It will never hurt, use wax or s I have even heard people using bar soap.

This post was edited by millworkman on Sat, Sep 7, 13 at 18:28

I gave up on stainless for that reason. Now get painted screws at Lowes that self-lubricate. I also get square slot screws that are easier to drive. Don't have ipe. Used to use a bar of soap for that purpose. It is supposed to wash out eventually. I use 3" screws to hold down 2x6 boards and use a long bit to get all the way down. Countersink in a separate pass.

I am familiar with the screws you speak of and have used them on different projects around the house. Its my understanding though that stainless screws are required with Ipe.

lubing is easy and helps drive the screw easier through a tight IPE hole (with little give). I have had screws snap if no lube was used.

Just buy a thick wax toilet ring(cheap) and dip the tip of each screw into the wax ring before driving it. You can also stick a bunch of screws into the ring and use it as a screw holder to make grabbing the next screw for your impact driver quicker. It is fast, cheap and easy. Faster screwing more than justifies using the wax even screw breakage were not a problem(it is with IPE). As a bonus, it provides a little sealing benefit against water seeping into the screw hole later.

Zver,

Toilet ring sounds great (cheap, effective, clean & good for holding the screws upright ready to grab)......THANKS!

The key is to drill the pilot hole a little larger for IPE.

And NOT drill into the joist at all.