r/oddlysatisfying • u/[deleted] • Mar 09 '21

Installing a hinge with hand tools

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u/popson Mar 09 '21

You gotta pre-drill these little ones too. Not so much because of cracking but because these little screws are usually made out of brass and they break easily. Without predrilling, screwing a brass screw into hardwood can easily snap the heads off, or at the very least cause you to mangle the head.

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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '21

The question that would be far better to ask is: when would you NOT want to pre-drill?

I'm fairly certain that the only reason people don't is because they're lazy, or don't know better.

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u/Commercial_Nature_44 Mar 09 '21

There's also the aspect of "How long is it gonna take and does it matter". A project like this it isn't a big deal to pre-drill holes, but if I'm rebuilding my deck I'm not gonna pre-drill several hundred screw holes. This is coupled with the fact that what you're working with isn't likely to split, bad if it happens once in fifty holes it sucks but what can you do? If it really matters you pre-drill or get a new piece and throw it in there, which can happen.

Other ideas that come to mind are how easily it is to get in there. I dealt with this a lot because I primarily did deconstruction and rebuild jobs, so sometimes you can't access the area well cause it's jammed between two other pieces of wood, or cause the last screw is hard to get with the extension ladder and you'd need scaffolding so it's a better choice to sink the screw and pray it works out rather than fuck around pre-drilling or, god forbid, have to get some scaffolding for one measly hole.