worn, but that's what you get with using colalted screws - bit and head alignment are arranged by a mechanical device and the bit stops when the screw has reached the right tension/sink.
I'm still on the original impact bit that came with my bosch driver 2 years ago and it's looking a little worn now but still works and doesn't chew heads.
I've been through about 15 PZ2 bits so far, most of those smashed either by the impact driver, by a lot of forward and reverse driving in succession, or thinking "I can't be arsed to change to the #3 bit for this one screw, i'll risk it on the #2" and then regretting it. I've never smashed a #3 bit, but after losing a couple I bought a bit holder and glued it into a pen pocket in my tool belt, as a place to keep the #3 when the #2 is in the driver.. Swapping them over in the bit holder takes a few seconds. Worth doing