Loose screws are common on wooden crates that have been carried, stacked or opened a lot. The tempting fix is to grab a longer screw, but that can split a thin slat or poke too close to the show face.
A calmer first step is a dowel plug test. Pull the loose screw, clean the hole, and see whether a short piece of snug dowel or hardwood toothpick will fit with a little wood glue. The plug should fill the tired fibres without forcing the board apart.
Let the glue set long enough that the plug does not twist when touched. Then trim it flush and drill a fresh pilot hole for the original screw size or the next sensible size up. The pilot hole matters: it guides the screw into the new wood instead of wedging the old hole wider.
This works well on handle blocks, light corner pads and small display crates where the wood is still sound but the threads have lost their bite. If the surrounding wood is cracked, punky or badly split, replace the part instead of asking a plug to do too much.
Keep one little repair card near the bench with the dowel diameter, drill bit and screw size that worked. The next loose handle becomes a repeatable repair instead of a guessing game.
Practical takeaway: before upsizing a loose crate screw, try one glued dowel or hardwood plug and re-drill a pilot hole. It often restores bite while keeping the repair neat and modest.
Crate RepairsHardwareSmall-Shop Habits