Taming of the screw

To say that Ben Crocker was surprised to take home the top prize in the ITW Show us your project contest is an understatement.

“I had actually kinda given up on the thoughts of winning. I was intrigued to see what kind of a project could have beaten the one that we had completed,” says the Vice President of St. Thomas, Ont.-based D.F. Crocker Ltd.

For its efforts, the company won a year’s supply of GRK screws and a Paslode nailer.

Not only will the company be fully stocked with GRK fasteners, but news of the award rippled through Crocker’s business circle.

“A bunch of my regular sub trades and the guys at the local Home Hardware store were tickled to hear that we won as well,” he says.

Crocker explains that the framing screws are always in demand, but the larger structural screws really open up some options for them as the company recently bought a portable sawmill.

“This accompaniment of fasteners will allow us to experiment with different timber frame structure projects,” he says.

Crocker has tried competing products but says the GRK “fasteners are very hard to beat.”

Because they’re structural screws they have a much higher sheer load capacity than conventional screws, he says. “The fact that you can run the screws in very close to the end grain and not split out the framing material makes them extremely versatile,” Crocker says.

They’ll save time and money by eliminating the need to pre-drill.

Here’s what Crocker won:

• 9×3” 9,500 ct;
• 10×4” 3,000 ct;
• 12×5-5/8” 1,200 ct;
• 5/16”x4” 400 ct;
• 5/16”x5” 450 ct;
• 3/8”x8” 400 ct;
• 3/8”x10” 50 ct;
• 3/8”x12” 50 ct; and
• Paslode impulse nailer

“The diversity of fastening options will be nice as we do a lot of one-off renovation/addition type work where we need fasteners of all sizes,” Crocker says. “Knowing that you have a good supply of these fasteners will allow us to focus on simply completing the job in a way where we are extremely confident it will not fail.”