DIYbanter - View Single Post - Sheet rock screws: fine vs coarse thread?

Twayne[_3_]

In news

typed:
On Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:37:18 -0400, Stuart Wheaton
wrote:

About any screw you might want, and square drive is the
ONLY option as far as I'm concerned!

Stuart

I have never seen a square drive drywall screw. You
actually want drywall screws to cam out before they go in
too deep.

That sounds like a very unlikely candidate for doing a good
job. Most of the jobs Ive done wouldn't "cam out" until the
head of the screw reached the wood underneath.

That is also why a #2 drywall bit is a lot "pointier" that
a regular #2. It is a torque limiting design.

They are "pointier" to provide a more sure and quicker start.
It has little to do with a torque limiting design that I've
ever heard of. Once past the "pointy" part, the diameter
becomes consistant and unchanging. Can you cite that in any
verifiable way? I'd be interested in knowing such information
if I'm wrong about it. The torque needed to drive drywall
screws is almost nothing to most drivers these days.

I have used square drive drywall screws. No big deal; you stop
driving at the proper point or you don't. You either become
proficient at knowing when to pull the driver back or you use
a tool that stops the drive at the proper point (depth); which
is extremely handy BTW and not expensive.
Adjustable torque isn't the answer as wood varies a lot in
hardness over its length. And trusting "cam out", whatever
that means, is even less of an answer since it also depends on
the wood having the same hardness throughout which isn't the
case. IME only the tool can do a 100% successful job of it and
then you still have to adjust it correctly. If you don't have
a tool then variable speed and eyeballs are the next best
answer IMO.

HTH,

Twayne`

I do agree on just about any other type of screw. Phillips
is not as good as square for torque but torx is better than
both of them,.