The Great Fastener Lubrication Experiment

Описание: MTC X MacGyver Series ⚔️🛠️The Great Fastener Lubrication Experiment – Part 1

Does lubricating a fastener reduce drive-in torque while installed in wood? And if so, which one? A frequently asked question over the past few years, with not many results out there, so we gave it a try!

In this video, we set out to measure drive-in torque for structural fasteners installed in Douglas Fir Glulam using wax, bar soap, vegetable oil, dish soap, WD-40, and a grease gun.

This was our setup:
. a Douglas Fir beam at 10% moisture content
. a series of 1-inch-deep pilot holes (1 per test)
. 8” x 14” (10 x 360 mm) fully threaded fasteners
. and a control group of several fasteners installed without lubricant, providing reference data ranging from 26 to 32 Nm

The results?
A 40% reduction on average across all tests, dropping the drive-in torque to between 15 and 16 Nm!

Now, while these are fun to do and interesting to witness, they are not meant to create a precedent for a new method to follow while installing fasteners (I see you there — drop that WD-40 calmly on the floor).
What’s the solution then? Check out part 2 of that comparison experiment to know 😉

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