Screw Inserts in Magnolia

I’ve been working on a miter jig for the table saw and I’m having some trouble with screws in magnolia. The wood is dense, but I wouldn’t think any more so than oak. I have 1/4” brass screw inserts that I can’t get to seat nicely into this wood. I’ve increased the whole diameter in 32nds and 64ths to 1/4” now and I’m considering going up from there.

The problem has been that the wood puckers at the entry point as I apply pressure from the screw insert. The brass Clark’s head fitting begins to shear off towards the end of the insertion, so I’m already guessing I should probably move to steel. Possibly the saw-tooth steel variety.

Should I over-size the hole to accommodate the threads? I was afraid that that would substantially weaken the ability of the screw insert to hold firmly in the wood.

-- It takes a viking to raze a village. &mdash Blog'r: http://www.gradin.com