Irwin 900?

[lzenglish]

I love all the different methods mentioned, so far. I used a drilled, glued, and hammered in dowel, but never thought to use a golf tee, toothpicks, or weedwacker string! All great tips! If you ever have this happen on a steel door frame, and you cannot go any larger on a screw size, try a rivnut!

Wayne

[woodsman22]

Thanks for the info on the Irwin 900.  I just got one in a bucket of old tools and wasted my time checking out the Irwin site before coming back to old friends.
Dave Freeman

[Northwoods]

I have always gone with matchsticks and white glue on big stuff and toothpicks on smaller stuff.
Have even used a tiny sliver triangle of paper on those tiny screws that hold the plate on a Stanley (or other) level.
But the weedeater line sounds handy.  And I have about six miles of the stuff in the garage.

[EVILDR235]

I guess I have been doing it the hard way to fix stripped holes in wood. I drill the hole larger and glue in a wood dowel and cut it flush with the surface. I then re-drill a pilot hole. I use to repair gun stocks where someone broke off a butt plate screw in the stock. I used a homemade hollow drill bit made from a piece of tubing with teeth filed on it and drilled around the screw and glued in a dowel and re-drilled a pilot hole. A little wax on the screws to made them easier to screw in.

EvilDr235

[coolford]

I have used one as a screw starter for over 50 years, thanks for all the info, but I will continue to use it as a screw starter.

[p_toad]

"Weed wacker string"

Is that the round, square, faceted, or ??

just kidding...i always used matchsticks or toothpicks, too.   

[Bill Houghton]

I've owned one of those "screw starters," which is how I'd seen them marketed, but was not impressed.

[woodsman22]

I was assuming it was a total waste of time contacting Irwin but they did respond less than 24 hours with their answer; it is a "Twist Gimlet Drill"
Dave

[wvtools]

Here we go again -- nobody believes me anymore.  From page 21 of the 1974 Irwin Catalog:

No. 900 Irwin Screw Starter -- marks the hole, starts the hole, threads the hole for the screw to enter.

Handiest Hand Tool in Years
Just the right tool for the housewife, handyman, craftsman, school and farm workshops.  Wherever used . . . the Irwin Screw Starter makes it much easier to install screws in wood and non-metal materials.

[bill300d]

Thats what I've always known them as WV. In my eyes you'd be hard pressed to call that a gimlet