Drywall screws

[David Ragan]

Anybody routinely use drywall screws for WW?

I understand that they are case-hardened to stand up to drilling into metal studs in bldgs., and, thus, also have a sharp point, and deep threads, comparatively speaking. Maybe self tapping?

Are they a better choice than the average square drive woodscrew?

[Ryan Mooney]

They also tend to be rather brittle and thus snap off rather to frequently for my taste, so generally avoid them.

[Chris Padilla]

They're for drywall. :)

[Brett Luna]

I think they're fine for jigs and other temporary use but for permanent work, I'd stick with a quality woodworking screw, especially if it's an outdoor project. In my experience, drywall screws are more prone to head snapping.

[Kent A Bathurst]

They have no shear strength, to speak of.

Jigs, etc. are fine as per Brett. YOu don't want them where there will be any weight/stress.

Chris nailed it [screwed it?]. Use them for drywall

[Peter Quinn]

I use drywall screws for drywall. They are cost effective in that capacity. For wood I use assembly screws, mine are black and look just like sheet rock screws, but have self drilling auger point tips, nibs to countersink behind the heads, and are annealed so they are not brittle, almost never break under normal conditions. I use deerwood ultimates and hafele zip -R's presently. There are lots of options now for assembly screws, most vendors have some variation on these, even my local true value sells them!

[scott vroom]

They're for drywall. :)

Yeah, just like duct tape is for ducts :)

[Roy Harding]

I think they're fine for jigs and other temporary use but for permanent work, I'd stick with a quality woodworking screw, especially if it's an outdoor project. In my experience, drywall screws are more prone to head snapping.

I agree, completely.

[Art Mann]

Yeah, just like duct tape is for ducts :)

Excellent comparison!

[Kent A Bathurst]

Excellent comparison!

This is me, sitting here thinking duck tape was for ducks. I'll be doggoned. There are some waterfowl I need to apologize to, apparently.


EDIT: Before the Semantics Police come for me...There are some waterfowl to whom I apparently need to apologize.

When I go fishing on the Lower Potomac, when I want to catch the big fish, the bait I troll with is a custom-made dangling participle.

[Brett Luna]

This is me, sitting here thinking duck tape was for ducks.

Only if the ducks (or children) are particularly unruly.

[Lee Schierer]

The bugle head on dry wall screws will likely cause your wood to split more so that a regular countersunk wood screw will. Not to mention that they are brittle and break.

[Art Mann]

I would never use drywall screws for a serious woodworking project. I really don't like to use any metal fasteners at all if I can help it. I have built dozens, maybe hundreds, of temporary and some permanent jigs and other assemblies using them. At any given time, I may have 5 or more boxes of different lengths in stock. Years ago, I had some that the head would twist off with an impact driver but I haven't experienced that lately. If I drive them too hard in soft wood, they just bury themselves out of sight. Also, I haven't found them any more difficult to countersink that traditional wood screws. If you don't use a countersink bit, it is far easier to countersink them with just a driver than normal wood screws. If I don't care about appearances, I will often do just that. I'm sorry to disagree so much but I think they are very useful in a lot of situations if used within their limitations. Here is one example. Suppose you want to laminate two 3 X 5 pieces of plywood or MDF together to make a thicker and stronger sheet - say for a work table. It is ridiculously easy to glue and then screw the two pieces together in a grid pattern on a flat surface without predrilling any holes at all. After the glue dries, just remove all the screws and fill the holes (if necessary). There is no other easy way to create enough clamping pressure between two large area pieces of sheet goods. Drywall screws will supply more pressure and more evenly distributed pressure than you could ever get using a bunch of sacks of sand or something like that.

[glenn bradley]

I have some around and use them for drywall or for junk plywood or particle board woodworking needs. IMHO they are too brittle for any reliability in hardwood joinery. I can snap a drywall screw tightening by hand. I have torqued McFeely's square drive screws with a ratchet handle. they do work as clamps ion the middle of a panel as Art describes but, I have had some snap and leave metal in the piece and so have even stopped using them for that.

[Art Mann]

Drywall screws must have improved over time or maybe the brand matters. I used to twist the heads off just every once in a while But that hasn't happened to me in a few years. I laminated a router table top as I described above not too long ago and I didn't experience the problem.

[Mike Schuch]

I use drywall screws all the time. Mostly for construction stuff... I don't believe in nails! Put back together half of a fire damaged house with nothing but dry wall screws. I also use them for shop shelves and shop cabinets and stuff. For furniture and fine projects I like dowels.

[Von Bickley]

I use them on some of my projects and have never had any problems with them. Never snapped a head or broke one.

[Brian Tymchak]

I've used them (pre-drilling and countersinking) to glue up mdf for thicker bench tops, and for some other no-load odds and ends. I recently built some shop shelves and used them to attach a short back stop. But I avoid them in other uses. I've only had a few break on me over the last 10 years or so.

[John K Jordan]

Interesting. I keep many sizes of "drywall" screws and use them them a lot for indoor things, from jigs to shelf brackets. I have NEVER snapped a head off in thousands of screws.

For hard wood and MDF I predrill and countersink.

However, I have snapped the heads off dozens of 3" deck screws from a specific 25 lb case, but not one from three cases from a different mfgr. This indicates quality issues since my technique and use in 2-by construction pine was the same. From my experience, if I ever broke a drywall screw I would suspect a bad batch.

[Jim Dwight]

I use coarse thread drywall screws most of the time for woodworking. Fine furniture will not have metal fasteners but cruder shop cabinets and even things for in the house that can be more "rustic" often get "glue and screw" joints. The screw is effectively the clamp. Drywall screws are fine for that. My recently completed base cabinet in the shop, that supports my CMS and RAS, has a carcase of 3/4 plywood glued and screwed together (butt joints) and drawers pocket screwed and glued together. Bottoms are glued and braded in place. The drawer supports are 1 inch wide strips of 3/4 plywood held to the carcase with 1 5/8 drywall screws - no glue. Edges are covered by 1/4 softwood strips and I put cross pieces on the drawer supports that are about 9/16 thick (purely for appearance). Whole thing is crude but very functional.

I also use them in construction including to hang drywall. I like to use a larger head and less hard screw to hang cabinets but I've used drywall screws there too - as have many "professionals" judging from ones I've removed.

They are not the nicest screw you can buy but they normally work fine.

[Prashun Patel]

I also think they're fine most of the times in lengths 1 1/4" or 1 5/8". Anything longer may require sufficient torque that I don't trust the phillips head. I also find that longer drywall screws SQUEAK when going in deep. I've rarely had one snap though.

In fact, even if you buy 'woodworking' screws, there's a risk they will snap. I've had Spax screws snap as well as Highland (I won't ever use Highland again) so if you want reliable screws, you gotta shop a little.

[scott vroom]

Ironically, the only time I recall breaking off drywall screws was when my son and I were hanging drywall about 10 years ago in a 1904 flat in San Francisco. The studs were rough cut true 2 x 4 and were extremely hard and tough old growth doug fir. We broke off lots of 1-5/8 heads. On some studs we had to switch to 2-1/2" dw screws which are thicker/stronger.

I use them often with plywood casework....plywood bases and base cabinets where the screws are hidden. I can't imagine breaking off a dw screw in ply.

[michael langman]

I have used drywall screws for years without problems like breaking. The phillips head stripping after a few disassemblies is the biggest problem.
I usually drill a clearance hole in one of the two mating pieces slightly smaller then the outside diameter of the threads and drill a hole slightly smaller then the root diameter of the thread in the other mating piece. When constructing 2x4's I try to half lap them to take the load off of the screws.
If I am have to to disassemble what I made sometimes I will use beeswax or soap on screws when assembling.

[Doug Garson]

https://youtu.be/lldPT_u5hwE
For what its worth here is a test of drywall screws vs wood and deck screws by Matthias s Wandel.

[Jim Becker]

Nope. I haven't used drywall screws for over a decade now for woodworking. They are not the right fastener for woodworking...brittle, don't handle lateral pressure well and so forth. I use square-drive/Robertson screws made for woodworking, generally from McFeeley's. I buy the sizes I use in quantity to keep the overall cost down and keep them in a bin system for easy access in my shop. For specialty sizes, I buy in smaller quantities and keep in smaller bins accordingly.

[Chris Padilla]

Yeah, just like duct tape is for ducts :)

It is...it just isn't the best product for them. :D

[Ole Anderson]

Yeah, just like duct tape is for ducts :)

Wrong!! Duct (duck) tape is for everything BUT sealing joints in ducts. For that you want aluminum foil tape, specifically made for sealing ducts. But I knew that you knew that!

I use a lot of Kreg screws for woodworking and sometimes traditional wood screws (Phillips head) screws, but not drywall screws.

[Randy Gazda]

I have used a lot of them over the years on many jigs, and other projects. I pre-drill everything, they seem to work fine for me and I can get different lengths locally for a reasonable price.

[Kevin Wolfe]

I have used them for a number of things around the house and on jigs. I also use them to hold pieces together that are also being glued. If I were going to use only screws without glue, I would probably use something else.