Framing / Self Drilling Screws
Funnel Head Screws feature self-tapping, self-setting design.
Press Release Summary:
Targeting woodworking market, Multi-Purpose Spiral Point Funnel Head Screws fasten medium-density fiber board and other manmade woods without splitting or bubbling. Head also sinks into melamine and particleboard without chipping or need for pilot hole. In addition to Type 17 Auger Point that collects wood dust and keeps bore clean, self-drilling screws have deep cut reverse spiral thread that purges initial hole for flange, allowing funnel head to sink into wood while locking screw in place.
Original Press Release:
The First Multipurpose Screw on the Market - Self-Tapping, Self-Setting, No-Splitting Spiral Point Funnel Head Screw
Quickscrews International Corporation has developed the first all-purpose screw on the woodworking market. The advanced design makes the Quickscrews funnel head screws the ideal fastener for MDF (medium-density fiber board)Â and other manmade woods without splitting or bubbling and the screw’s head is designed to sink into melamine and particleboard without chipping or need for a pilot hole. This self-drilling, self-countersinking screw fastens composites without bulges or splits. With an Honorable Mention in 2011 in HANDY Magazine’s Innovation Awards and a 2012 WOOD Magazine Innov8 Awards winner along with a five-star rating, this innovative screw of the future is growing rapidly and reshaping the woodworking and cabinetmaking industries.
Quickscrews, since its inception, has created and developed its products specifically with the woodworker in mind. An influx in the cabinet, closet and furniture industries in the 1990’s, combined with the advents of newer and better MDF and HDF (high-density fiber board), initiated a new demand from some manufacturers, who preferred these heavy-duty woods to the more popular melamine and particle board. However, there weren’t screws that worked well in the harder woods, and more importantly, what worked well in melamine and particle board tended not to work well in the harder words.
“My grandfather was building a room in our home when I was seven or eight-years old that he asked me to help him with,” Quickscrews CEO and Founder Greg Wiener said. “He wanted me to finish a panel that he had been working on. I couldn’t find a hammer, so I just picked up a screwdriver and started using the back end of it to nail in some screws. My grandfather came over, plopped me on the head and said, ‘You always use the right tool for the job.’”
Quickscrews had a goal to develop the right tool – a screw that could work in all materials. For smaller companies, especially those that don’t want to stock dozens of different types of screws, it would be extremely beneficial to find a screw that could fit a much wider range. After 10-12 prototypes that did not work, Mr. Wiener visited a show in Kowshung, China in 2010 and saw a sign at the back of a booth that showed a picture of a screw going into ipe wood, one of the densest and hardest woods there is. Their claim was the screw could go in without pre-drilling.
“I did not believe that claim,” said Wiener. “I did not think it would work. They did a demo there, and I saw the screws, and I realized that based on their technology, if I took that screw and modified it in certain ways, this screw could be the screw we were looking for, that all-purpose screw.”
After playing around with samples, three different prototypes and plenty of tweaking, the Spiral Point Funnel Head screw was born. The screw works in every single type of material if the user drills a hole and every material except MDF without pre-drilling a hole.
It starts with extra coarse threads at the tip of the screw at a high angle to prevent walking. The threads bite down rapidly to allow quick starts by pulling the screw in fast as well as clean entry to bore a pilot hole. The thin, deep course threads on the body dig in to offer substantial holding power, especially in softwood materials.
A big factor that went into consideration was reducing torque because harder woods have a lot more resistance. The features to help accomplish this are a Type 17 Auger point, standard Quickscrews thread and a reverse spiral thread.
The Type 17 Auger Point collects wood dust and keeps the bore clean, reducing outward pressure as the screw is installed, which drastically reduces splits and bulges. The Type 17 point makes it easier to drive the screw, and the flute at the end of the point is designed to cut out a hole in the harder materials, effectively making it so the user does not have to pre-drill a hole. As the screw gets inserted in the material, the self-tapping flute channels debris to go up the shank of the screw as opposed to going outward, which is what causes splits. The screw is designed to clean out a hole rather than blowing out a hole and a reason the user does not need to pre-drill a pilot hole.Â
Quickscrews thread has two unique features that separates itself from anything else on the market – making the top angle flat, which allows the screw to have greater holding power, and threads that are sharper than most. The sharper thread makes for easier driving, and the flatter top prevents it from being pulled out – giving the user a little bit greater pull out can be very important for some applications.
The deep cut reverse spiral thread just below the screw head clears dust and chips to purge an initial hole for the flange below the head, allowing the funnel head to easily sink into the wood while locking the screw in place. There are serrations featuring saw teeth on the underside of both parts of the funnel head, which allows the head to cleanly self-countersink flush and stop and rest just below the surface of the wood.
“Because we are looking to sink the head in a different way,” Wiener said, “we have to do more clearing of that hole. It’s not a traditional flat head, it’s a funnel head, so we have to clear the hole out differently to let this head sink.”
The flat head Wiener refers to comes with a square-drive socket that makes its own counter bore, in addition to the self-tapping point which bores a slim pilot hole of its own; and again, all this is done without splitting the wood.
With the harder woods, less torque is required to drive the screws, and these features clear out a hole more completely which leads to easier driving. This is important because the result is a reduction of user fatigue, which can decrease the potential of carpal tunnel. For the first time in the woodworking industry, there is a multipurpose screw that can drill in all materials on the market. The right tool for the job is finally here.
About Quickscrews:
Quickscrews International Corporation was established over 25 years ago with an objective to provide quality products at a competitive price and bring innovation and support to the woodworking, furniture and cabinet trades. The largest and most complete line in the industry allows customers to choose specifically what is right for their application.
For more information on Quickscrews and Quickscrews products, call (800) 743-6916 or visit www.quickscrews.com.
To view our full line of Square Drive Funnel Head Screws, go to www.quickscrews.com/catalog/square-drive-screws/funnel-he
