Are there any quality wood screws for sale in America?

Nope, all the screws in the hardware stores around my town come from China and are junk. They break or the head rips out and a screw driver won't turn them anymore. The only solution I have found is to drill a pilot hole for the screw to go in. That is tedious if you have many screws to install.

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There are wood screws of better quality, stronger ones than the average ones sold in a big box store, but you will probably have to find them at a place that specializes in fasteners. They might also be made in China, but made to be stronger. The average customer at the average big box store does not need and will not pay for better screws. I wouldn't necessarily go by what someone in a store tells me. I was once looking for some very short wood screws and had a sales person tell me that size didn't exist. I had to ask him "then how come I have 50 of them in my screw storage box right now?"

And, no matter how strong the screw, you can break one if you are putting it into wood that's very hard from age, or if you hit a knot, or if you are using a very long screw. Screws are very strong in some ways, but not in others. If you have any of those things going on, or if it seems to be extra hard to get the screw in at any time, back the screw out before it breaks and drill a pilot hole

And about the lumber: rough lumber does indeed have slight variation in dimensions. Perfectly normal in my experience of buying lumber for home improvement projects over the last 30-some years, including all the lumber for a brand-new house. Buy 50 2x4s and they are not all going to be identical. Sawmills for cutting rough lumber are not precision machinery.

it is possible to get quality US or European made screws but you have to seek them out. I've worked in professional building trades for over 30 years so I tend to buy my materials at vendors who sell to builders rather than the general public. You can find them in most larger cities and most will sell to non-professionals. I used to buy great German-made square drive cabinet screws at a specialty woodworking store in Grand Rapids, Michigan when I lived there. Unfortunately I can't remember the brand.

Look in the Yellow Pages for outlets that sell wholesale building supplies to the trades, especially fasteners and pro grade tools. There are even on line suppliers who specifically offer US made fasteners and military spec grade hardware. Here's one example.

http://www.fastenersuperstore.com/index2.cfm

There are still construction specs that require domestic manufacture of all steel products. I've had to assure US sources for materials on projects I've managed over the years that had such requirements. With a little searching you ought to be able to find quality hardware -- it's still out there.

All of the current ketchups on the market ARE made of tomatoes. Originally ketchups were anything but tomato based. There were sweet ketchups made of berries, and vegetable ones made of green things cooked down to a sauce. The website with these recipes on it won't come up any more. Says there is an error.