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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

I was in HD yesterday looking for #8 wood screws in 2.5" or 3" lengths. They
did not carry those lengths in anything other than the "2 packs" ($1.18 ea)
so the clerk suggested these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPAX-8-x-...0606/202041007

I should note that the website shows "Full Thread" for those screws, but in
the 2.5" length, the actual product on the shelf has about 1/2" of
unthreaded shaft. (Same SKU, different screw)

They are slightly more expensive than the same size package of standard
wood screws would have been, but way cheaper than buying a boatload of the
2 packs at $1.18 each.

BTW I'm not asking for a source for #8 2.5" wood screws, I'm just curious
about how the multi-material construction screws would work in place of
wood screws. I would never trust the "no need to predrill" claim for
anything that I cared about, but other than that, would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?
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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

DerbyDad03 writes:

BTW I'm not asking for a source for #8 2.5" wood screws, I'm just curious
about how the multi-material construction screws would work in place of
wood screws. I would never trust the "no need to predrill" claim for
anything that I cared about, but other than that, would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


The SPAX screws work well in wood.
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On 9/15/2016 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


IME, German made Spax are well engineered, work well in wood, and are
well worth the extra expense for applications where sheer force strength
is required.

Just insure they're not chinese ripoffs, because those are on the market.

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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 12:04:04 PM UTC-4, Swingman wrote:
On 9/15/2016 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


IME, German made Spax are well engineered, work well in wood, and are
well worth the extra expense for applications where sheer force strength
is required.

Just insure they're not chinese ripoffs, because those are on the market.


The box says Altenloh, Brink & Co. U.S., Inc.

"Manufactured in U.S.A. or Germany"

What are your thoughts on the "No Pre-Drilling In Wood" claim?
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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On 9/15/2016 11:03 AM, Swingman wrote:
On 9/15/2016 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


IME, German made Spax are well engineered, work well in wood, and are
well worth the extra expense for applications where sheer force strength
is required.

Just insure they're not chinese ripoffs, because those are on the market.

I think they are actually German engineered and made in the U.S. But
they are a higher quality screw regardless. Probably a German company
manufacturing in the U.S.


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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On 9/15/2016 12:11 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 12:04:04 PM UTC-4, Swingman wrote:
On 9/15/2016 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


IME, German made Spax are well engineered, work well in wood, and are
well worth the extra expense for applications where sheer force strength
is required.

Just insure they're not chinese ripoffs, because those are on the market.


The box says Altenloh, Brink & Co. U.S., Inc.

"Manufactured in U.S.A. or Germany"

What are your thoughts on the "No Pre-Drilling In Wood" claim?


Try on a scrap. I use Spax screws to attach cabinet backs because they
are no predrill. In those 5/8" lengths I have no issue with no predrilling.
FWIW this is nothing new, pocket hole screws are self taping with no
predrilling in the mating piece.
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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On 9/15/2016 12:35 PM, Leon wrote:

I think they are actually German engineered and made in the U.S. But
they are a higher quality screw regardless. Probably a German company
manufacturing in the U.S.


They're made both places, and few years back those made in Germany were
about all you good buy. I still have a few of the German ones in the shop.

I don't see a difference between them, except that they have come done
in price since I first starting using them.

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On 9/15/2016 12:11 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

What are your thoughts on the "No Pre-Drilling In Wood" claim?


Never had a problem with them in framing lumber, or in places that were
never destined to see the light of day again.

That said, I always pre-drill/countersink screws on most furniture type
projects, as well as in in places where they will be seen, so I can keep
the countersink relatively consistent.

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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On 9/15/2016 12:45 PM, Swingman wrote:
On 9/15/2016 12:35 PM, Leon wrote:

I think they are actually German engineered and made in the U.S. But
they are a higher quality screw regardless. Probably a German company
manufacturing in the U.S.


They're made both places, and few years back those made in Germany were
about all you good buy. I still have a few of the German ones in the shop.

I don't see a difference between them, except that they have come done
in price since I first starting using them.



I have noticed that price come down significantly too. The 5/16" lag
screws were well over a $1 each 6 years ago. IIRC I paid less than half
that this past Spring.
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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 1:38:00 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 9/15/2016 12:11 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 12:04:04 PM UTC-4, Swingman wrote:
On 9/15/2016 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?

IME, German made Spax are well engineered, work well in wood, and are
well worth the extra expense for applications where sheer force strength
is required.

Just insure they're not chinese ripoffs, because those are on the market.


The box says Altenloh, Brink & Co. U.S., Inc.

"Manufactured in U.S.A. or Germany"

What are your thoughts on the "No Pre-Drilling In Wood" claim?


Try on a scrap. I use Spax screws to attach cabinet backs because they
are no predrill. In those 5/8" lengths I have no issue with no predrilling.
FWIW this is nothing new, pocket hole screws are self taping with no
predrilling in the mating piece.


I will try some scraps. I'll be using the 2.5" screws to hold three pieces
of 5/4" stock together. They'll be counter sunk for plugs so 2.5" will be
enough to grab all three boards.

The tapered counter sink bit will result in some pre-drillng, but if I
don't have to go the full length, that will certainly save some work.


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On 9/15/2016 12:50 PM, Leon wrote:

I have noticed that price come down significantly too. The 5/16" lag
screws were well over a $1 each 6 years ago. IIRC I paid less than half
that this past Spring.


Yep, and very probable because of the location of manufacture (US versus
Germany) ... it is still cheaper (taxes, competitive pricing, and
regulatory complexity) to manufacture some items in the US than in many
Western European countries.

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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

So... no one asked me, but...

Karl and Mike (drums) spoke highly of Spax for some time, and I bought some to try out on a project a couple of years ago. Like all fasteners, they do some things better than others, but overall they have turned out to be a great addition to the repair kit arsenal.

They are VASTLY superior quality to the crap in the little plastic bags as they have sharper threads making them easy to drive, the screws down break down the body (and on occasion have to be drilled out of a failed driving attempt), and the heads don't twist off. And they even give you a driver.

The "no drill screw" has been around as long as I can remember, but seemed to hit its stride with he advent of drill driving around 35 or so years ago.. The concept is so easy it is silly. When you drive a screw without a pilot hole, you move the fibers of wood from side to side by brute force. It takes a good screw and a good driving apparatus to drive screws into harder woods without a pilot hole as the friction and pressure on the screw (and the driver) can make it a hard task in itself.

A screw with a cutter milled/stamped into it handles things differently. The head of the screw is inaccurately viewed as a "drill" when it is more of a shredder or tearing feature. It rips the fibers of wood apart, separating them from one another and cuts the friction on the screw while driving down immensely. The cutter is smaller than the overall width of the threads so the bit of the screw is not diminished, and in fact is much better than a screw driving into a pilot hole of the wrong dimension. Since most people don't know how to select the correct bit size for a pilot hole, this is a good thing followed by good results.

And it really cuts down on the time and effort to drive screws. Using Spax, I drill about 1/2 (literally) of the pilot holes I used to when making repairs. Never had a Spax screw fail (!?!??), never broke a shaft, never tore a head off. I did put so much pressure on a 3" Spax when driving into some ancient plywood (laminated to about 2" thick when the house was built in the very early 70s) and the shaft bent under the pressure from my impact driver. I was very impressed with how strong they actually are.

So, Spax is good. I use them on everything I can, and although I used other screws besides Spax for years, I quit buying that chrome plates crap in teh little bags 20 years ago. I only use them for light loads where appearance is a factor. The hole cutter on Spax good, properly designed and actually works as it should. I always keep them around and use them generously in repair work.

Robert
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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

On 9/15/2016 12:56 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 1:38:00 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 9/15/2016 12:11 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 12:04:04 PM UTC-4, Swingman wrote:
On 9/15/2016 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?

IME, German made Spax are well engineered, work well in wood, and are
well worth the extra expense for applications where sheer force strength
is required.

Just insure they're not chinese ripoffs, because those are on the market.


The box says Altenloh, Brink & Co. U.S., Inc.

"Manufactured in U.S.A. or Germany"

What are your thoughts on the "No Pre-Drilling In Wood" claim?


Try on a scrap. I use Spax screws to attach cabinet backs because they
are no predrill. In those 5/8" lengths I have no issue with no predrilling.
FWIW this is nothing new, pocket hole screws are self taping with no
predrilling in the mating piece.


I will try some scraps. I'll be using the 2.5" screws to hold three pieces
of 5/4" stock together. They'll be counter sunk for plugs so 2.5" will be
enough to grab all three boards.

The tapered counter sink bit will result in some pre-drillng, but if I
don't have to go the full length, that will certainly save some work.


FWIW it never hurts to predrill assuming you don't drill to large in
diameter.
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Default SPAX Multi-Material Screws vs. Standard Wood Screws

In article ,
says...

I was in HD yesterday looking for #8 wood screws in 2.5" or 3" lengths. They
did not carry those lengths in anything other than the "2 packs" ($1.18 ea)
so the clerk suggested these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPAX-8-x-...0606/202041007

I should note that the website shows "Full Thread" for those screws, but in
the 2.5" length, the actual product on the shelf has about 1/2" of
unthreaded shaft. (Same SKU, different screw)

They are slightly more expensive than the same size package of standard
wood screws would have been, but way cheaper than buying a boatload of the
2 packs at $1.18 each.

BTW I'm not asking for a source for #8 2.5" wood screws, I'm just curious
about how the multi-material construction screws would work in place of
wood screws. I would never trust the "no need to predrill" claim for
anything that I cared about, but other than that, would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


SPAX work fine. Be careful using them for anything whose failure might
result in injury though--I've occasionally (maybe one out of 50) busted
them while tightening them (with an impact driver--haven't ever busted
one tightening by hand)--I suspect that they were overhardened but the
last ones I bought were a decade or so back and I'm still using them up
so don't know from personal experience if that has been rectified.


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On 9/15/16 9:42 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I was in HD yesterday looking for #8 wood screws in 2.5" or 3" lengths. They
did not carry those lengths in anything other than the "2 packs" ($1.18 ea)
so the clerk suggested these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPAX-8-x-...0606/202041007

I should note that the website shows "Full Thread" for those screws, but in
the 2.5" length, the actual product on the shelf has about 1/2" of
unthreaded shaft. (Same SKU, different screw)

They are slightly more expensive than the same size package of standard
wood screws would have been, but way cheaper than buying a boatload of the
2 packs at $1.18 each.

BTW I'm not asking for a source for #8 2.5" wood screws, I'm just curious
about how the multi-material construction screws would work in place of
wood screws. I would never trust the "no need to predrill" claim for
anything that I cared about, but other than that, would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


Short answer: SPAX screws are better all around, period.
No need for the long answer. :-)

I go for Spax or other structural screws over the standard wood screws
every time, now. They are far superior and not any more expensive when
you take everything into account.


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--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
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---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

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On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 10:42:22 AM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I was in HD yesterday looking for #8 wood screws in 2.5" or 3" lengths. They
did not carry those lengths in anything other than the "2 packs" ($1.18 ea)
so the clerk suggested these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPAX-8-x-...0606/202041007

I should note that the website shows "Full Thread" for those screws, but in
the 2.5" length, the actual product on the shelf has about 1/2" of
unthreaded shaft. (Same SKU, different screw)

They are slightly more expensive than the same size package of standard
wood screws would have been, but way cheaper than buying a boatload of the
2 packs at $1.18 each.

BTW I'm not asking for a source for #8 2.5" wood screws, I'm just curious
about how the multi-material construction screws would work in place of
wood screws. I would never trust the "no need to predrill" claim for
anything that I cared about, but other than that, would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


Consider this a blanket thanks to everyone that answered.

There appears to be a very positive consensus.
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On 9/16/2016 6:00 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 10:42:22 AM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I was in HD yesterday looking for #8 wood screws in 2.5" or 3" lengths. They
did not carry those lengths in anything other than the "2 packs" ($1.18 ea)
so the clerk suggested these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPAX-8-x-...0606/202041007

I should note that the website shows "Full Thread" for those screws, but in
the 2.5" length, the actual product on the shelf has about 1/2" of
unthreaded shaft. (Same SKU, different screw)

They are slightly more expensive than the same size package of standard
wood screws would have been, but way cheaper than buying a boatload of the
2 packs at $1.18 each.

BTW I'm not asking for a source for #8 2.5" wood screws, I'm just curious
about how the multi-material construction screws would work in place of
wood screws. I would never trust the "no need to predrill" claim for
anything that I cared about, but other than that, would there be a problem
using these screws in wood?


Consider this a blanket thanks to everyone that answered.

There appears to be a very positive consensus.


Well, to be honest most any screw that is sold as a particular brand in
individual bulk is typically a better screw than loose screws, screws
sold prepackaged a few at a time, etc.

Kreg screws are pretty good screws also.
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On 9/16/2016 8:13 AM, Leon wrote:

Kreg screws are pretty good screws also.


Yep, I do like Kreg screws, as well as Fastcap's cabinet screws for
certain applications (like fastening a run of Euro cabinets together)

And, I also keep an assortment of Rockler's #8 square drive, lube
finished screws on hand for general shop use.

AAMOF, those reside in the Keter box (I now have two of them) you gave
me years ago. I try to provide the screw/fasteners on a remodel project
(to keep the use of crap fasteners down), so that box always goes with
me to a job site.

I make a point of topping it off every time I make a trip to Rockler for
something else.

https://goo.gl/photos/jsj6qKD5dAxapECCA


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