Re: [Harp-L] 0-80 x 1/16" screws for reed replacements

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

50 cents a screw is ridiculous. Here's what I would do. Get a pair of old steel scissors (kitchen shears). You can't use most barber or hairdresser scissors. they're too soft. Some quilters/dressmakers scissors will work. Drill a pilot hole then tap the one leg for 0-80. While you're there also tap for 1-72. You may have to grind the BACK of the leg of the scissors on the threaded leg so that it is thin enough to do the job at hand. The tapped hole protects the threads you NEED and then the untouched leg does the cutting. AND make sure you hold the legs tightly together when you shear the waste. 
Then when you back out the screw, the threads on the wanted part will be cleaned. And now, as long as the screw needed was LONGER than the scissor leg is thick, you can cut virtually any length. 

When driving the screw..BACK it counter clockwise BEFORE you drive it in clockwise. 

George was talking 1/16th inch (1.5mm). He found screws that were .075. .075 is only .0125 (1 80th inch) longer than what he was looking for in the first place. To put that in perspective, that is only ONE FIFTH of a sixteenth. Much thinner than a credit card. 

smo-joe
  

On Feb 18, 2013, at 6:14 PM, Vern wrote:

> I disagree that grinding off the excess screw length is "not doing the job right" but recognize that you prefer not to do so. That is a discussion we can have over a beer at SPAH.
> 
> McMaster Carr's SS 0-80 screws are in the neighborhood of 6c each in quantities of 100.....quite a bit less costly than 50c ea in quantities of 200. 
> 
> Those little screws will shear easily with the right tool.  Some wire-stripper tools have provisions for shearing screws but the smallest size is 4-40.  The shear consists of a scissors-like set of blades.  You insert the screw in a threaded hole in one blade allowing the unwanted length to protrude into a clearance hole in the other blade.  Then the blades move and the screw is neatly sheared.  
> 
> Such a tool would allow you to cut the screw to any desired length to accommodate reeds and plates of various thicknesses.  The threaded hole protects the threads from damage...except on the part of the screw to be discarded. Then backing it out of the threaded hole cleans up any burr at the end.  
> 
> If the metal were not too hard to drill and tap, you could actually make one of a pair of scissors. 
> 
> If I required many screws of an odd length, I would make a simple tool of a strip of water-hardening tool steel from McMaster, heat the parts red with a propane torch and drop them in a cup of water. Or...you could anneal, machine, and re-harden pieces of a hacksaw blade.  
> 
> Then you would no longer be limited by standard screw lengths.
> 
> Vern  
> 
> 
> On Feb 18, 2013, at 12:37 PM, George Miklas wrote:
> 
>> I have been working on this all day.  I do not want to grind screws.  I want the right screw to do the job right.  I have come up with a close length... 0-80 x 0.075"  Stainless Steel Pan Head Screw with #0 Phillips drive.  I am going to get some samples to evaluate. I hope that no grinding is required.  
>> 
>> If this screw works for me, minimum order is 200 at 50 cents each.  My price break is at 1000 screws.  So now I'm curious if there is a market for me to resell smaller quantities of these screws. 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Vern <jevern@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Short answer: No
>> 
>> Long answer:
>> For attaching reeds, I use 0-80 x 1/8 SS screws from McMaster-Carr in a threaded hole. I grind them flush with the back of the reedplate using an abrasive disc on a Dremel tool.   With a .012" thick reed and a .040" thick plate you will still have a  .011" protrusion on the back side to file/grind off where the valve is to be cemented.
>> 
>> Vern
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 18, 2013, at 9:08 AM, George Miklas wrote:
>> 
>>> Does anybody have a supplier to share with me for 0-80 x 1/16" screws?
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> George
>>> 
>>> --
>>> George Miklas, Harmonica Performing Artist and
>>> Entertainer<http://harmonicagallery.com/>
>>> John Philip Sousa's THE HARMONICA WIZARD
>>> MARCH<http://harmonicagallery.com/sousa>
>>> Harmonica Repair Done Right by George <http://harmonicagallery.com/repair>
>>> SPAH is the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the
>>> Harmonica...a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to serving the
>>> harmonica community. <http://spah.org/>
>>> **
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> George Miklas, Harmonica Performing Artist and Entertainer
>> John Philip Sousa's THE HARMONICA WIZARD MARCH
>> Harmonica Repair Done Right by George
>> SPAH is the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica...a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to serving the harmonica community.
>> 
>