My first couple of wood projects , were wood projects of a complete amateur carpenter and of course nailing and screwing into wood , was a big issue .
My first projects , which were very common woodworking projects , as a wooden stick , a wooden small table to put on my coffee – glass of wine , a small desk to put on it clothes , books , magazines , helmets , gloves , a wooden chair from logs , an outdoor log seat for the outdoor and stuff like that .
Those crafts were made from logs and wood that i get from abandoned old houses and their ceilings and they were very old cypress wood moslty .
The old but in good shape wood , is a very tough to penetrate wood and put a nail or a screw trough it , is a very tough job to do with only your hands and not with a screwgun or whatever .
This old wood , is like cement and has a very high density , very hard to drill and penetrate and in the majority of times you’ll need to pre-drill it .
How to Drill , through very hard surfaces ?
Generally the hard wooden surfaces , need pre – drilling with the appropriate and drill and bits , the help of lubrication while drilling , very stable hands and equally applying of pushing pressure as much as you can with extreme cautious .
If you want to do all these , near to the wood’s edges your precision should be the highest possible and your drilling speed the slowest you can , in order to avoid the splitting of wood .
A very classical trick for nailing near the edges is to hit with a hammer a little the nail’s point making it less spiky and then nail it to the edge . In this way you push the fibers of wood and not cutting them , while nailing your pin .
What screws to use , for hard wood ?
You need screws with fine and not coarse thread , in order to slip into the hard surface and in general the galvanized with zinc coating will be just fine for the material , they should be .
How to get a screw , into hard wood ?
Choose a fine thread screw , place it above the exact point you want to penetrate , hit it very light with a hammer just to get into wood a tiny milimeter and stablilize it , continue manually with your screwdriver for a little more and then use your screwgun , with the lowest speed it has .
In this way you’ll be 100% precise and without splitting “surpises” and issues .
What is the Best drill , for hard wood ?
In here you’ll need a more tough and heat resisntant drill and usually the cobalt drills are the most suaitable with brad points for more clear and controlled holes .
How to Drill a screw , through Thick wood ?
If you have a thick piece of wood , soft or hard you should always choose the appropriate drills along with the bits , the pre-drilling is preferable as the use of a lubricant for more easiness and you must make some breaks , to prevent overheating .
Do you need Special drill bits , for wood ?
Yes , you need the appropriate drill bits which for furniture makers should have brad points and if you want to drill very clean holes the centered point ones , are the most suitable for the job .
How to screw into hard wood without a drill ?
If you have a powerful screwgun you can use it and do the drill , after you’ve started manually with a screwdriver , but if the wood is so tough and impenetrable you can use a nail to open the path a little and then continue for the rest of the job .
Can i screw directly into wood ?
Yes certainly you can , no matter if you have a soft or a hard type of wood using your suitable drill and bits , make pre-drills if necessary and some lubrication and maybe a pilot hole if you judge that you need one , for precision .
HERE are the basic types of wood , to make a remembering check .
Shall you nail or screw into wood ?
The use of the appropriate screw for all types of wood , is always a stronger and more stable solution for your joinery instead of the nails and the best choice depends of what you want to do with your woodworking project .
How to make screws go into wood easier ?
The pre-driling , the pilot holes , the use of a lubricant while drilling ( oil , soap , et.c .) and the appropriate choices of drill tools ( drill and bits ) , are making the use of screws way easier into wood .
Should i drill a hole before screws into wood ?
The pre-drilling isn’t necessary for all the woodworking drills you’ll make , but for sure in the industrial wood ( plywood , OSB , et.c .) and the softer types of wood , will help the most to be very precise .
Keep woodworking and “drill in your life” tons of happiness , for sure .