Screws not holding in 2x6 douglas fir

[Michele]

Hi all,

I've got a mystery here. Trying to make a bar cart out of 2x6 douglas fir, 42" long. 3 shelves with 4 boards each. We have done this exact same design before in the fall and had no issues. I'm using 2 1/2" coarse thread screws. Each of the 3 joints / shelf has 5 screws, 2 going one way, 3 the other.

The issue we're having this time is every single shelf has "flex" to it. I do NOT get it. I've verified the settings on the drill bit via the tool AND a measurement of 4 1/8" from stop to shoulder of the bit. We're screwed in as far as they can go. Yet the joints still flex.

Here's a picture of the last one we made and we're just trying to replicate this. Any guesses? This is really getting on my nerves. Happened on the first shelf and we thought ok let's try th next one, same thing......

[Ken Darga]

Michele,

Ripping off an 1/8" is not an issue on the table saw, when done correctly.

The wider piece to be positioned between the fence and the blade,

so the narrow strip will be on the outside of the saw blade.

Michele said:

>>>... ripping an eighth off with a table saw is somewhat dicey. /div>

[Michele]

The "correctly" part of this might be in question. If we put the wider piece between fence and blade, I'd have to readjust fence after ripping down one side since the overall width of course just changed. So rather than do that I just ran them all through with the small part between fence and blade. Admittedly, by no means the safest or preferred way and certainly a "do as I say, not as I do" situation.

Ken Darga said:

Michele,

Ripping off an 1/8" is not an issue on the table saw, when done correctly.

The wider piece to be positioned between the fence and the blade,

so the narrow strip will be on the outside of the saw blade.