When it comes to do it yourself projects a lot of people tend to get rather confused about what fasteners to use for their project.
This is because there are a lot of different options when it comes to fasteners.
Each option of fastener also has applications that it should be used for, ones that it can be used for and ones that it should not be used for.
Let us take a look at how to determine what wood screws to use.
As the name would suggest, wood screws are to be used when you are doing a project that makes use of wood.
Most of your wood screws will be made from a metal that is not going to react with the resins and treatment chemicals in the wood.
Some metals will leave a rather nasty looking stain when they come into contact with certain chemicals or resins.
They will also generally be galvanised with zinc in some way to make them rust resistant so that they can be used outdoors.
There are two options when it comes to wood screws.
You can either use self tapping screws or screws that have to have the hole drilled for them.
the self tapping wood screw will have a sharp point and the thread will go all the way to the bottom of the point.
As you put pressure on the screw and turn it using a screwdriver it will cut into the wood and create its own hole.
These are generally rather tight fitting and do not often tear loose.
Sometimes you will need to drill a hole into the wood for the screw you are going to be using.
It could be that the wood is too hard for the self tapping variety to have any success cutting into the wood or you might need to use some kind of a bolt instead of a screw to fasten two pieces of wood together.
You have to be careful to make the hole the right size.
If you make it too large the wood screws will not be able to grip the surface of the wood.
If anything, rather make the hole a tiny little bit too small and have to put some pressure on the screw to get it into the hole.
You can be sure the fastener will hold if you do this.
Most wood screws will also have an area of unthreaded metal just below the head.
This is so that you can allow the top of the screw to slide through the top piece of wood so that you are able to tightly fasten the two pieces of wood together.
As you can see, you have to make sure that you get the right quality of screw for the wood you are going to be using and also decide if you want to use the self tapping variety or the variety that requires you to drill a hole for it.
All wood screws will work for all woods, but getting the best screw for the job is always best.