Was it the gold screws or phillips head
I am not having too much luck with fasteners lately. I needed some screws for a small under house framing job, that could handle 2x stock. I picked out the 3 inch “gold screws” at Home Depot with Phillips heads. While using my impact driver, I noticed I was tearing up bits at an alarming rate. It seemed like the screws would start to strip, and that would make the bit spin and start to strip, and the next thing you know, I have a bit that is worthless, and a screw still sticking out an inch.
I switched to a regular drill and managed to get most of the remaining part of the job done, but I haven’t had that experience with the impact driver before, although I haven’t used these gold screws before either.
Although they cost quite a bit more, I think I’ll opt for the decking screws next time, either the ones that come with their own blue bit, or some square heads.
Are those “gold screws” just garbage, or was I using them for a purpose they were not intended?
Replies
return the screws...
and get the ones Lowes has to offer...
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google up GRK canada for their reisser screws
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I haven't seen the "gold screws" you're referring to. If they're brass, they're not intended for framing.
The deck screws that Home Depot carries are star drive. I think you can find the "combo-drive" at Lowes.
Phillips used to make the "Deckmate Square Driv" deck screw exclusively for Home Depot. Within the last year though, they changed and now sell that screw exclusively through Lowes.I have no idea of the performance of the new HD screw, but I know the "Deckmate Square Driv" was capable of pulling itself nearly though a sandwich of DF 2x, /12" ply, 2x. It would also tear 16ga. strap rather than shear off the head.The "Deckmate Square Driv" is a tough #### #### screw!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
"a sandwich of DF 2x, /12" ply, 2x. "What are you paying out there for 12" plywood these days?
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It's not the material costs, it's the labor to lift those darn things that kills ya!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
gold screws=glorified drywall screws
check the size. stay with the deck screws..or grk
GRK RSS stardrive - second vote here. And the gold is usually gold-galvanized.
http://www.grkfasteners.com/
In addition to not using the gold general purpose screws for framing work you need to pick up some 'impact ready' bits for your impact driver. They are black colored and much harder. Dewalt makes them, I am fairly sure you can't get them at the big boxes, I bought a bunch in a package deal from a tool supply.
-Day
Predrill. if you do the screw will go in easier and hold better
ive never had a problem with the torx gp screws from menards. theyre made by midwest manufacturing. i have never twisted one off, even the 3 3/4''
I forget the brand, but about 15 years ago the gold color was the trademark, more or less, of a good brand of deck screws. They were so hard that they'd shatter your bit before they stripped out. But there's no real way to trademark the gold color, so these days you can't go by that.
Unfortunately, short of paying premium $$ for GRKs or some other hoity-toity brand, you can't buy screws of reliable quality anymore. Even a brand you had good experience with last week is likely to suck this week, because they switched Chinese suppliers.
" short of paying premium $$ for GRKs or some other hoity-toity brand..."When I'm on my back in a crawlspace, GRKs seem pretty cheap -- avoiding what the OP went through is well worth any premium paid.Also, I've never found bits that even came CLOSE to matching the crisp-edged quality and longevity of Apex bits, or bit holders with the reliability and magnet strength of their holders.The big boxes don't carry anything that competes with Apex. I've been using them for over 30 years now. The only other bit I use is GRK Torx -- I like the color-coding for fast bit selection, and I haven't had a problem with stripping, so I go with them. I've never compared them to Apex, though.AitchKay
Agreed. When I'm doing onesies-twosies, and especially when every screw HAS to work, I reach for my stash of GRKs. But I'd never want to pay the freight for a deck made with them.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
"I'd never want to pay the freight for a deck made with them."Your customer is supposed to be paying the bill.They can pay me for quality screws. or they can pay me for the extra labour to fiddle and fool around wasting my time on cheap screws. Bottom line ends up the same.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
The work I do is either DIY or pro bono, so either I'm buying my own materials or they're being bought by some charity that pinches every penny. (Free labor is really cheap, vs materials.)
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
Yep. Unless you're using trimheads -- GRK's the only TH I dare use anymore.Last deck, though, I was using some ceramic-coated Torx-drive from Lowes. Grip-Rite? Grip-Tite? They worked fine.My only complaint about Torx is that once you've been spoiled by square-drives that will stand out horizontal for 3", it's frustrating to go back to having to use two hands.AitchKay
Yeah, if the Torx screws would stay on the driver they'd be the cat's PJs. But they're worse than Phillips in that regard.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
Dan.That's what the bit holder with the slide on it is for.KK
That only works with #8 and smaller screws - it's no good on #9 and up, or washer head screws.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Paul,Mine shoots 9 which is mostly what we use.You must have a little one. :)KK
Yeah, I've used those, but they don't really hold the screw at "attention" like a square drive does. (Maybe if I added a little blue pill it would help.)
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
With the cost of screws these days, I thought they were ALL made of gold.....It's all fun and games, until someone puts an eye out..You are always welcome at Quittintime
The Chinese have learned to turn lead into gold colored screws ...
Good one.=0)..It's all fun and games, until someone puts an eye out..You are always welcome at Quittintime
The way I understood it in yrs past, was that "gold" was yellow zinc or sometimes cadmium plating.
Then along comes Tn coated drill bits, I think that was Titainium Nitride or possibly cobalt, which I thoought was blue.
And today, yellow is just zinc on screws, and they rust just as fast as black oxide , that I have seen, or dang close to as fast.
I swear the HF compressor I recently bought had zinc fittings plated with brass, or some other cheap pot metal with a brass look alike plating. I had to change them all out for real metal.
I've gone ceramic now, and Stainless for almost everything.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
PROUD MEMBER OF THE " I ROCKED WITH REZ" CLUB
"The way I understood it in yrs past, was that "gold" was yellow zinc or sometimes cadmium plating."That was my understanding, too.I just looked it up, and here's what GRK says about their current gold coating:"GRK's Climatek™ coating consists of a total of six layers of various materials, including three layers of zinc-polymer.Climatek™ has been tested for salt spray resistance, and more importantly, for Kesternich durability. Kesternich cycles are a more advanced way of testing a coated material. Each Kesternich cycle simulates heat, cold, wind, water, salt as well as a variety of other elements, whereas salt spray merely uses salt water for its tests.Climatek™ passed 29 Kesternich cycles, making it the most advanced coating of its kind."Elsewhere they say,"Salt spray testing has exceeded 1,200 hours and 30 Kesternich cycles."AitchKay
I don't know about "those gold screws" you been using... I get these gold ones at my lumber yard:
http://wedo.hillmangroup.com/viewitems/deck-screws/flat-head-star-drive-powerpro-screws?&forward=1
they make a 3" trim screw, too.
We'll have a kid
Or maybe we'll rent one
He's got to be straight
We don't want a bent one
He'll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up
I just picked up a few boxes of the Hllman deck screws (Torx head) for attaching underlayment to a subfloor. "Bronze ceramic coat" is what it says on the box. They work pretty good, although I still found it quicker to predrill - they require a lot of pressure and a slow start to get them to bite. I don't need 400 Torx tattoos on my off hand to go with the 2000 little cross shaped scars...-t
Even with the little baby bosch impactor, I've got no problems... I know what you mean about the scars... my yankee screwdriver somehow went into a sheetrocked wall cavity after it's last slip... it felt so good patching that hole over<G>http://www.tvwsolar.com
We'll have a kid
Or maybe we'll rent one
He's got to be straight
We don't want a bent one
He'll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up
I've had a LOT of Yankee phillips stab wounds in my left hand
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah, the yankee screwdriver, the gift that kept on giving<G>http://www.tvwsolar.com
We'll have a kid
Or maybe we'll rent one
He's got to be straight
We don't want a bent one
He'll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up
I praise the day I got a cordless and gave up on using that for installing cabinets.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You are obviously SO wrong. Just last May, FHB (ALWAYS on the cutting edge) paid for a tip from some guy waxing eloquent about the virtues of his Yankee:"I just love the feeling of political and environmental correctness that comes over me when I get out my old Yankee"(I'm not making this up! -- H)"it's quieter and safer,""It is FASTER than a cordless driver, and I have JUST AS MUCH DEPTH CONTROL, IF NOT MORE."Then he goes on to put the icing on the cake, telling of how he hired a machinist to weld a 1/4" hex bit holder onto a Yankee shank, probably paying at least $50 for an item that has been on the market for at least 35 years (I've still got my old bronze Apex version), and which is currently offered in three different Yankee sizes by at least three different manufacturers -- see your McFeely's catalog.AitchKay
Edited 11/23/2009 1:48 pm ET by AitchKay
I have extensions, adaptors, and nut drivers for mine too - someplace.
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I think every cabinet from the 70's and 80's has as yankee mark somewhere.John
and a drop of blood
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!