Exactly how strong is PINE wood??

Today we're doing a strength test of pine. Last time we had a look at how much load a single screw can take in 18mm MDF and American White Oak, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the results with a softwood. As mentioned in the video, softwoods go by many different names in the UK - 'pine' is a bit of a generic term and no guarantees that this is actually pine. This is a full thread axial load test for the longer screws, so the tip is sticking out the other side of the wood. All tests are of axial load for comparative purposes. Wood screws used:

SilverScrew single thread 5 x 40mm
TurboGold single thread 4 x 30mm
SilverScrew single thread 4 x 16mm

We're also doing the one and a half turns test - how much weight can a wood screw take with one and a half turns of the screw in to pine?

#TestTuesday #Pine #DIY

[jimmcdonald]

These tests really inform me. Screw sizing completely does my head in though! Thank you Andy :-)

[Na_Tezgyaha]

Pine wood usually means any wood from a coniferous tree. That being said there are multiple species each with different material properties. Most of them are so alike that it's hard to tell from what species the wood came from. But there may be important differences such as type of knots (loose or connate), resin content and resistance to rot and fungus.

[robinbrown]

Andy, jumping back to your old video about happy birthday to your electric drill I just realized that my Wolf Cub drill is 64 years old and still going strong.

[jasondehn]

This video helped assure me that my construction is well over 4x adequate to hold the weight presented to my screws. Thanks!

EDIT: My load application has no shock component - keep that in mind!

[adamtraininglog]

How have I just found your channel!? Renovated my first property in North Shields and about to renovate our next one in Seaton Delaval. I agree with you, not easy with a baby!

[Nightxp]

Love these test videos and the results are quite interesting. It would seem that MDF holds around the same kg force regardless of the screw depth, however actual wood seems to be better the deeper the screw is place, which is most likely due to the wood splitting.

[merlingallagher]

Neat little test! I am actually VERY curious how different types of plywood will perform. Especially poplar plywood since it's also very light weight.

[alexmarod]

Your videos about testing wood strength a really nice :)
It would be cool if you add threaded inserts to in those test's

[mrhumptydee]

Test Tuesday on a Saturday! Mixing it up to confuse the algorithm? 🤔

[seanrowlandson]

Great video. Quick question. What is the wood you've used for your workbench top? I'm building mine at the moment and want an inexpensive wood for the top (but durable)

[JurBols]

Hi Andy, thanks for the interesting and eye-opening new test! It gives a good insight in the behaviour of screws in wood. Interesting to see the two 'undeep' tests with 4x16 mm and 1, 5 turn show that pine is prone to splitting - which happens if the screw is too undeep. The deeper screws fail eventually due to the wood fibers shearing off.


Why not do a shear test? I think the shape of the tread or type of screw doesn't have any influence on the outcome... you might as well stick a round wire in the wood and get the same results - you only test the pressure resistance of the wood.

[munkytaint]

not sure how strong your pullout game needs to be if you've got soft wood... ;)

[midshipsport]

Hi, can Solid Pine wood be used to make a Cigar humidor? As in the inner part. Can it absorb humidity?

[MuhammadZubair-jsog]

Are all pines soft? I am from Maldives, the British came to our country about 50 years ago, they brought 3 species of pine, all of them are extremely hard, even raw logs are tough to saw and cracks fast.

[nkuete]

You think maybe the smallest screw was small enough to get in between the layers of late wood and early wood of the pine? Like the difference between the screw holding would be big between the two different layers, and the long screws are able to get through more? The MDF is a more consistent material throughout

[TehNoObSlayer]

Thanks for the video. Can you do this test on various thickness of gypsum board too?

[hogthrob]

Have you done a comparison of screw types? As a home gamer, is there any advantage of using turbo gold screws? Which screws have the most 'chew proof' heads?

[Woodwork-Learner]

Thankyou for another informative video. Can you do a strength test in paper next for a

[chillyspoon]

Very interesting - I've only just realised that we have the same scales that you use in your rig; what software are you using to monitor/gather? - the 16mm screw result (and 1.5 turn result) didn't surprise me by the way, I suspect it's simply a different shaped strength curve because the screw needs to be long enough to take advantage of the fibre structure in the pine, which - being such soft timber - is really widely spaced between the softer/harder fibres. That's my high scientific (tired bloke watching YouTube over morning coffee) theory :D

[peterratcliffe]

Hi again Andy. Had a thought about the dreaded algorithm.
I've watched this video all the way through, brill, but I paused it briefly near the beginning then carried on a bit later. Would the pausing count as clicking off it or still count as an interested viewer?
Reason I ask is now when I go back into 'subscriptions' and click on your channel, the red bar across the bottom says I've only watched a little bit. 🤨.
Not good if every time someone pauses it's a viewer lost!