Shopsmith Forums

My Dad always used bar soap to lube screws before inserting

For drawers and windows, candle wax will also work wonders. And, if you are one of the canners of food, the parrafin wax will also work well. After I made this post, Buckeye reminded us of the soap trick and I had been taught that 40 years ago, but just forgot about it. As previously stated, the effort to drive the coated screw is much less effort. Now, if I can just remember that.

Spit works also!:D

A decade or so ago, while touring around the nation, I stopped at a wood carving store in New England. I bought a block of beeswax and have used it ever since. It is used to coat the fixed tail center and have had no burning issues.

The beeswax block is also used to coat wood screws. It is especially valuable when used on small screws. I think the block (about 3/4"X 3 X 6") will never get used up - at least in my lifetime.

Yes, I also use steel #4 wood screws, with beeswax, to define the holes for piano hinges - to be followed with the brass screws. I too learned the hard way that brass screws will break if not first preparing their holes.

Yes, if you drive in screws with wood glue they will back out later (someone asked).
It doesn't bond that tight to the metal but does make a stronger thread in the wood. Sort of like having a threaded insert.
I have never tried powder on screws but a lot of people use talc on sticking drawers. Frees them right up.
I used to use talc frequently in shoe repair to cure fairly new shoes that were squeaking between the mid-sole and out-sole (leather soled shoes). I would cut out a couple of stitches in several places around the sole and open them up a little bit with an ice pick. Then I would pump in talc with an ear syringe in each hole. After that I would restitch each spot back down by hand. It normally was a permanent cure.


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In most cases soap may be okay, but it contains water which will be absorbed by the wood and could deteriorate over time. Beeswax is the best choice since it contains no water.

At least, that what I was told years ago by a woodworker that I admired. Woodcraft has a box of beeswax at the checkout counter. (Full disclosure: I am not employed by Woodcraft.)

Forrest

Soap works because of its high fat content. It also contains lye, a strong alkali. I would worry about that corroding the screws over time. Wax is probably the best lube.

Room temperature Beeswax is a solid, stiff substance. I might add that beeswax heats up when a screw coated with the stuff is screwed into a pilot hole. When heated, it becomes a liquid and penetrates the wood fibers. When the beeswax cools, it hardens, to form a relative hard surface in the screw hole giving a long lasting hold to the screw threads. Kinda like epoxy will do.

This property of beeswax is most apparent when used to coat a fixed tail center on a lathe. The end of the turning will have a coating of wax that has depth into the wood.

Yep, these all work
beeswax
parafin
soap (yes, can cause corrosion issues depending on the type of soap)
candle wax
Johnson's Paste Wax, Original Formula (seems to always be close by in the shop)

I believe toilet wax rings used to be beeswax....don't think that's true any longer...at least for the ones I've looked at here.

Can usually find blocks of beeswax, parafin, and candle wax at hobby stores in the candle making section.

Gonna have to try the glue trick....