I think I am becoming a "old Guy"

[Ron Petley]

Well at 55+ might be true, happy to live long enough to have failing eyesight.
My point is I would see this tip a lot as a "young Guy" and big woo thinks me.
So I tried it, some wax on screws before putting in a hard piece of wood like maple.
Wow it really does work well, I am a happy "old guy", stuff like this makes "old guys" happy.
I am making a woodie plane from some maple and turned a "Stanly" style front knob for it and have a long drywall screw to hold it down. I drilled a small hole so the maple would not split, but boy is it tight, figured I would break off the screw in the hole, tried the wax, and what a difference it made.
I am sure you have come across this tip before, if you have not tried it give it a go, works well, easy to get a chunk of wax to have handy, even if you are not a "old guy" like me.
Disclaimer:
References to "old guy" is for people with a sense of humor, if you are a "grumpy old guy" please feel free to let this make you grumpy for today. :D
Cheers Ron.

[Jim Koepke]

Well Ron, one of the great things about getting to be an old guy is we have the benefit of being aware of all these little tricks.

I think they should be repeated often. Otherwise they just get lost at the bottom of the list.

On a different subject, I see you are from Winnipeg. A cousin who shares my name is from Winnipeg. He is a little older than you, as am I.

But have fun and try out some of the other tips you may have learned over the years and share 'em as you do.

jtk

[Tony Zaffuto]

Ain't grumpy about your post! At 58, I'm facing similar challenges. For example, I've sharpened free hand for years, but for the past year or so, I got some of ole Fred Sanford's relatives visiting: Arthur Itus! So, I've resorted to starting to use jigs (far easier on the hands). Same thing with chopping dovetails, I've got to plan for when the naproxen is doing it's best work. I've gotten used to magnifiers.

I feel bad now about how I smirked at the "old guys" I worked with 30-35 years ago and how they complained. Karma, eh?

[Matt Hankins]

I am not an old guy, but anything to make life easier! So I will add that bar soap works as well and smells nice too!

Matt

[lowell holmes]

At 58, you haven't lived long enought to be an old guy. :)

[Andrew Gibson]

A little wax on a plane sole can help quite a bit as well, and on a saw plate.

[Paul Incognito]

When I was a young guy, old guys used to tell me, "You won't be able to do that when you get older."
Well, I'm older now, and you know what? They were right.
We used to use the wax rings that toilets are set in for waxing screws. It worked really well.
Paul

[Brian Kent]

I'm 55-1/2. Those tricks are really good news for me too. For years I thought that I couldn't screw into hardwood because I was to weak. Then the screw would break off because it was too weak too. It was good to learn that proper drilling - and use of a bar of wax or soap - wasn't cheating. It's just the right way to do it!

[Tony Zaffuto]

When I was a young guy, old guys used to tell me, "You won't be able to do that when you get older."
Well, I'm older now, and you know what? They were right.
We used to use the wax rings that toilets are set in for waxing screws. It worked really well.
Paul

I still use the wax ring I salvaged damn near 35 years ago! Put it in a shoe polish and it had served me ever since. I've heard (never proven by my use) that certain soaps can stain certain species of wood when used to drive screws. I still occasionally use soap, when I have nothing else at hand. I remember my now deceased father drill a hole in the bottom of his wood handled Plumb hammer and packing it with wax.

[Lex Boegen]

I am not an old guy, but anything to make life easier! So I will add that bar soap works as well and smells nice too!

Matt

Yeah, soap helps drive in the screws, but it will corrode the screw over time. Wax is inert, so it won't harm the screws. I keep a candle stub in my screwdriver drawer for this purpose.

[Jim Belair]

We used to use the wax rings that toilets are set in for waxing screws. It worked really well.
Paul

That will eventually make the toilet leak ;)

Jim B

[Lex Boegen]

That will eventually make the toilet leak ;)

Jim B

Are you saying that will "screw up" the toilet?

[David Keller NC]

Another thought on drving screws - regardless of how much easier on the wrist waxing the screw is, I've found that's it's absolutely necessary to prevent the screw from snapping off - if the screw is brass, that is. I also pre-drive a stainless screw with teh same threads into the hole, back it out, then wax the brass screw and drive it in. For those that have never done it, having the last brass screw in a hinge installation snap off below the wood surface is a real drag.

Another thing I picked up on is that an old-fashioned 6" or 8" throw Stanley #923 ratcheting brace makes slowly and evenly driving a screw considerably easier than using a screwdriver, with less failure of the screw slot.

[Johnny Kleso]

My grand father always said to use soap on saw blades..
When he was young he worked as a cook at a logging camp in The Great North Woods (VT. NH.) as he called it..

[Ron Kellison]

When I was a young guy, old guys used to tell me, "You won't be able to do that when you get older."
Well, I'm older now, and you know what? They were right.
We used to use the wax rings that toilets are set in for waxing screws. It worked really well.
Paul
I've been using the same wax ring for at least 20 years! It will probably be useful for another 20 years!

[george wilson]

You used SALVAGED toilet ring wax!!!!:) I use paraffin candle wax. It has to be mashed into the threads,but is pretty inert. I was using 3" and 4" deck screws to install the 400' of shelving I made for my shop. The wax never broke a screw off,and I most likely would have had I run them dry.

[harry strasil]

I use bees wax and paraffin sealing wax for canning, I keep a short stub of candle around, light the candle, hold the screw over the candle for just a bit, lay the screw on the paraffin and the paraffin just climbs around the screw in a nice even light coat. FWIW.

[mickey cassiba]

In my many years of framing, I always had a piece of paraffin wax in my nail bag.

[Bob Warfield]

A few weeks ago I had the same problem twisting screws off. I drove to Woodcraft, about an hours drive for me, to get some "high torque" screws #12X2". Well they didn't stock that size so the guy asked why I needed them. I told him I was useing cheap hardware store screws and kept twisting them off. He asked me if I waxed them. Damn, I just did this exact thing to our pool deck this past summer and did use wax!
What I really HATE about getting older, 58, is forgetting the most simple things!
Thanks,
Bob Warfield

[lowell holmes]

I'm suprised that no one mentioned using bar soap to lubricate the wood screw threads.

I would have mentioned it before, but it took me 3 days to remember it. :)

I should have read the whole string. Soap was mentioned. Oh well!

[geoff wood]

very handy when screwing stiles together on prefinished maple cabinets... if you're using something like butchers wax, just stick all the screws into the wax and pull them out as you need them.