"David Nebenzahl" wrote:
... for anything except hanging drywall.*

It's really irritating to see how just about every screw I see driven into
the various houses I work on seem to be those damned ubiquitous drywall
screws. Doesn't matter whether it's a shelf bracket, a piece of trim or an
electrical fixture. Sure, they're cheap and easy to drive and everyone has
bagsfull of them, but you know what? They ain't the right fastener for
about 75% of the things they're used for.

Thing is, they're made of hardened steel, which you'd think would make
them better. This does make them easier to drive into wood without
drilling a pilot hole first (gee whiz, who has time for *that*?). But the
problem is that means they're much more brittle than ordinary wood (or
sheet-metal) screws of the same size, which means they're much more likely
to fail under stress. (Anyone who's ever snapped off the head of one of
them because of overtightening knows this.)

So I'm going to start stocking up on a bunch of sizes of wood screws and
start using them. Next, I might tackle that problem: I read, some time ago
in /Fine Woodworking/, I think, that the best screws to use in wood are
actually ... sheet-metal screws, which have bigger threads in relation to
screw size that hold better in wood. Have to do some research on that.

I couldn't do without my "improper" drywall screws. I use 'em for anything
and everything I can get away with using them for, most especially with
temporary setups, jigs, and the like. Dimensional lumber and plywood are
made for them.

If one screw isn't strong enough, I'll just use two or three then. They
work great.

ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY DRYWALL SCREW! SAVIOR TO OUR PROJECTS GREAT AND
SMALL!

Jon