As with anything else in life, if you want to get good at carpentry you need to practice Wood Screws. The easiest method to learn how to screw quickly and efficiently would be to repeat the exercise over and over, until you find a method which works best for you. You can find, however, a few tips that should help speed your journey towards becoming a master craftsman.
How To Screw Into Hardwood
Head chewing or shearing can be a problem when trying to drive screws into hardwood. This is where the top of a screw is either stripped out (very common problem with Phillips-head screws) so there is no socket left for your screwdriver to gain purchase on, or when the head is broken away completely. The simplest way to avoid these types of occurrences is to pre-drill a pilot hole into the hardwood, allowing your screw an easier point of entry. Hardwood pilot holes have to be approximately half of your screw's diameter, while softer woods will only need a quarter (if any).
If you still have problems once you have made a pilot hole and the screws still doesn't want to go through, then you'll need to use lubrication on your screw. A simple way to do this is to use a little paraffin wax along the threads (never use grease/oil), although this might be a little time-consuming if you have a lot of screws to get through. There are a variety of specialist screws that you can buy which come pre-lubricated for your convenience along with a number engineered specifically for use with hardwood decking. A double countersunk head will reduce the chances of head shear, and square or hexagonal heads are better suited to driving into extremely resistant surfaces.
How To Maintain Screw Tightness
Screws are usually harder than the wood in which they sit, so they have a tendency to shudder loose every once in a while when the wood is put through vibration. One common mistake would be to simply remove a loose screw and replace it with a bigger one; although this may supply a temporary remedy, the same thing is likely to occur again (and in all likelihood in a shorter period of time). Rather than attempting this, it may be worth re-drilling the hole and placing a glued dowel, then re-screw into the dowel for a reinforced tight fit.
Permanently Screwed
In a few scenarios, you may need to insert a screw that needs to remain embedded permanently. For this task there are a number of screws and fasteners made to never be taken out, with heads which can only be driven in and not removed once secure. There's also a number of designs with serrated "teeth" incorporated on the thread, which perform like a fish-hook or a bee-sting, entering with ease but resistant to removal. DIY methods for creating a non-removable screws include purposely stripping (or chewing) the head, or even using a fixative (like epoxy glue) to fill a pilot hole before you drive home the Hexagonal wood screws.
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