Drill bits, rawlplugs and screws.

[LadyHomeLover]

I've accumulated over years a box full of assorted drill bits, a box full of assorted rawlplugs and a box full of assorted screws. As far as I can make out, none have any kind of number on them to say which goes with which.

Whenever I want to hang something on a wall I always make a right mess of it because the three items don't match up and I have to do a fair bit of trial and error and it usually ends up with a bodge. I've muddled through like this for years.

If one buys all these things new, in sets, are they all number-coded or whatever so that one knows which goes with which? Or is there some way you can teach me to get my assortments to match up with one another?

 

[foxhole]

Just need a tape measure .

This may help

https://www.diy.com/ideas-advice/how-to-fit-wall-plugs/CC_npcart_400142.art

 

[LadyHomeLover]

Not really. Foxhole: it says the size of the yellow red and brown, but then says they can be any colour, and does not tell you the size number of the corresponding drill bit.

 

[JohnD]

when you buy plasplugs, get them in a block. There will be a rectangular piece of plastic moulded in the middle. It has holes, as examples of the correct sizes of drill and screw moulded into it, and the dimensions stamped on. Keep this rectangle with (at least) one of the plugs still attached for future reference.

see?

Apart from special jobs, I only use brown plasplugs in walls now, it's simpler, and I keep a masonry bit of the correct size with them. If your walls are very crumbly you might need a slightly smaller drill.

Click "technical data" https://www.plasplugs.co.uk/solid-w...ar-duty-concrete-and-brick-fixings-clip-pack/

The rest of the range are shown from https://www.plasplugs.co.uk/

 

[LadyHomeLover]

JohnD .. I never buy plugs (because I have accumulated hundreds over the years and they have all ended up in two old ice cream tubs).

But if buying the ones you suggest would solve this problem of matching up the sizes, I would be prepared to buy a pack and give my lot to the charity shop!

 

[LadyHomeLover]

I looked on ebay and there was a pic! I've never seen this size hole before because I've been using my own loose plugs out of the ice cream tub for decades. They either never came on a strip or were long ago detached from it!

 

[JohnD]

collect all the red and yellow ones and put them in the bin.

 

[Burnerman]

Consider buying a few boxes of Fischer SX plug range......SX 6, SX 8 and so on - and chucking all the rest in the bin. With a corresponding drill bit, all you'll ever need.
John

 

[Notch7]

The drill size might vary a tad depending on the material being drilled

 

[JohnD]

I currently only live in one house, and all the walls are made of brick on the outside and block on the inside.

I suppose if I lived in numerous houses, like notch, the walls might be made of all sorts of different things.

 

[Notch7]

brick on the outside and block on the inside.

Yes, different materials. Might need different drill sizes.......

Got an extension? Might be thermalites, original house maybe breeze.

Drill into the mortar, different density to the block / brick.

Internal wall finish could be sand/ cement render or soft bonding.

Drilling for plugs can be a real pain.....too tight, the plug wont bang in flush, too loose it spins, hole to deep plug can gat pushed in and wont tighten.

As for thermalites / celcon, its tricky to get a half decent fixing.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

As for thermalites / celcon, its tricky to get a half decent fixing.

In which case you resort to specialist plugs for the job - or just GripFil them in and let the stuff go off for 24 hours.... Helps if your drill bit is straight and not bent (which turns it into a helicopter of sorts)

 

[rsgaz]

Or is there some way you can teach me to get my assortments to match up with one another?

Buy a 150mm digital caliper (stainless preferably, not the cheaper composite/fibreglass ones)...

...then you can just measure the drill bit/plug/screw root diameter/etc, problem solved!!

 

[LadyHomeLover]

collect all the red and yellow ones and put them in the bin.

Gosh that sounds VERY radical (which I like!) but scary. I've never used either but surely there is a use for them or they would never be manufactured or sold?

 

[LadyHomeLover]

Drilling for plugs can be a real pain.....too tight, the plug wont bang in flush, too loose it spins, hole to deep plug can gat pushed in and wont tighten.

YES YES YES, THIS ^ ^ ^ ^ is what has happened to me every damned time I have drilled a hole in any wall in this house since I moved in 20 years ago! I thought it was only me!