I was assembling a thing in the basement that required #8 1 1/2" wood screws. Easy enough right? So I drill the proper screw size with one of those counter-bore gizmos that cut the perfect sized hole and all that. And over and over again, the screws strip out. Not the threads - the phillips cross-point part. Not using a power driver, just a manual screw driver.

This happens ALL THE TIME with hardware from the local home centers and even the Ace hardware store. I'm sick of it. Surely there is a good source of proper, hard metal wood screws that aren't "drywall" screws or some goofy star-head pattern thing. I just want decent hardware, ideally locally sourced, but I'll order online if I have to. Fastenal? Grainger? Somewhere else?