Deck screws

[Jim Koepke]

How is paraffin too dangerous?

This was going to also be my question.

jtk

[Aaron Rosenthal]

How is paraffin too dangerous?

Was building for families with kids around; flammable, plus the fumes. Used wax where I could control the safety.

[David Bassett]

Was building for families with kids around; flammable, plus the fumes. Used wax where I could control the safety.

Are US and Canadian "paraffin" different? (I know British "paraffin oil" is US "kerosine" which is flammable.)

US version of paraffin is a wax which is traditionally used in kitchens across the US for sealing "canned" (i.e. jarred, preserved) goods. Yeah, it's flammable, but you have to try really hard. (I imagine about as hard as it would be to burn beeswax.)

[Frank Pratt]

Was building for families with kids around; flammable, plus the fumes. Used wax where I could control the safety.

There are no fumes from paraffin wax & you can't even light it on fire with a match unless some kind of wick is involved. Most everything in the house will light on fire easier than paraffin.

[Jim Koepke]

Are US and Canadian "paraffin" different?

Interesting point if this is the case.

jtk

[Frank Pratt]

Are US and Canadian "paraffin" different?

Not in this part of Canada.

[Lee Schierer]

I prefer beeswax over paraffin because paraffin crumbles while beeswax sticks to the threads. It also smells better.

[Tom M King]

Does the wax make sure you can get 100% of them back out in 20 years? I've never seen a Star Drive screw that wouldn't come right back out. Here, we turn dock boards, and deck boards over when the tops are badly checked, which is after about 20 years.

Also, I've never put wax on a single one of the thousands we've run in.

[keith wootton]

i build docks. i would echo what others have said about the softness and breaking of ss screws. if you need to use stainless because a hostile enviornment requires it for corrosion resistance, we had better luck with 2 1/2 inch screws instead of 3 inch. dramatic reduction in breakage. we also did switch to deck mate ceramic coated with torx drive. one fifth the cost, and no breakage. they hold up for us, but freshwater. ymmv

[Rich Engelhardt]

Pre-drill with an appropriate drill/countersink unit;
Bees way the thread (paraffin also works, but too dangerous);
Use the impact driver to run the screw into the pre-drilled hole;
Repeat another 10,000 times.

Way too much "screwing around" (groan - I know - bad me/bad pun ).

I just use Deckmate screws and an 18V Makita impact driver.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

Been away for a while.
Had 2 nasty experiences with paraffin, once overseas where it IS kerosene, and once locally where it spilled, someone slipped and I vowed never to use it again. Didn't know there was a difference between Middle Eastern and North American paraffin flammability.
Still, I use beeswax, just ingrained habit I guess.

[Mel Fulks]

I think bee's wax works the best. And the fact that it seems gummy and unlikely to work , is kinda entertaining.

[dennis thompson]

Only some stainless in the 400 series is magnetic and can also be hardened. Most 300 series stainless steels are non-magnetic. Your screws are likely a 300 series stainless. They are still stainless steel and they should work okay, but may be softer than steel screws.

The following types of stainless steel are typically magnetic:

Ferritic Stainless Steels such as grades 409, 430 and 439
Martensitic Stainless Steel such as grades 410, 420, 440
Duplex Stainless Steel such as grade 2205

This is why I love this website. Only here could you get an intelligent explanation of eight different types of stainless steel screws.
Of course only on this website could you get 10 or twenty people talking about screws
Lee, how do you know this stuff?

[Mike Henderson]

...
Bees wax the thread (paraffin also works, but too dangerous);

I did some experiments between beeswax and paraffin wax and found that paraffin wax was "slicker" than beeswax. Beeswax tended to "stick" somewhat. This was for uses other than screws so it may not apply to screws.

And paraffin wax is certainly not dangerous.

Mike

[James Waldron]

Humm... just wandering, could the navy to use series 300 stainless alloys to construct mine hunter vessels?

Traditional wooden hull vessels - including mine sweepers - are fastened with bronze screws and bolts, etc. Avoids corrosion nicely, thank you. Still going on in traditional boat building circles.