Canadian Airgun Forum

How many of you have had to shorten a screw and either damaged it, lost it, or even worse had it injure you?.... Yeah, pretty much everyone that works in a shop has burned their fingers, or had the grinder grab a screw and launch it into oblivion or crunch it to an unusable state.... Pliers?.... Nope, useless, been there, done that, got the T-shirt.... Well here is an idea I came up with to avoid that problem, and it even straightens the theads when you are finished munching on them....



Just take a piece of scrap band iron or angle, and drill and tap some holes in it for the different screws you commonly use, particularly the smaller sizes, which are so difficult to hang onto.... I used a piece of 1" x 1/8" for the machine screws, and a piece of 3/16" thick 1"x1" angle for the bolts.... I marked the ends to indicate what the threads were with a Dremel.... You simply insert the screw in the hole, let it stick out the back, and put your finger against the head to prevent it from rotating and grind away.... The metal works like a heat sink to some degree, if it gets hot enough to burn your finger, you likely are getting the screw too hot and destroying the temper anyway, time to dunk it.... If it's a really short setcrew, stick an allen key in the socket to keep it from turning while you grind it....

Finally, a way to shorten screws without losing or destroying them or getting hurt.... I'm sure somebody else thought of this long ago, but I've never seen it before....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

that's a net idea Bob, I think it would be more usefully for bigger type screws though.
they do make pliers for small type machine screws and they work great.

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"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

I assume those pliers are supposed to cut the machine screw without damaging the threads?.... I doubt that would work on a high-tensile screw.... although you could maybe use them to hold it for grinding.... My problems typically occur when shortening, say, a 1/4" long SHCS to 3/16" (by grinding), or even worse, a setscrew.... ie making a short screw even shorter....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

your correct they do not make the cleanest of cuts and I totally get what your saying Bob
but like you mentioned there good if not for cutting but just for holding the screw to the grinder
when I have used them I just file the end of the screw down after the cut.

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"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

Yup, shortening set screws can be a beast. I've taken to doing that nasty little job by putting an Allen key into the thing then pinching the Allen with a small needlenosed Vise-Grip pressed right up against the head of the set screw. So long as I am pressing the screw into the grinder or sanding belt with a bit of care as to angle it won't jump off and into oblivion like a Crosman safety spring. Won't work with a slotted set screw, but who uses those? Another way is to gently chuck the thing in a drill and spin it as I grind it down. But that's hard on the threads, and difficult to judge accurately when it's become short enough. The other way leaves the whole thing visible and measurable.

But I like your trick for bigger bolts, especially 10-32 stainless which I use a fair bit. A hacksaw and vise is very unsatisfying for those. Easy to scuff a knuckle or to have Tue saw skip a thread and cut the keeper side of the bolt. With a chunk of brass or steel tapped for them and an Allen in the head to hold it flush for hacksawing or using a fibre reinforced cut-off wheel on the Dremel the job should be painless. Thanks!

I use a Dremel with super thin cutoff discs, or diamond discs for larger bolts like >5mm, then a sanding disc in the Dremel to fix the end/threads. It works especially well on small stuff where other methods just butcher the threads. Dremel #7300 is very cheap and no doubt my most used, versatile, and favorite power tool ever.
That electrical crimper / bolt cutter gizmo thing are for small soft screws only, at least the more expensive ones are. That one in the bottom pix usually can't do a single thing correctly,

Thanks Bob. I've messed this job up on many occasions, and still kept trying to do it the same way...

I've yet to encounter a problem with it has works great for me
you just need to have a good strong grip, definitely not very good for people with any arthritis or hand issues.

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"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

I can't imagine one of those crimper/cutters living through trying to cut even one 200K tensile HoloKrome 10-32 screw.... unless it's wayyyyyyyyyy better steel than anything I've ever seen that looks like that....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

They are ONLY intended for soft screws as used for electrical work
As to this neat tip iirc it is called a screw gizzie
Might have learned of this in Gunsmith Kinks series or in Homeshop Machinist mag
Both great resources for tips

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Walter

Well, necessity was the mother of (re)invention....

Bob

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Dominion Marksman Silver Shield - 5890 x 6000 in 1976, and downhill ever since!
Airsonal; Too many! Springers, Pumpers, CO2, but I love my PCPs and developing them!
Proud Member of the 2000+fps Club!

Thanks for passing it on. Wish I had learned it 50 years ago.

Good idea Mr. Bob..Or you could put a nut on the screw and just tighten it againts the angle barso it does not move..

Currently I just have my bolts/screws lathed if I find them a bit long..I stock diff lengths but sometimes their lengths are just not ideal you need to shave off a few threads.

Like this one right here because the OEM black oxide one is a bit short and might impede w/ the airflow..

Cool jig, Bob, thanks for posting.
Though I typically use a dremel to cut screws, I go through more abrasive disks than layers of skin. I can see this jig being a winner.

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The flaw with experience is, it causes us to forget what we were like when we didn't have any.

Wow didnt know it had a name. Cool Spudz, fir sure. Have had more than a few of them over the years. First time I saw one was a summer at my grandfathers farm as a kid. He was a Blacksmith. Dad would always build a new one after multiple uses. Handiest gadget going.

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May the cry of the pack be with you upon your hunt

Whitewolf