Thread: do you re-use screws

I honestly think a lot of these post's are convincing me to just be more vigilant and turf screws (to metal recycling) and not worry about it.

BobL, i work at an older power station we have APL's fully of older imperial brass and steel machine screws that will just never get used and will goto the scrap yards in the cabinets they're in.

Originally Posted by havabeer69

I honestly think a lot of these post's are convincing me to just be more vigilant and turf screws (to metal recycling) and not worry about it.

Yep, I put mine in the recycling bin. When we cleared out FILs shed there must have been 40kg of old rusty screws and galv plumbing fittings that went to the scrappies, and that was after I kept quite a few of the better galve plumbing fittings.

BobL, i work at an older power station we have APL's fully of older imperial brass and steel machine screws that will just never get used and will goto the scrap yards in the cabinets they're in.

Drool!

Watching this thread reminds me of a tale I heard of a bloke with dementia at a Men’s Shed. He came in once a week and happily sorted imperial machine screws by thread and size. He was perfect at identifying all the common threads. He completed the whole stash in a few weeks then his mates just recycled the same lot of screws each week.
I think the lesson is that sorting can be therapeutic - for some of us!
As I said before, the secret is to be realistic and brutal about what to keep and have a limit on the size of the odds and ends storage.
Bruce

I save any brass slotted screws, no matter how damaged the head, as the shanks make good small pins mainly in larger sizes.

Regards
Paul

i Guess as a 2nd part discussion to this is where do people buy their screws, and do you just buy whats required and store them, or do you keep a bunch of sizes on standby?

As a hobbisty i'm considering just buying a 100 pack of the following self tappers from scrooz.com.au and putting them in my small parts containers out on the bench for wood working jobs.

6G & 8G:
10mm
12mm
16mm
20mm
25mm
32mm
38mm
50mm

Screw it Screws
for non square drive - Buy High Performance Screws Bolts Fasteners and Concrete Fixings Online at Great Prices at Scrooz

and when I'm really in a pinch, Bunnings (although I can't fault the galvanised M6/M8 bolts and nuts, they've been ok). Screwit has an introductory pack - I got that plus a few sizes I knew I needed, only downside for me is I need to pay and wait for the postage. After using a Robertson screw though, you'll look at Zenith brand screws with the appropriate disgust. I'd rather put a few dollary doos into my home inventory than have to buy the Bunnings stuff at similar prices but much lesser quality. I've got some 10g 50mm Robertsons that I've used with an impact driver several times - no point throwing them away because the heads are still 95% good.

For a few years I was buying screws in small packets as I needed them. Very, very gradually building a small collection. Occationally a whole box for something I knew I'd use. Then finally I ordered a range of pocket hole screws from ScrewIt Screws and I reorder as I use various sizes. Then I bought a selection of square drive screws from Scroz because they are much closer to me. So now I finally have a small range of different sizes and head shapes. As many as possible are Robinson screws. I hope to slowly expand this range further.
It is a shame we don't have star drive screws in Australia. I'd like to switch to those for some projects to be honsest. So there's a whole other future range.
Also I never seem to have the nut and bolt sizes I need.

So yeah it just depends how often you are in the shed making stuff. As you do more projects, more frequently, then it makes sence to store a range of them. If your project activity wanes then it's less worth it. Remember it also costs you to store stuff.

If I need a lot of something for outside I generally get the trade quality galvanized stuff from bunnies but I find the sizes available for workshop projects are very restricted. They only stock the popular sizes.
so I keep on hand a range of sizes of square drive steel screws from screw-in.com.au. From memory I keep 19, 25, 31, 37, 44 and 50 mm in #8 countersunk; 44, 50, 65 and 75 mm in #10 c/sunk; 25 and 50 mm in flat washer (pocket hole although I never do pocket hole joints).
i mad3 a small drawer unit with lift-out boxes so I can take the screws to the job. It has worked very well for me but I am about to reorganize it a bit because the drawer unit is too deep for my new small workshop space.
Bruce