Screws into wood - should I drill a hole or not?

OM2

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I always drill a whole. Use a tiny drill. Much smaller than is needed.

It just helps when screwing in the screw.

But... When I see others do it... They just use a drill and screw in!

What are the rules I should follow?

If softwood just go ahead and screw without drilling?

If hard wood then use drilling? If so, what size drill bit? I'm assuming if a tiny thin drill, then when screwing in this won't be a good idea? Thanks.
 
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Depends on hole size and position, hard wood needs a pilot hole especially with small diameter screws to avoid snapping, softwood needs pilot holes if fixing close to ends of timber.
 
You usually find a screw going into wood won’t slide it will penetrate very slightly with the pointed tip, for this reason I do not use pilot holes.
 
depends on screws and timber
softwood silver twins end grain if smaller than 17mm then pilot
face pilot countersink bit into face and if the bit i am screwing to is more than 20mm from the end then no pilot
turbo gold/woodspur type screws no need unless particularly small or hard or you want to fit a wooden plug
 
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I use turbo gold wood screws and they drive into wood beautifully. But even more easily with a pilot hole. I'm more likely to use a pilot hole if I need accuracy or it's a difficult (smooth) surface
 

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