Wax screw lubrication

[Deleted member 174758]

Pears the soap!

 

[opps]

Sorry, haven't been following the thread that closely.... but if you have lots of screws in a box, wouldn't be easier to spray the contents with PTFE or something else, rather than dipping each screw. Or alternatively purchase lubricated screws.

Additionally, would the hammering effect of an impact driver reduce the need for any lubricant?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Or alternatively purchase lubricated screws.

Errr... Can't recall seeing too many of them (really). I have seen some stainless steel screws marked as "pre-lubricated", but I'm averse to trusting that as there is no way of knowing how long the stuff has been sat on a shelf in a warehouse drying out. Not sure that spraying the heads of the screws with PTFE would be a good idea, either, as that could encourarage camming out when driving the screws, which can damage screw heads (especially in brass or stainless screws)

Additionally, would the hammering effect of an impact driver reduce the need for any lubricant?

Impacts are designed to drive big screws into softwood framing and the like - or first fix work. For hardwoods, which are more often found in visible 2nd fix works, it is preferable to avoid impact drivers due to their propensity to simply snap, shear off - often just below the heads - or burr-out the head recesses of the screws used in such work. Yes, multusoeed impacts are better, but they are still not fool proof

Hardwoods should always be pre-piloted for screws so as to avoid splitting (although the same is true of softwoods in some instances, e.g. when you need to install screws near to edges/ends), and apart from the above you allso need to be aware that many hardwoods will split if the screw is driven in too hard, even into a pilot hole with a countersink hole at the top. Overdrive into softwoods and the fibres compress - messy, but often you'll get away with it. This is why for hardwoods a small combi drill is generally a safer choice, simply because it is a lot more controllable

Even with pre-piloting, screws can be tight when you drive them into some woods, such as oak or walnut, increasing the risk of breaking a screw as you drive it, so on high class work it was always standard to pre-pilot (and countersink) the hole, then drive in a slightly shorter or same length steel screw of the same thickness as the finish screw (e.g if your finish screw was going to be a #8 x 2in the steel screw would be #8 x 1-3/4in or #8 x 2in), then back out the steel screw and replace it with a finish screw. To reduce the risk of a screw "catching" as you drive it, and to speed things up, dipping a screw in some paraffin wax, Vaseline or even soft soap (from the end of a bar of soap - although not into oak with steel screws as that can lead to marks) was always highly recommended as it eases the entry of the screw into the wood

Here endeth the lesson...

 

[^woody^]

Update - don't be a skinflint and either buy a tub of screw paste or a cheap tub of furniture polish.

Do not, repeat do not, watch any YouTube videos of making paste or tool wax and think it a good idea to buy a kilo of beeswax instead of using your candles and a litre of linseed oil and several tins of different sizes to make wax of varying consistency for your screw paste, tool wax and wood wax idea, and then waste time melting the stuff in the wife's best cookware only to end up with £40 worth of several pots of rock hard wax, wax splashed all over the hob and a right ear-bending.

 

[RandomGrinch]

What I can't believe....


....that this thread started way back in May!
Is there some kind of time dilation occuring on the forum?
Isn't it still 2021?

 

[^woody^]

Obviously, waxing screw threads is an important subject, and the key to success is proper research.

 

[Notch7]

I have a box of candles left over from the 3-day week strikes in the 70's, so ideally would like to put them to use. LOL

Seems like your candles might do for the 3-day week strikes in 2022

 

[Deleted member 174758]

...and then waste time melting the stuff in the wife's best cookware only to end up with £40 worth of several pots of rock hard wax, wax splashed all over the hob and a right eaear-bending.

Are you trying to tell us something here, Woody? Is this apocryphal?

 

[^woody^]

Seems like your candles might do for the 3-day week strikes in 2022

LOL. I've had to put them on ebay as the risk of burglary if someone new I had them was just too much

 

[^woody^]

Are you trying to tell us something here, Woody? Is this apocryphal?

I followed a recipe for three different consistencies for different use - hard, medium and soft, and all I got was a fourth - ultra hard. LOL

 

[Deleted member 174758]

all I got was a fourth - ultra hard. LOL

Hmmm..I have to wonder if that has any applications elsewhere.

 

[^woody^]

Hmmm..I have to wonder if that has any applications elsewhere.

The moulds are the wrong shape.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Another cunning plan dashed!

 

[robinbanks]

I find it helps to grind a flat spot on the side of the screw at the tip

Perhaps, if soft wax is your bag, get into eating babybel cheese; the wax on them is like putty

 

[robinbanks]

Another cunning plan dashed!

A cunning languish?

Surely if one was more on top of that, the candles would be surplus to..