On Dec 16, 1:21*am, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:
I tightened up a 1/4" lag screw that I bought from Home Depot earlier this
evening. *It was screwed into 1.5" fir after pre-drilling with a 1/8" pilot
hole.

After it bottomed out, I turned it just a little bit more, holding a 3/8"
ratchet handle close to the shaft, not out on the handle. *I wasn't giving
it much torque, just making sure that it was secure, when it turned to
butter.

It was less torque tha I have used in the past to tighten drywall screws.

Here is the result:

http://i45.tinypic.com/35i981s.jpg

On the plus side, it was really easy to drill a little hole in the piece
that is still left in the wood (the hole is for the EZ out).

I'm actually glad that this came apart on me; at least I know to get some
halfway decent ones now before something failed with more catastrophic
results.

Be careful what you build with the fasteners you buy from the bulk bin at
Home Depot.

Jon

I'm pretty sure that all of the standard fasteners at HD are made of
quite soft metal. I have run into the same problem using lag screws
on deck framing. If they get a little warm from friction, the heads
twist right off. HD have some hardened bolts, but they are as
expensive as if you had bought them at Fastenal. I agree that HD is
not the place to buy fasteners - aside from the fact that HD charges
quite a lot for their fasteners.