Correct rawl plugs?

Thanks for advice, DXP55. I'll buy some short'ish wood screws.

LOAM said:
you don't need a rawl plug for timber, if your pilot hole is to big for the screw you need......a smaller pilot hole. Buy a packet of http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-ground-hss-drill-bit-1-5mm-pack-of-5/33492
Click to expand...

I was just at screwfix earlier this week buying my de walt wood and erbauer masonry bits. I'll go back there. The ones you linked are all 1.5mm. Maybe I could buy a mixed pack of 1mm up to 3mm, since I have 4mm up to 10mm.
 
You could just buy a HSS 'Jobber' Set... like this...

https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/cut...bright-drills-1-13-00mm-x-0-5mm/p/SHR0258520K Don't look at the price too much, the usual DIY counters will have them far cheaper.

HSS is high speed steel and while really intended for metal drilling and very good for plastic, are perfectly allright for the odd hole in wood. obviously those doing a lot o woodwork will buy wood bits, but most of us can managae with just HSS.

Quick tip if a hole in wood is too baggy (e.g. if a screw has been pulled out and you need to repair). Match sticks, snap the math head off leaving a piece of the matchstick the same depth of the hole, drop it in and put screw down side o it, if bad you may have to use multiple match sticks.
 
+1, don't use rawl plugs with wood. They are for stone/masonry walls.

Assuming it's not hollow, just use a big wood screw.
 
So I bought some short wood screws 3.5mm wide, and those Erbauer 1.5mm drill bits from screwfix yesterday, ready to prepare two robe hooks on the bathroom door. Then realised my drill is only meant to take 2mm minimum but I was able to use the 1.5mm bit anyway. I found the hole was way too small to screw into it so then tried my cobalt 2mm bit and that was also too small. So then I drilled with my 3mm cobalt bit and that was perfect. 2.5mm probably would have been fine too. Got it all nice and level. No rawl plugs :)

 
You want the pilot hole to be the same size or a little smaller than the minor diameter of the screw
p5zD2Vu.gif


So a 3mm hole is probably too big for a 3.5mm screw but you dont have much weight on it so I'm sure it'll be fine.
 
Thanks, touch. On my test piece of wood, I'd made a 2mm hole but couldn't screw much of the screw in, using my drill as a screwdriver, it was resisting. I suppose the 2.5mm might have worked. But yeah, the hooks are rock solid. I reckon I could hang a fair bit of weight on them.
 
Merlin5 said:
Thanks, touch. On my test piece of wood, I'd made a 2mm hole but couldn't screw much of the screw in, using my drill as a screwdriver, it was resisting. I suppose the 2.5mm might have worked. But yeah, the hooks are rock solid. I reckon I could hang a fair bit of weight on them.
Click to expand...

Was it stalling (getting slower and eventually stopping) or 'clicking' and not screwing in the screw?

If it's clicking (clutch slipping) you've got it set wrong. Your drill has a clutch on it, the numbered ring around the chuck. If you set it at number 1, the clutch will slip very easily. The higher the number, the more force required to make the clutch slip. You've got a screwing setting that you need to set it to for this type of thing.
 
Well it was making a vibrating noise and not screwing past the first 2 or 3 threads, but wasn't stalling. I had changed the switch from drill setting 2 to screwdriver setting 1, and turned the clutch to the highest setting 20. Whether it would have screwed in ok on the actual door instead of the test plank of wood I was holding, I don't know. If my old doors I've put outside for someone to take haven't gone tomorrow, I'll take the drill outside and try it on that. You mentioned about the pilot hole above, but what size drill bit would you say should make the full size hole for 3.5mm screws?
 
You don't make a full hole for a screw, pilot hole gives the screw something to start with then it'll bite as you screw it in.
 
^^ No. You make a full pilot hole under these circumstances.

A shallow pilot would be more for putting a nail in afterwards in my book.
 
What kind of screw head is this? I've tried all my phillips bits and none work, they all turn and vibrate on the head without turning the screw much. Camming out I think is the term.

20161031_130848.jpg
 
One on the left looks like a combination Flathead and Phillips head screw.
One on the right looks like the same after using too small a Phillips or Posidrive (have diagonal sticky-outs between the cross) bit and chewing it up ;)

Use the biggest flathead that fits properly in there.
 
Yeah, I already tried both flatheads I have and they turn a bit but the bit slips out. There are 6 of these screws, they came with a pair of doorstops I just bought. I could use other screws I have, but I'd prefer to use these as they have the matching brushed satin finish, and my other screws have more of a chrome finish.
 
Maybe not applying enough pressure with the drill and letting the bits slip out.

Get yourself a proper set of hand screwdrivers.
 
Nope, it's not the pressure, they just don't work with these screws. I have no issue using pozi bits on pozi head screws.
 
Well I tried all my phillips and both flatheads, and then tried a couple of pozis to see if it would work but then it presumably started to chew the head of one screw. I'll see if I can buy some satin finish screws or else not worry about it and just use my box of wood screws.
 
What material are you screwing into? And have you tried doing it by hand?

And, if it were slipping, I would go for a small flat head to fit in the smaller, deeper groove. Or switch to hardened screws.
 
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