Got a screw loose?

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33263, 28 June 1973, Page 10

Got a screw loose?

If a screw fails to hold in wood because the hole has worn too large, roll steel wool into a long, narrow wad and force it into the hole with a nail.

The screw will turn in the steel wool and hold firmly. Carpenters renovating old houses where doors have worked loose on the hinges have proved this method very effective.

To give a secure joint when screwing into the end grain of a piece of wood, sink a piece of dowel rod into the end. This will form an anchor for the screw.

Draw a screw's thread across a piece of soap before driving it into hardwood and it will go into the wood more easily, with less likelihood of causing a split. Dip screws into varnish before driving them into

wood and they will be immovable once the varnish has set. (Not recommended for screws that may one day have to be removed.) If you have no casing oil with which to loosen rusty screws, try a little vinegar. Leave it for a few minutes after applying.

Damaged slots in the heads of screws can be made good by deepening them with a hack saw. Hold the .screw in position by gripping it between two pieces of wood in a vice.

The shaft of a small screwdriver, if laid across the ends of an ordinary horseshoe magnet, will become sufficiently magnetised to pick up small screws.

Have a magnet handy when working with tiny screws and it will hold a cluster of them near at hand for you.