On Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:01:42 -0500, Leuf
wrote:

I hereby propose that brass screws be deemed weapons of mass
destruction, and that they all be gathered up and melted down. Anyone
caught attempting to distribute them shall be locked into prison and
held there until they can successfully install an entire 24" piano
hinge into hard maple without breaking any of their product.

And yes, I predilled everything right, and tapped with a steel screw
first. And then I broke the drill bit off in the hole trying to drill
out the screw. Of course.

I'll second that.

One other thing to try- I couldn't say that it works better than wax,
but rubbing the threads on bar soap works nicely, too.