On 19 Jan 2005 13:05:37 -0800, wrote:
Silly question - why do these have to be steel? Would straight brass
work?

Good (not silly) question! I realised that the wood (looks like some
kind of pine) would tear long before the thread on a 1/4-20 brass screw
would ever strip, so I bought some brass screws and the job's a good
'un.

Not directly relevant here, but I've also used steel screws to get
a hole in wood ready for a brass screw. Brass can't take the torque,
but putting a steel screw of the same size in first makes the hole ready.