What Size Pilot Hole For a 6 Screw
0.0781" in softwood, 0.0938" in hardwood
- #6 wood screw (shank diameter 0.138")
Methodpilot hole sized to roughly the screw's root diameter in softwood, slightly larger in denser hardwood to avoid splitting.
Size up for wood close to an edge or end grain, where splitting risk is highest regardless of the general-purpose figure.
A #6 wood screw wants a 0.0781" pilot hole in softwood or 0.0938" in hardwood — 5/64" and 3/32" respectively on a standard fractional drill index, so no decimal-marked bit is needed to hit either size exactly.
Why this one specifically
#6 is toward the small end of the common wood-screw range — hinge leaves, small cabinet hardware, catches and light trim work are where this gauge shows up most, applications where the screw's job is holding thin material or light hardware rather than clamping two structural parts together. At this size the margin for error is smaller too: a pilot hole even one drill size too large in thin hinge stock can strip on the first mounting, while going too small in hardwood risks snapping the screw head off before it seats.
What moves the number
Screw gauge is the main lever — a heavier #8 or #10 screw needs a correspondingly larger pilot. Wood density within the "hardwood" category still varies enough that a screw sizing chart's hardwood figure is a reasonable middle ground rather than a guarantee against splitting in a particularly dense or brittle species.