Hole Too Large for Screw

[John Coloccia]

I have always used toothpicks or wood slivers, dry, but I like the idea of adding glue.

On really small holes, I stick some really thin plane shavings in there instead of toothpicks. One "trick", if you can call it that, is after you put the screw in the first time, take it back out and wick a LITTLE thin CA into the hole to harden the threads....let that cure and put the screw back in. That's an old trick from my radio controlled flying days, where you're frequently taking wood screws in and out for various access panels.

Wood dust might work even better, but I've never been able to really try it because the dust doesn't give the screw anything to bite into until the glue sets.

[scott vroom]

This hole is a bit precarious. Directly behind the hole is where the bolt sits. So I cannot push whatever will fill the hole all the way down or it would interfere with the locking bolt.

Fill the holes with PL Premium and wet set the screws.

[Peter Quinn]

Nope. It's unnecessary because the screw completely compresses the wood and the glue into mush, making the choice of grain direction irrelevant.

Honestly, I'm really not out to make anyone believe anything. There's no reason to make theoretical arguments about what should or shouldn't be better. Toothpicks and glue are cheap, and so are holes. They can just try and see for themselves, but they must do it the way I said...screw it all together WET, or you won't get the right results.

Not picking a fight, but enjoying a good "theoretical argument". I too have tried it all, from epoxy to rope, tooth picks, chicken scratch I found on the floor. You mentioned that screwing into end grain was bad. So I wondered whAt is the alternative, and aren't the toothpicks end grain from the perspective of the screw? Truth is I have reinstalled some new cabinet doors into old pine face frames just exactly as you describe, except I left out the toothpics....just wet a screw with glue and rolled it in saw dust, very effective too. Hope I never have to pull that one back out.

Any difference of approach may be attributed to perspective. Lots of screws on guitars are barely if covered by hardware, I can see the need for less visable repairs using the existing hole. Worst case my tuning machine gets a little loose? From my perspective as a sometimes entry door maker/fixer, hanging a 100#-200# 3'-4' entry door on a handful of screws, where all the repairs are covered by thick brass hinges, tooth pics are not my best option. We do agree on the moisture, the whole thing works better if the screws are driven back in before the glue dries as the screw is the clamp. Trust me, my argument here is not even vaguely theoretical. I hate call backs. Bad for businessand reputation.

[John Coloccia]

The difference between the toothpicks/glue and straight endgrain is that when you screw into the endgrain, and sever the fibers, it's like severing through a stack of soda straws. All the strength is tensile strength, not shear strength, so I've had cases where the customer has really tightened the screws, or just from sitting in one case, and have pulled out a neat little plug of wood formed around the screw. I should have kept some pictures.

With the toothpick/glue method, on the other hand, the glue and toothpicks form a very strong bond in the original hole. It's not even really relevant what the grain direction of the filler is. Once you tighten the screw, it mashes everything up like a blender, and you get this slury of wood and glue that sets up tight around the threads.

But whatever works. I don't want to change anyone's mind. I'm just putting something out there to try.

[Chris Padilla]

This begs one to try an experiment of different hole filling ideas and then cut them apart and view cross-section areas or see if repairs fail or pull out or something.

I tend to use toothpicks and bamboo skewers for most hole filling but I've never driven in the screw while the glue was wet. That is a new one and sounds like a great idea.

[Kent A Bathurst]

35 posts on this topic?

Epidemic of cabin fever, methinks.

[Chris Padilla]

Whole lotta hole problems, methinks.

[Rich Riddle]

35 posts on this topic?

Epidemic of cabin fever, methinks.

The quantity of responses surprised me, but in the future if someone searches it will provide sufficient advise and opinions.