On Aug 18, 12:07*pm, windcrest wrote:
On Aug 18, 8:25*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:





In theory, you'd think the star drive Deckmate screws would be a good
thing.

Unfortunately, the quality of the Home Depot screws negates that
theory.

While building my shed over the weekend, I found that many of the
screws had 1 of 2 issues:

1 - There was so much gunk on the tip of the screw that it would just
spin and not bite into the wood.
2 - There was so much gunk in the star that the bit wouldn't seat
properly, in many cases causing the drill to slip out of the hole and
slam into the wood.

The gunk in the hole is the worst of the problems. You'd get zipping
along, setting a screw, driving it, setting a screw driving it,
*think* you're setting a screw and -BAM- the bit slips out, the screw
goes flying and the drill slams into the wood, you lose your balance,
etc.

It slows down the job because you have to make sure the bit is seated
each time.

I hear Lowes still has the Phillips-Square drive combo. I'll have to
go see.

I like stainless steel square drives the best for exterior use.
Stainless is softer and gives a little, unlike the hardened screws
which pop the heads off more often. *They cost more than a coated or
anodized screw, but then again they are not depending on a coating at
all to not rust. *Softer also means that you could potentially round
out the hole if the bit is not seated before you pull the trigger,
though thats not too often.

Back in the 80's the big box stores all used to sell screws by the
pound from big containers, and the overall quality was better than
today where they are boxed and overpriced. *I have some stainless
screws that I bought in the 80's and they are immaculately made, they
look like a machinist turned each one on a lathe. *Yes there are a lot
of crappy screws out there.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"boxed and overpriced"

$8.69 for a lb of Deckmate at HD. Ridiculous!