There has been a rather lively debate

[Ed Peters]

recently, about the virtues or short comings of drywall screws when used in assembling or installing cabinetry. Most especially, wall hung cabinetry. While not a lettered scientist or metalurgist by any stretch of the imagination, I have the benefit of real life situations where snapped drywall screws have complicated my life. Nothing so catastrophic as a unit crashing down to the floor, but enough snapped off heads as to convince me that this is a potential hazard and one not easily overcome when it happens in a paying customers home. As such, I chose not to use them for anything other than what their name implies. I personally have enjoyed great success using a product I purchase from www.mcFeeleys.com (http://www.mcFeeleys.com), a company long known for high quality fastener offerings. They call it the "Power Head Wafer Screw". It is a #10 screw in lengths up to 3" and the head diameter is 9/16". It has a very agressive thread pitch and a # 2 Square drive. These are easily concealed by applying one of the many fast cap self adhesive dots also available. The item number for the 3" is #1030-PHW-C with a cost of $15.44 per hundred.
The second standard fastener I use in cabinet installation is a "Connecting Bolt" that I acquire from www.outwatercatalogs.com (http://www.outwatercatalogs.com). It has a 14mm body with a 1/4" x 20 thread and a combo drive head on the male portion of the assembly. The female porton has external splines to engage the carcass to prevent spinning during assembly. They are available to connect varrying thicknesses of side panels. I use the "CB-31-NP for connecting 3/4" to 3/4". They are priced at $28.00 per hundred.
I highly recommend these products for anybody hanging cabinets.

Ed

[Steve Flavin001]

photo attached illustrates our point - these happen to be painted for melamine and pretty pricey from Rockler, but I share Ed's comments without repeating them, note the size of the pan head.

[Mike Cutler]

Here is a real life test question

If you can snap the head of a screw off with a handheld phillips head screwdriver, by hand, installing it, and without trying to. Is this really the screw that you want to have hold up a cabinet?

A drywall screw is exactly that. A drywall screw. Any other use of these screws is outside of their design and intended usage. Would someone really want to take a project that took a few weeks, or months to construct, and then trust it to screws that cost less than a cent?

I don't really see much room for debate personally.

[glenn bradley]

McFeely's are reasonable enough that I have never looked back. Also, never broken one.

[Craig McCormick]

I buy and sell travel trailers that were manufactured from 1959 and older. I am also involved in the discussion forums that focus on repair and restoration as well as building retro trailers from scratch. I shudder to think of all the people using drywall screws to build and repair their travel trailers. As you can imagine a travel trailer must be under great stress as it is towed down the highway at 75 miles per hour or down a bumpy forest road. We have rebuilt a few trailers that the original manufacturer had nailed the frames together! The nails have great shear strength and durability compared to drywall screws. The nailed joints do not pull apart because the aluminum skin is screwed to the frame and keeps them from pulling apart.

Drywall screws have their place.

Craig mcCormick



1938 Travelo with wood burning heater and canvas covered roof!
http://www.azcraig.us/images/38buckdoorside_zt22.jpg

[David G Baker]

In my younger days I remodeled my house in California. I did a lot of stud replacement and repairs using the drywall type screw. I did snap the heads off of quite a few of the screws not really thinking that the screws may be a poor choice in earthquake prone areas. I now use pneumatic nail guns for a lot of my heavier construction projects or use screws designed for a little flexing with out breaking.

[Brian Kent]

I just read an article comparing Big Box wood screws Big Box drywall screws, McFeeley's, and Spax screws.

I'm sorry to say I don't remember what magazine I was reading. Maybe someone could help me out.

The test consisted of 20 screws of each kind driven into maple with no pilot hole.

All 20 Big Box wood screws broke.

16 out of 20 Big Box drywall screws broke.

None of the Spax screws broke and all seated nicely.

None of the McFeeley's screws broke and all seated so deeply that there were cracks in the maple. (Is that good news or bad news???)

Interestingly, the gourmet screws cost the same as the Big Box. The author attributed the difference to skipping the heating step to harden the screws after shaping them.

[Mike Henderson]

I'm not at all advocating the use of drywall screws for cabinets but I do want to point out that there's a difference between torsion strength and tension strength. Torsion strength is needed to allow you to screw the fastener in without breaking it off. Once you have it screwed in, your interest is in the tension strength - whether the screw will break from the pulling force on the fastener.

Nobody wants screws that break off as you screw them in, but when comparing the strength after assembly, you have to compare tension strength between the fasteners.

My guess (and it's just a guess) is that drywall screws have a relatively high tension strength and a relatively low torsion strength. I've broken off a lot of drywall screws screwing them in but I've never had one fail from tension. But I'd still choose other fasteners for cabinets and furniture.

Mike

[David DeCristoforo]

Drywall screws are not intended for cabinet assembly. But there is no need to buy expensive "specialty screws" either. For years we have used "cabinet streakers" which resemble drywall screws but which are much stronger, have threads designed to hold well in ply and composition core materials and cost less than most "specialty screws".

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=081-1105

[Jesse Cloud]

My main use for screws in the shop is for jigs and prototypes - temporary devices. When they have served their purpose, I break them down and put the screws back in the bin. I bought an assortment of McFeeley's 8 years ago and still haven't run out - you just can't break those things!:D

[Dennis Peacock]

BB store screws are primarily made from a type of "pot metal" and will very easily twist off or snap. I've stopped using drywall screws and local cheap screws from the BB stores.....I now use screws from McFeely's or from a local "fastener" business. MUCH better screws. :)

[Peter Quinn]

When you think about the fastener schedule for a piece of drywall, well, there's an awful lot of fasteners in one 4X8 sheet to hold it up. Are you going to put that many fasteners in a wall hung cabinet that easily weighs more than a sheet of 1/2" drywall? i doubt it. So what would make anybody think drywall screws are appropriate for hanging boxes? I'm not even sure why they make 3" #10 drywall screws as they seem to break as often as they seat.

As far as torsion strength, I think drywall screws are fine for their designated application, which is to go through what is essentially paper covered chalk into fir or something softer. I've been guilty in the past of trying to repurpose drywall screws for wood working applications, but no more. If you use dry wall screws for assembly or installation your asking for problems and aggravation.

[Joe Jensen]

Mike, I've read articles in the past that indicated drywall screws have relatively low shear strength. Shear is quite important for hanging cabinets off walls.