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Faceplate Screws

Andy Hoyt

Andy Hoyt

In Memoriam
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
159
Likes
2
Location
Benton Falls, Maine
Website
www.downscaledesigns.com
Just discovered why everyone has been saying not to use drywall screws for mounting stuff to a faceplate. No blood or destruction, but the nerves are a bit unraveled.

So, suggestions for being smarter and safer?
 
Warning - do NOT use drywall screws. They are brittle and they will snap. They are not made to take the stress.

There are other alternatives. I use stainless hex-headed screws. They are #8 or #10, and 1.0" - 1.5" depending on the faceplate thickness and wood thickness. I use a dedicated powerdrill with a hex driver to drive 'em in, and to remove 'em. Makes life real easy. When they eventually strip, I just get new ones.

In general the stainless screws are real hard. And they don't rust.
 
I think Mike has a good point. I forgot to add that I use the tailstock whenever possible. It adds a lot of support, particularly while roughing. Make sure to remove bark where the tailstock center is touching the wood.
 
I like SPAX screws. The thicker the better. They have a Phillips head and do strip out after a few uses, but they are self tapping. I have used them on as large as a 165# chunk of oak - and they held. I even had a catch and ruined the bowl but the screws held.
Hugh
 
First, look at your faceplate. Not all are equal. Back when some of us started turning they were bored for the standard wood screw, which meant tapered for a thicker shank, and a countersunk for a flat head. Now you just don't know.

What you'd like to do is have a screw suited to the faceplate. If they're innocent of countersinking, pan head sheet-metal screws might be your choice. They're not brittle, the threads are fairly deep, and you get a bit of advantage by getting the threads bearing on the sides of the faceplate bore, instead of putting a narrow shank through a wide hole. That's a recipe for flop.

If there is a countersink, go with oval head to get the best contact with the faceplate, as well as the benefit of centering that the countersink gives you.

Last thing to suggest, if you don't have a soft-start capability on the lathe, is to start rotating by hand to get a bit of the startup inertia taken care of. Else, after the first couple starts and stops, go back and snug the loose ones. I use a pin chuck, of course, and find this a useful procedure on heavy blanks of soft wood.
 
I've been using.............

the same handful of 14X1-1/4" SS pan head sheet metal screws for three years and have yet to experience a problem. To be fair though I don't often spin very large blanks and am rather anal about how I tighten them(only one stripped head so far.) :cool2: I also agree you should always use the tailstock as long as possible.
 
On my larger faceplates I will add another vote for the "Spax" screws. They self tap and hold great.

On my small 2 inch faceplate I usually use the square drive pan heads that work with my Kreg pocket hole jig. They have not let me down so far!

Wilford
 
Andy,

I use # 14 flathead sheet metal screws in either 1" or 1-1/4" size. I don't bother with stainless because of price and rusty screws hold even better.

There are 2 things I'll pass along which haven't been mentioned.

1. Cut countersinks on the faceplate holes on both sides of the plate. When screws of any flavor enter the wood, they pucker the surface and raise fibers. Putting a countersink in the face of the plate gives the little mounds somewhere to go instead of pushing the plate away from the wood surface so you get a stronger joining.

2. Don't overtorque your screws. I use a drill driver with the clutch set to kick out just as the screwhead contacts on the plate. Reason here is that this prevents over compressing and tearing/breaking of the wood fibers in the screw's threads so the screws keep maximum bite in the wood. If a screw doesn't tighten well, it means that the wood fibers have torn and stripped. Use a longer screw to reach sound wood. I've spoken to turners who have removed the screw, run some thin CA down the hole, and then reinserted the screw, but it will never be as strong as finding sound wood to screw into.

M
 
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Not much to add. I too use sheet metal screws - deeper and sharper threads. I use standard steel, Phillips head #12 screws which take the P3 driver - bigger and stronger than the two, don't strip as easily. I drive them with an impact driver (mine's a Makita but others make them), not to be confused with an impact wrench, etc. It takes a little practice to avoid overtorquing (must listen) but takes virtually all the effort out of driving big screws into hard wood - three fingers, little or no downward pressure - the tool does all the work.

Whit
 
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