Hi Silas

> I think it's simply called a wood screw in English.

A wood screw has a slightly conic shaft, with no windings on the upper end.
http://www.preisvergleich.org/pimages/100ER-SENK-HOLZSCHRAUBE-DIN-97-3-X-10BR_39__827707_40.jpg

A spax has a straigh shaft. Wood screws are used for fixing two parts of
wood to each other. A spax is intended to be used to fix something other
on a particle board (or is it called "pressboard")

Floria