Hand tool cabinet #3: Bit of a setback when installing the door hinges

nice fix tim

finding good screws is always dicey these days
i do all the fine ones by hand now
so i can feel the tension on them
and back out when it seems to much for them
re-drill and use soap on them too

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

What a recovery. Nice job!

-- • "I have noticed that nothing I have never said ever did me any harm."....... Calvin Coolidge

nice save. agony by the inch.

-- david roberts, spinning Tales from Topographic Oceans, no, really.

David, On the third screw I was very careful and expecting the screw to break and I felt it begin to fail, I broke it backing it out. The oak is hard but Sheesh!

-- Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgement.

I used these to good effect on white oak: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2354&site=ROCKLER

I put a piece of dowel inside the cylinder to make sure the chuck didn’t crush it, and used a guide to start the cut. A little glue on a dowel and the hole was patched and ready for try #2.

The downside is, I also broke off 2 2.5” screws, for which the above extractors are useless :/

-- The difference between being defeated and admitting defeat is what makes all the difference in the world - Upton Sinclair, "The Jungle"

Tim, the BEST purchase I ever made was a set of gimlets.

I got mine from GarretWade.com. They are on sale now, see them HERE.

They’re not at all expensive at $16, and even cheaper on sale now at $13. They do a great job and quickly make a proper size hole for nearly any screw you’ll use in normal woodworking, from #2 to #9. I never drive a screw into hardwood without them, and I haven’t broken a screw since I got them either.

I’ve bought a bunch of screws from McFeely's, and so far they’ve been of very good quality. I also picked up an assortment of square drive screws (can’t recall the brand, may be a Rockler product) from Rockler that came with little red hang-up bins. They have been good too.

Another good tip, though you may be doing it already, is to use a bit of wax on the screw threads to make it drive easier.
I make my own thread wax that I sell to friends and a local shop and it works awesome. I use paraffin, bees wax and mineral oil, and it makes screws drive into hardwood like butter.
If you want a small tub, let me know, I’ll throw you one just so you don’t have to go though this mess again. And if you like it, tell your friends!

Nice recovery too! Good luck with the rest of it!

-- Kenny

Good save Tim! It’s all about knowing how to fix the darn mistakes.

-- If you can dream it, I can do it!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had similar experiences with cheap hinge screws Tim. You did a good job recovering from the problem. One of the best woodworking skills to have is the ability to fix things that go wrong. I usually spend about 90% of my project time doing that, lol.

-- Mike, American in Norway

Been there and done that also. I generally just use some paraffin on the screws, but Kenny’s mix sounds even better. Outdoor or items I am gonna finish with BLO, I just use BLO as the lubricant. For outside projects that serves to seal the screw as well.

Nice save, nothing more irritating. Seems to me that on occasion, I have drilled a larger hole down to the piece, extracted in a variety of ways including an narrow nosed vise grip to turn it out with, or even cut a slot with a dremel in the broken off piece and used a screwdriver. Then glued in a piece of dowel, and redid it…......but with different screws.

-- Jim, Anchorage Alaska

Jimi_C and Kenny, Heading to the woodworking show tomorrow in Fredericksburg, Va. The extractors and Gimlets have been added to my list.

I decided to cut away the wood on this particular hinge due to multiple pieces of metal in the wood, I wanted to be sure to get them all. The other hinge I was able to remove the screw without disturbing the entire hinge area.

-- Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgement.

As stated above, nice save! I bought some crap screws from big box. As they go in you can see most of the heads are not concentric tothe body. Snap!!! Great job on the cabinet. Looking forward to the finish.

-- Dan I.G.N.

I may get a trip to a Woodcraft or Rockler in May, probably in Seattle. Never been to one of those places. I have to start forming my wish list for La Conner. I have never heard of gimlets until a week ago. But they sound like they are useful gizmos.

-- Jim, Anchorage Alaska

Ouch, but good end result.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

This is really coming along. Good repair, BTW.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau