Sam Murdoch
08-22-2013, 10:29 AM
As we are frequently asking about good affordable screws for our woodworking and cabinet building I thought it worth passing this along. Through September 30 Hafele is having a "essentials for the shop" sale. Their Zip-R screws are very, very good shop screws. Not to be confused with my opinion of GRKs. Those are my favorites but as they are very expensive I don't use them as shop screws (except for the trim heads).
Anyway about the Zip-R screws - a box of 5,000 of the 1-1/4" x 8 will cost you $34.00 compared to the $29.90 for 1000 Spax screws through McFeely's.
Here they are driven through Jatoba with no pre-drill. Though I would not normally do this it is nice to see that I can. These are 2" square drives and I could easily take them out and drive them again. As you can see the head won't seat in the Jatoba without a countersink but it would certainly seat in plywood or soft woods if you'd rather not pre-drill.
269075 269076
Here is the Hafel link http://www.hafele.com/us/en/external/blaetterkataloge/TCH_FC_2013/
Page 11.137 of the catalog. Item numbers 010.22.968 and up depending on square or phillips and/or silver or black.
Don't know if you need to set up an account but well worth it. Hafele has soooo much more than good screws.
This is a recommendation based on my own shop use. I like using the phillips for the 1-1/4" and 2" but the square drive for the 1-1/2" x 2-1/2". A slight inconvenience but I don't mistakenly drive 1-1/2" screws through my work when I should have been using 1-1/4". Another trick/visual aid is to mix the black with the silver according to the drive type.
Anyway about the Zip-R screws - a box of 5,000 of the 1-1/4" x 8 will cost you $34.00 compared to the $29.90 for 1000 Spax screws through McFeely's.
Here they are driven through Jatoba with no pre-drill. Though I would not normally do this it is nice to see that I can. These are 2" square drives and I could easily take them out and drive them again. As you can see the head won't seat in the Jatoba without a countersink but it would certainly seat in plywood or soft woods if you'd rather not pre-drill.
269075 269076
Here is the Hafel link http://www.hafele.com/us/en/external/blaetterkataloge/TCH_FC_2013/
Page 11.137 of the catalog. Item numbers 010.22.968 and up depending on square or phillips and/or silver or black.
Don't know if you need to set up an account but well worth it. Hafele has soooo much more than good screws.
This is a recommendation based on my own shop use. I like using the phillips for the 1-1/4" and 2" but the square drive for the 1-1/2" x 2-1/2". A slight inconvenience but I don't mistakenly drive 1-1/2" screws through my work when I should have been using 1-1/4". Another trick/visual aid is to mix the black with the silver according to the drive type.