this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
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Mildly Interesting
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Having bought screws just the other day, I was exasperated at how I could not figure out how long the screw actually is between my thumb and finger cause they're in a sealed box.
But I knew exactly which material they have been plated/hardened with. ๐คท
So, I understand why you posted this.
And the info about the (pre) drilling is just ๐๐
Yes, no need to guess or to do test holes to see which drill size is correct
While I'm certainly no handyman, I usually just hold the drill bit to the screw to find one slightly smaller, then just use that.
I am fairly handy and have never had that method fail for anything except screwing into thick metal, in which case I'm tapping threads and using a bolt anyway.
Generally screw length is measured by how deep it will go into the material. For instance a countersunk screw would be measured from the top of the head to the end of the screw. A pan head screw would be measured from the bottom of the head to the end of the screw.