Not as important to woodturning as talcum powder, but I think faceplate
screws, in particular drywall screws, are worth some discussion here.

For years we have been warned re the danger of using files and drywall
screws, mostly owing to their brittle nature. Was this sound advice or
just rote repetition of some turner's bad experience that has become
gospel? We went thru this with gloves, and food safe finishes, and some
of us even remember when scraping was anathema.

Don Pencil, whose experience in making, using and teaching about
faceplates makes his differing advice and opinion well worth our
attention. There may be others who are not secure enough to openly go
against repeated dogma or those who can _personally_ corroborate the
danger of drywall screws. If so, I hope they will pitch in now, so rcw
can destroy or enforce this legendary warning.
***********************************************

While musing in my armchair, instead of experimenting in the shop, I
wonder:

Are there differences in the quality of drywall screws, imports, price
etc? What is the metal they are made of? Does it vary in composition,
strength, quality, etc?

For faceplate use, Is there any difference in using drywall screws made
for driving into metal, wood or sheetrock?

Does it matter whether screws are self tapping and crush the wood or are
driven into holes the size of the screw's core?

Does the sharp taper of drywall screws render them less efficient and
more dangerous than screws with a straighter shank?

Do the coarse sharp threads of drywall screws register the workpiece
against the faceplate more firmly than wood screws?

If a screw's shank isn't fractured when driven home, why would _one of
several in a circle around the faceplate be wrung off during rotation?

If I need to change from drywall screws to 'better' steel etc. because
of larger, heavier or unbalanced blanks, why don't I just use them on
all my blanks?

Finally thank goodness, would coating them with talcum powder make it
easier to drive them into the wood and also prevent those ugly rust
marks? Or would this impose a liability risk due to the epidemic death
toll from baby powder? It could be a subect for yet another ?? CDC
grant. A billion here and a billion there could add up to real money,
maybe even enough to make some safe flu vaccine.

Bloody hell! Probably less than one in ten thousand inquiring rcw minds
really want to know.

'Turn to safety', Arch

Fortiter,


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