When I was selecting pulls and knobs on Amazon, I found that many of the accessory screws were breakaway screws.
Should I choose a merchant that provides ordinary screws or a merchant that provides breakaway screws?
How do you choose when buying? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two screws?
Those "breakaway" screws are designed to be easily altered for different thicknesses of door.
While I find it easy to cut a screw to length with a hacksaw and then use a file to fettle the chamfer and tidy up the thread - I have to tools to do that.
Those screws are designed to be cut or snapped leaving a ready-to-use thread for many who don't have many tools.
I have found that sometimes the knobs or handles do not have the same thread as the generic screws screws that can be purchased separately . I prefer to use the provided screws.
However sometimes the screws are not long enough. Usually they are ok for doors, but if the drawer is too thick, I will need to countersink the screw.
To same me that extra work I would prefer a supplier that provides the longer break-off screws.
Metal pulls use bolts, not screws.
The breakaway bolts are a convenience if your door or drawer face is much thicker or thinner than usual, savings you the hassle of getting replacement bolts to make that adjustment. On the other hand, they do have the hassle of forcing you to break them to length if they're too long as shipped, and for typical applications you don't need that adjustability.
Other than that, there really is no significant difference for this application. Pick whichever you think is least work for your application, remembering that you can always get replacement bolts (and might already have something suitable on hand).
