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Drilling screws into wood

2K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  CNT 
#1 ·
Hi guys, I hope I am posting in the right forum with this question.

So I replaced all the door knobs in my house from gold to satin nickel. I have been replacing the strike plates to match the door knob. On several doors, the new strike plates do not align with the holes. I did the trick with the wood glue and toothpicks to fill the hole so I can drill a new hole on a blank slate.

I am borrowing electric drills from a neighbor. There are two drills. So here's my question:

1) Which drill of the two do I use for this job? The hammer driver drill or impact driver drill?

2) Do I drill the screw right into the wall or do I drill a "pilot hole" first? I don't know what that is, but I googled "drilling screw into wood" and that's what popped up. Despite reading it over, I don't fully understand it.

If I should predrill a hole, can someone point me in the right direction that will explain it very simply for a drill beginner like me?

Thanks for the help!
 
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#3 ·
As Chandler mentioned, you want to drill the pilot holes with the drill not the impact driver. Most hammer drills have the ability to select 'drill' or 'hammer' - you want drill only. If it is set to hammer, you probably won't notice until you apply pressure to feed the drill bit.

Screws act a wedge that can split the wood if you don't drill a pilot hole. Take a look at the shaft of the screw - you want the pilot hole to be no larger than the core thickness of the screw; not the outer edge of the threads but the width of the solid centre.

If you know the size of the screws you are using, you might find this useful:

 
#4 ·
Use the hammer drill without the hammer mode to drill as per above and a habd screw driver to install then screws.
Rarely do I use a drill or impact for finish work scres, but if you insist, then the Impact driver is not the one to use, either. They will strip the heads and are too fast unless you are experienced.
Drill on High speed and screw on Low.
 
#12 ·
when the screws are #8, the chart in this thread suggests 11/64"
Nope, the "shank" size is 11/64" Pilot hole is 3/32" in hardwood. If you are joining two pieces of hardwood and your screws have a clear top shank, you can drill an 11/64' hole in the first board, and 3/32" in the receiving board. That way the wood screw will spin in the first board and not cause separation when tightening. If your screws don't have a shank then just drill the appropriate pilot hole through both.
 
#14 ·
Inexperienced woodworkers may not realize to maintain concentricity, the smaller 3/32" hole needs to be bored to near screw depth first then the larger 11/32" hole through the first member.

I gave up on toothpicks long time ago and went with small dowels.

And a drill similar to my first cordless will suffice.:biggrin2:
 

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#2 ·
The drill (not in hammer mode) for drilling holes, and the impact driver with a #2 phillips bit to drive the screws. Don't make your pilot hole too large. Just enough to prevent splitting and to give you a guide when inserting it. Maybe start with a 3/32" bit for a pilot.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for all the responses. If I use the drill to make a pilot hole, how deep into the wood do I make the hole or does it not matter? Also, is there a way to ensure the pilot hole gets drilled straight on? In other words, I want to avoid drilling at an angle by mistake, so is there a trick to avoid that?

Would I put the strike plate over the wood, make a mark using a pencil, and then make the pilot hole where I marked it up?

Thanks.
 
#5 ·
Toothpick trick or even drilling into blank slate can be tricky because the bit follows less than the center hole or grains. Toothpicks even more. Strike plates need fairly centered hole because the fit has fairly low tolerance. Strike plate screws are about 1/8" in the shank so that means you need 1/16" pilot hole. It helps if you get centering bit. It has a beveled end that fits over the screw hole. There is also centering punch but cheap punch will wander. I found that it is better to just hand screw without the pilot and adjust for wandering screw or spade bit a larger hole and use a dowel to repair.
 
#8 ·
3/4 would be the length of the screw, that chart is for the thickness of the screw.
Just drill a small hole, smaller than the thickness of the screw and use a screw driver and screw it in by hand.
 
#9 ·
Drill about 3/4 inch into the wood.
Use a black marker to mark the depth on your drill bit.
You should be able to feel when the drill is through the Jamb. Most Jambs are only 3/4 inch thick.
 
#11 ·
Help me a little here... for hardwood (even if it's Maple), when the screws are #8, the chart in this thread suggests 11/64". Another chart (from the internet) suggests 7/64". Looks like I would the 7/64", right?

I have a case of bits: 1/16", 5/64", 3/32", 7/64", 1/8", 9/64", 5/32", 3/16", and so on. The 7/64" deem right. The 9/64" slightly holds the screw. There's no 11/64" in my case, and I am guessing the #8 screw would slide right through that size, right?

Maybe it's the ever terminology confusions with wordings:
* Pilot Drill/Hole/Point
* Shank Drill/Bit/Clearance Hole
* Countersink
* Tapered Drill / Straight Drill
* Thread Cutting Screw (does it really work?)
* there's MORE, just can't remember now

Maybe I am leading OT... the point is pre-drill a smaller hole to screw a screw without split/bump the wood.
 
#17 ·
GRK, finish/trim screws are nowhere near #8, and rarely require much of a pilot.
FWIW, I returned those and just started with golden wood screws, works great already (good clamping power). I did drill 3/32". On the >8' side (extension onto Pantry cabinet), I did every 15". When I get into the base/wall cabinets, probably would do 2-3 screws each face-frame.

Some time ago when I worked with a contractor, I worked on a deck and we used trim head screws, but those were little different. It had more of a flare/funnel head.
 
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