To avoid splitting the wood when you are using screws follow these steps.
In this image note that you need three different sizes of drill bits – one to recess the head of the screw, one to allow for the portion of the screw that isn’t threaded and the final one to allow for the threaded portion.
The resulting hole is shown in the middle of the image
The third part shows how only the threads of the screw are biting into the wood. This will avoid splitting – which often happens when you don’t pre-drill. It also makes it much easier to turn in the screw, especially in hard wood.
If you have a screw that isn’t secure because the hole it’s in is too big:
- drop in a toothpick or two along with some glue and re-insert the screw
- try putting some nail polish on the threads of the screw so that it will act like glue