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What to do with old screws?

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C_Claycomb

C_Claycomb

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Oct 6, 2003
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About 10 years ago a neighbour moved and gave me a plastic multi-box with a whole bunch of different screws and small nails. Some pozi drive, which aren't so bad, but a lot are slot head...who the heck uses plain steel slot head screws?!? In the time since then I have hardly used any of them. When I have had DIY or projects of my own I have preferred the screws that I have bought, mostly Torx head, all from just two brands. The only time I ever even look at those old screws is when I have a really rubbish job that I don't want to use up my "nice" screws on, but even then I haven't used the slot heads. Recently another friend gave me another box that had some more screws and small nails (red drawers) and I really don't know what I will ever use them for. I almost never use nails, and when I have needed them, the stuff in these donated boxes has been the wrong size.

I would love to no longer be storing these, but I hate the idea of just binning them.

Is this a common problem, and is there a solution?

IMG_4957.JPG
 
Yep, I've had exactly the same issue with loads of screws and nails from my Father's and my Father in Law's sheds plus loads of UNF nuts and bolts etc. A few months ago I decided to have a complete clear out and have thrown all the old stuff away just keeping a small selection of the nuts and bolts and slot head screws. I hate to see cross-heads or pozi drives in old refurbishments (old tool boxes and the like) so I do keep a small range of slot heads. I also keep anything brass for the same reason.

Throw them, it's cathartic :) (but keep a few just in case!)
 
I've taken to putting stuff in jars all organised, then taping the lid shut with a bit of masking tape with the date on, occasionally then checking the date, if it's not been used in a year then it goes in the bin.

Plan projects around what you have as well, you'll often find you work pretty much at the same scale for your projects. Most of the stuff I work on I'm using 2"x4" so I keep a stock of 3" and 4" screws and M8 ready rod for stuff that really doesn't need to move. Any screws or nails less than 1" just get put in the recycling.
 
I think modern screws look awful in old things. But then, just how many 'old things' do folks repair nowadays ? New screws in our old garden gate just look 'wrong' though. We had to replace the spring, and one of the long hinges on a shed door. Again the new screws look weird.

You could work out the weight, find which band of myHermes or the like they'll fall into, add on the 20% you'll lose through eBay and put them up for sale, boxes and all. It might surprise you what they'll sell for.
If you add 50p to the myHermes the courier will pick them up from your house too, so you don't even need to go to the drop shop.

There is no way I'd throw out something just because I hadn't used it in a year. I don't live in a bento box and I don't want to either. I put things by properly and when I need them (plumbing tools, tiling stuff, etc., ) it's sound and ready to be used.
A good redd out is no bad thing but throwing out just because a date tells you to just does not sit well.

M
 
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Toddy said:
I think modern screws look awful in old things. But then, just how many 'old things' do folks repair nowadays ? New screws in our old garden gate just look 'wrong' though. We had to replace the spring, and one of the long hinges on a shed door. Again the new screws look weird.

You could work out the weight, find which band of myHermes or the like they'll fall into, add on the 20% you'll lose through eBay and put them up for sale, boxes and all. It might surprise you what they'll sell for.
If you add 50p to the myHermes the courier will pick them up from your house too, so you don't even need to go to the drop shop.

There is no way I'd throw out something just because I hadn't used it in a year. I don't live in a bento box and I don't want to either. I put things by properly and when I need them (plumbing tools, tiling stuff, etc., ) it's sound and ready to be used.
A good redd out is no bad thing but throwing out just because a date tells you to just does not sit well.

M
Click to expand...

I've moved house every couple of years since I've been born and the amount of rubbish that builds up even in that short time is astounding. I've always bought the bare minimum to do a project so often there is very little left over to dispose of.

I would council against myhermes, I sent a food parcel to my mum at the start of lock down which they damaged and disposed of but would only let me claim the value of it if they had a photo of the damage, which they did, in their warehouse. DHL or Royal Mail will give a much better service.
 
Oliver G said:
I would council against myhermes, I sent a food parcel to my mum at the start of lock down which they damaged and disposed of but would only let me claim the value of it if they had a photo of the damage, which they did, in their warehouse. DHL or Royal Mail will give a much better service.
Click to expand...

I just assumed that Toddy was proposing using Hermes so the parcel of screws got lost forever (the Hermes black hole) - we have now had 8 parcels 'lost' since the start of lockdown!
 
Throw them down a very deep hole so they don't ever torture anyone else.
Then chuck of load of soil in just in case anyone looks down there.

Unless they're brass I have absolutely zero time for slotted screws and have to say the people who like them likely don't put many screws in a during a working day.
Sorry Toddy but there's been jobs where Ive put thousands in per day, slotted just don't work in that setting.
 
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I am really surprised the old NSWandB joke hasn't come up yet.

demographic said:
Unless they're brass I have absolutely zero time for slotted screws and have to say the people who like them likely don't put many screws in a during a working day.
Sorry Toddy but there's been jobs where Ive put thousands in per day, slotted just don't work in that setting.
Click to expand...

For anything 'new' I totally agree with you but, repairing old stuff, cross-heads just stand out like neon sign in the woods. For 26 years I have been meaning to replace all the cross-head screws used in the planked doors in our 350 year old barn/house; they just look wrong.
 
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I'm with Toddy, there is a use for old slotted screws. If you have the space I'd keep a selection. I also use modern screws but most have ridges under the heads for 'self countersinking' etc and cannot be used for fitting hinges etc. I also renovate some 2nd hand furniture and other bits and bobs so having some old screws to match up is ideal.
 
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I have almost no old furniture, but that which I have has very few if any screws. Also, it seems that Messrs Sod and Murphy conspire so that when a slotted screw is required, it is always a size that I do not have in the old collection.

I cannot think of a time I would want to use a plain steel slot head screw, they are just horrible things. Need precise pilot holes, must be hand driven, slowly, the slots get burred and chewed if you get the wrong width, thickness or shape of driver, and they rust as soon as you look away.
 
Maybe gift the old slotted to a local antique dealer/ restorer. Im a tool and material *****, if it has usefulness i keep it. I also have passed elders stuff that
" might come in handy one day" those days rarely come !
 
I've been isolated pretty much since the first Scottish lockdown. I've used every courier out there. MyHermes has actually been reliable for us. Both coming and going.
I can well understand folks frustration though if things go amiss.
The only things (and it wasn't by myHermes) that have gone astray, out of hundreds, are a box of 100 fat balls for the birds, and a 20kg bag of bird seed. ...from two different sellers, and a new mattress cover.
Paypal refunded us for all three.

M
 
C_Claycomb said:
I have almost no old furniture, but that which I have has very few if any screws. Also, it seems that Messrs Sod and Murphy conspire so that when a slotted screw is required, it is always a size that I do not have in the old collection.
Click to expand...

I think that's Newtons 5th law, the more stuff you have the more stuff you need.

I've got a fair selection of old fixings, bolts etc, but this week I needed an M9 bolt. Can't even buy them new it seems.
 
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