# Need advice on wood inserts



## sofalinux (May 28, 2009)

I just made my first attempt at using a wood thread insert. I drilled the hole for it using a drill bit that matched the size of the body of the insert...the barrel minus the threads. But when I screwed the insert into the wood(oak) it was to hard to do with a screw driver and so I threaded a bolt into the insert and tried to screw the insert into the wood using a socket. The result was that the bolt split the insert.

Was my problem that I used to small of a drill? How do I determine the proper drill bit?


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Depends a lot on the wood, but in hard wood (not "hardwood", which CAN be soft) I always drill about half way between the size without the threads and the size with the threads. In hard wood those suckers have excellent holding power.

Paul


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## jlhaslip (Jan 16, 2010)

what size of insert were you installing?

here is one chart to check out

http://www.ezlok.com/InsertsWood/softWood.html


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## sofalinux (May 28, 2009)

I think I figured it out.
When using a bolt to screw in the insert, the bolt must be threaded all the way to the head, else the unthreaded part will split the insert. 
What I did was to add a bunch of washers to the bolt so that when the bolt screws in all the way, you then have a flat surface (the washers) pushing down on the insert. Use a ratchet to screw to insert in and stop when the washers bottom out on the wood.
Works great.


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