I split a finished guitar body almost in half once not drilling a pilot hole before putting in the final strap button on the end. I will never NOT drill a pilot hole after that :)
@hogthrob5 жыл бұрын
Yes, I always thought pilot holes were to stop the wood splitting. If you putting a big screw into oak, it would go in a lot easier with a pilot hole. See also Matt Estlea's quick video on clearance holes kzfaq.info/get/bejne/acp5ZcaburnMfps.html
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Nooo!!! Yup - defo worthwhile. 👍
@andy-jac5 жыл бұрын
I love pilot holes. I have a 8100 cordless Dremel set up with a 1/8" cobalt drill bit and a countersink. I use it almost every single day in my Property Management work. My goal is to prevent wood splitting and prep countersink. I use sharp #10 screws on everything that I can. A 1/8" pilot hole is plenty of hole to prevent wood splitting. However I make larger pre-holes when using extra long screws or lag screws in fence building. Nice video. Keep up the good work!
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Cheers Rene! Defo better safe than sorry! 👍😀
@whomadethatsaltysoup5 жыл бұрын
I recently bought a cheapo 14.4v Aldi battery drill that was on offer for £12.49. It's my 2mm pilot hole machine😀
@36736fps5 жыл бұрын
Another nice comparison test. Please repeat for MDF. I was surprised that no pilot hole did not give somewhat better results. Compressing the wood makes it denser and, I thought, stronger. As for me, I will still drill pilot holes (1) near the end of a piece to prevent splitting, (2) with Philips head screws to prevent mangling the screw head, and (3) with larger screws to make driving easier.
@stephenguk5 жыл бұрын
Please. All future results to be expressed in Andys. Perhaps milliAndys would be better as we would not have to bother with decimal points. Thanks for these enlightening tests.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Ha ha - no worries Graham! 👍
@LiamHill5 жыл бұрын
How about trying an in between size pilot hole like 1 or 1.5 mm. Love these test videos.
@whomadethatsaltysoup5 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the info! Never really thought about it, as I've always assumed that no pilot would be stronger. Obviously, when it comes to hardwood, I'd always pilot to avoid screws snapping, and with a mind to maybe wanting to ease or remove screws later.
@huejanus55055 жыл бұрын
There are four good reasons to drill pilot holes (in certain applications), seeing that the results are so similar. Less chance of the screw snapping if driving into hardwood. If you remove the screw you're left with just a small flat hole and not a bump in the wood. Less chance of the wood splitting. Easier to line up two pieces of wood. Although it does take more time.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Defo worth using and nice to know they don't weaken the joint. 👊😀
@BrainFizz5 жыл бұрын
Drilling a pilot hole doesn’t take longer, if not drilling one splits the wood.... it’s mostly about knowing the materials, and therefore what you can get away with.
@popcoin48302 жыл бұрын
I was abit worried about attaching gymnastics rings to pine 3x2, not no more. This video was great. Thanks
@Derek_Lark5 жыл бұрын
Really interesting. Thanks for taking the time to do this Andy.
@JerGoes5 жыл бұрын
I'd say the strength differences are pretty much statistically insignificant, other variables such as wood moisture could possibly make up the difference for instance. The main point of pilot holes is preventing splitting and of course making driving the screw in easier :) Good video, thanks.
@zeno27125 жыл бұрын
Fascinating results! You say (at around 7:30) that the 4 X 30 mm Turbo Gold is a self-drilling screw. It is, but when you screw it in, it doesn't eject any material as a drill does - it does help cut a hole but it simply compresses the cut material into the rest of the hole (somewhere) so is different from using a drill to create a pilot hole.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
It's an interesting one and you're 100% correct! I think the sawdust from self drilling screws goes in to another dimension. 😂👍
@bobt25225 жыл бұрын
That was a great video. I appreciate you trying to make a fair test and that you recognize that the results are definitive. Wood is very non-uniform, even in the same board. I will continue to use pilot holes for alignment and near the ends of boards without worrying about the strength.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Yup - defo no harm in using pilot holes to be on the safe side. 👍👊
@cesarsantube2 жыл бұрын
Qué interesantes las pruebas. La conclusion es que, bajo los parámetros de la prueba, no hay gran diferencia en la resistencia del tornillo en poner un orificio piloto o no. Queda para otro estudio ver el impacto de la longitud del tornillo hacia la resistencia (kg/cm) Me encanta la experiementación de tu canal, es de gran UTILIDAD (no siempre se ven este tipo de comparativas), saludos.
@alanmullock3815 жыл бұрын
Great test Andy,think i'll stick with piloting everything apart from framing! The way I learned seems to be holding true,even with all the advances in dynamics and materials technology!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
@chrisj28485 жыл бұрын
Thanks Andy. Great video. I appreciate the effort to test this out!
@jimbo26295 жыл бұрын
Never mind pilot holes. They are just to aid screwing, prevent splitting and stop (brass) screws shearing. The important thing is the clearance hole. If you don’t drill that, the two pieces of wood actually push apart.
@FireAngelOfLondon5 жыл бұрын
Useful information, thank you. I rarely wondered about whether or not pilot holes weakened a joint but would have guessed that they did - slightly. Since they are sometimes essential to prevent wood splitting or decorative brass screws from snapping it is reassuring to know that they don't make things significantly weaker.
@foxglovemead5 жыл бұрын
Good video. If the conclusion is that a pilot hole makes no real difference, then it's not an indication that it's not required, as the pilot hole is there to stop the wood splitting e.g. near an end, to aid alignment e.g. it goes where you want it to go, and to make assembly easier e.g. without needing an impact driver. Normal use of a screw is to fasten two pieces of wood together e.g. using a countersink bit and a pilot drill provides somewhere for the screw head and clearance through the first piece of wood so that the 2nd is pulled into it e.g. No 8 screw uses (Dewalt) 3.2mm drill x 9.5mm countersink head.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Yeah - use them if you need them. They don't seem to significantly weaken the joint. 👍
@johnfithian-franks82765 жыл бұрын
Hi Andy, An interesting result, but I normally drill a pilot hole if I am close to the edge of the wood and this is to stop the wood from splitting, so that might give you another idea for a test. Love the tests by the way
@hn27005 жыл бұрын
Great vid. I'd like to add when screws are driven into wood without a pilot hole surely they are under more stress going in which i'd imagine will weaken the screw.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
If you use decent screws it shouldn't weaken them but you do have to be careful with hardwoods. 👍👍
@hn27005 жыл бұрын
Gosforth Handyman thanks. What do u recommend?
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
I use Screwfix's brand - TurboGold, QuickSilver etc. and they're great.
@earlhutchinson42924 жыл бұрын
About 40 years ago I got asked to test the pull out "loads" for screws that had pilot holes vs no pilot holes. The screws were about 35mm long and into (I think) pine and installed by the woodwork lecturer of the local college, the tests were undertaken using a calibrated Denison machine (tensile tester) in the laboratory I was in charge of. Then the pilot holes showed about twice the load-carrying capacity!!! I would think that this video has shown screw design has closed this gap.
@RobertSandell5 жыл бұрын
Is 2mm the default for any pilot hole or is there some handy "rule of thumb" to use when choosing the size of pilot hole to drill? It's something that seems given by everyone just saying to drill it but I've always wondered actually how big or small I should go.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
A fairly safe bet is to use the minor diameter of the shank, 2mm is close enough for these though. 👍
@David-xu3yk5 жыл бұрын
I usually find a drill bit that has the same thickness as the main center shaft of the screw... so the spiral part of the screw has to dig into the wood and not the middle bit.
@christofix5 жыл бұрын
Very interesting video. Thanks for testing this out
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
No worries!! 👊👍
@RabidIrishGuy88 Жыл бұрын
I'd be curious about a demonstration showing how important drill width selection is. I see newbs using overly large drill bits in places not needed (at least looks like it) and at a certain drill size, seems inevitable to be compromising the strength of the connection
@MrDBT855 жыл бұрын
Its very interesting to see just how much weight one measly 5x40mm screw can hold up. That's probably more than the weight of my workbench. The idea that one screw could hold that much up is insane. Brb, need to put 4 screws in this pipework boxing in ;)
@adriaan76274 жыл бұрын
What would happen drilling different diameter holes? I understand that the pilot holes should be as thick as the centre part of the skrew.
@stevenhoneyman5 жыл бұрын
I’d like to see a Test Tuesday of ‘insert nuts’ in MDF vs regular screws. Screwfix 59937 just a couple of quid for 50! I’ve just used some for attaching castors to a cabinet. They feel strong at least!
@sabicsepregi65214 жыл бұрын
What a great video!
@jan-reiniervoute67015 жыл бұрын
Thickness of the shank in 4 versus 5 mm screws might make a slight difference. Was going to ask about the oak but your explanation makes sense. But a test in less dense wood that splits easily.... Splitting hairs neh? Pilot holes / pre-drilling can have several reasons (exact spot, easy screwing, brittle brass etc.) but strenght doesn't seem make any real difference. Interesting, learn every day. 👍
@russveinot57545 жыл бұрын
Very surprising results. Not what I expected. I can't remember if you have a Kreg pocket hole jig or not. If you do, I would be interested in some PH testing. I have developed 3 different PH techniques. I call them the toe nail PH, the PH super joint, and the cross dowel PH joint. I have done a video on each of these techniques on my channel. I would be interested to see if you would be interested in testing these again the standard PH joint. I suspect they would be much stronger but, I'm not very good at analytics or testing. Let me know if this might be interesting to you for a Tuesday video. Either way, I enjoy your videos and channel. keep it up :
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Awesome stuff Russ - will check it out! 👍👊
@LostWhits5 жыл бұрын
Can you test the Festool and Lamello Knock Down fixings please? Thanks for the intriguing videos.
@ianthompson90585 жыл бұрын
Was the screw completely submerged in wood or buried into say 3/4 of an inch of wood?
@msieweke5 жыл бұрын
If you have some time to kill, search for “holding power of wood screws”. It’s a paper published by the US Bureau of Standards in 1926. Summary: in softwoods the pilot hole should be around 70% of the root diameter. They didn’t have self-drilling screws in 1926, so that changes things. What’s the root diameter of those screws?
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Will do some digging! I'm pretty sure they're about 2.85mm 😉👍
@MrMasterbiker5 жыл бұрын
I'd be interested in pilot vs no pilot close to the edge. Including doing the pull test if the wood actually splits.
@k.hussain3605 жыл бұрын
Firstly once you see it, the image can't be unseen lol. I'm curious whether screws bigger than 5x40mm would also be stronger with a pilot hole. I always thought the reason for drilling a pilot hole was to avoid the surface getting damaged when screwing in as opposed to any strength benefit.
@ianpearse44805 жыл бұрын
Hi Andy, What would the effect be if you glued the screw hole? Maybe just a bit predictable!
@taylo2565 жыл бұрын
Great tests once again 👍🏻
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Cheers James! 👍👊
@leighyarker90275 жыл бұрын
What about longer screws in masonry that would also go through wooden battens to see of the extra length gives any leverage.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
As a different Test Tuesday test? Possibly! 👊👍
@normanboyes49834 жыл бұрын
This just confirms that I use way too many screws and overly larger gauge and far too long! I must discipline myself I reckon I could reduce the weight of screws I use in any application by around 1000%.
@petercoughlan1035 жыл бұрын
If I was asked before the test I would have said that the 16mm would probably fail far quicker than before and the other two wouldn't change much. Interesting result.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Yup - I would have said the same! Very little in it! 👍
@oldbatwit51024 жыл бұрын
Do pilot holes actually make wood joints weaker? No. They do not. There.
@NigelGent5 жыл бұрын
Very interesting. So I think I'll just use pilot holes where they are needed in future. Do you think using a different size pilot hoke would make much difference? I suspect not.
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Yeah defo, I think the size of the pilot hole would be fairly proportional to the overall strength - but as long as it's not too big it shouldn't make much difference. 👍
@itzmeagain80115 жыл бұрын
How can anyone resist “Ta muchly”
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Absolutely! 😀👊
@rafezetter80035 жыл бұрын
Personally I only drill pilots for the screws that DO NOT have those "self cutting" shanks - which looks to be borne out by your results - the self cutting "turbo golds" were made slightly weaker by not cutting / compressing as they were driven, whereas the non self cutting silver crew worked better because they just tend to split and tear the wood if they are driven without a pilot leaving weaker fibres around the shank - the pilot means that the threads bite better because there's no damaged fibres.
@DustyFingersRC5 жыл бұрын
The Phantom Knob Drawer strikes again!
@skogsmats5 жыл бұрын
MDF and Plywood, what happens there?
@mrhumptydee5 жыл бұрын
Should have "pre-drilled" them pilot holes!😉 (whilst jabbing the trigger on drill!!! )
@bartman585 жыл бұрын
I've never thought about this.....I use pilot holes to make my life easier or not to split the wood.
@patrickloftus5 жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot for the video. Interesting tests as usual. Any chance, for the colour deficient people, you could pick different colours for your graphs? It would be really useful - it's the red and greens I (and 1 in 12 men) can't tell apart....maybe a bright green or yellow would work? :) EDIT: Oh, you just said they're ORANGE lines, not RED. I hate being colour blind! GAH: Now you said 4x30 is BROWN??? Is that not what you called orange earlier? EDIT AGAIN: Now you just called it ORANGEY-BROWN :D
@taylo2565 жыл бұрын
Would it make any difference if Phillips screws 😂
@huejanus55055 жыл бұрын
I think the results would be the same even if Phillip puts in the screws. ;-)
@taylo2565 жыл бұрын
Hue Janus it Andy putting in screws not Phillip 😂
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Either way, it's not happening. 😂
@mandyleeson15 жыл бұрын
You’ve been looking at it too long
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Lol... probably just me then. 😂👍
@professor19725 жыл бұрын
I found it quite upsetting to learn that I'm twice the man you are #bloater
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
Still within the limits of a single 5 x 40mm screw though so that's fine! 👍👊😀
@agrafes64 жыл бұрын
Unless it’s a diagram of Hitler’s. 👍🏻🏴🇬🇧
@negotiableaffections5 жыл бұрын
You realise, that when they build the gallows for you; all the maths is done for them - by you!
@GosforthHandyman5 жыл бұрын
You're right - I should really cater for this... 🤔😂👍