?s about bolts and screws

[Nordnecker]

If only using 1 lock bolt, is 8-32 OK or would 10-32 be better?

I had purchased a "set" of bolts and screws but I'm not too happy with the screws. The slots are too wide/ not centered and the threads are too shallow. Were do you get nice wood screws?

[Mike Brooks]

8X32 is fine. All it does is hold the lock in the mortice. Lately, Ive been finding my wood screws in old wooden furniture that's been thrown out.

[Dennis Glazener]

If only using 1 lock bolt, is 8-32 OK or would 10-32 be better?

I agree with Mike, I use 8 X 32 with flint as well as percussion.
Dennis

[Bob Roller]

If only using 1 lock bolt, is 8-32 OK or would 10-32 be better?

I agree with Mike, I use 8 X 32 with flint as well as percussion.
Dennis

If you ruin the 8x32 threaded hole the next one IS the 10x32.
I made a "7"x40 screw for a man on this list using a set of
antique dies I have had for 40+years. It is 9/64x40 in normal
dimensions..

Bob Roller

[Meteorman]

Lately, Ive been finding my wood screws in old wooden furniture that's been thrown out.

Amen ! 
Hinge screws from old discarded kitchen cabinets are like manna from heaven.
Screws from old full-size door hinges; re-profile the head and crop length if needed - a scrounger's dream for buttplates.

Barring that:  http://www.blacksmithbolt.com/

[David R. Pennington]

I scavenge old wood screws. I look for old coffee cans and mason jars in the flea markets and junk sales. I make my own "side nails" or lock plate screws with the old blacksmith technique for heading bolts by forge welding a ring around the shank and then forge the head to shape. I file them and thread as desired and file the slot to suit me. I usually make the head for the front bolt a little smaller than the back one.

[Jim Kibler]

It's a @!*% shame that a person can't buy a decent slotted wood screw today.  I've scrounged for old ones as well.  So much nicer

[WadePatton]

Oh you can buy 'em,   $   but only at specialty suppliers.  

But being able to "save" an old screw is more funner.    


Thanks for the link Mike.

-------
If yall want to order a couple thousand (each size), i might get the boss to set up a run.  I've asked but i can't get a straight answer on how small a run they'd set up a machine for.  

[Nordnecker]

Sho nuff. I save every old screw . I keep an eye out for 'em at yard sales and flea markets, too. I stoppped at a yard sale near Dixon's this summer and bought a whole box full of tiny brass screws, tacks, and various fasteners still in the original tiny little boxes. I think I paid $8 for it all. I have no idea where I put it- haven't seen it since. But the screws I'm looking for wouldn't be in that collection.

[oakridge]

I have a friend that restores antique furniture. Been in the business for over 40 years and saves every old screw. He has maybe 100 pounds of screws in old wooden boxes and gives me any I want. I've been guilty of taking a few more than I need each time, so I have quite a stash of my own now.   

[Bob Roller]

Oh you can buy 'em,   $   but only at specialty suppliers.  

But being able to "save" an old screw is more funner.    


Thanks for the link Mike.

-------
If yall want to order a couple thousand (each size), i might get the boss to set up a run.  I've asked but i can't get a straight answer on how small a run they'd set up a machine for.  

 I always say when asked about quantity that I never make less than ONE.I have made
 lots of one of a kind screws and only God knows how many bronze transmission bearings
 for automobiles long gone like Packard and others.

 Bob Roller
 

[WadePatton]

Oh you can buy 'em,   $   but only at specialty suppliers.  

But being able to "save"...

 I always say when asked about quantity that I never make less than ONE...
 Bob Roller
 

It's an automatic screw-machine shop (cam-lathes), how screws were made in the olde days.  hundreds and hundreds per day.  Mind-numbing work if nothing breaks or needs repair.

[bama]

As with everything else, screws are now being made in China and the quality is not what we used to get in screws even just a few years ago. I have started making my own screws, it is not that hard to do. I have just accepted that we will never get back to a quality that we will ever be able to buy a decent screw again so I bought a set of dies and turn my own blanks. Wood screws I also file by hand, again not that hard to do. I have found that making my own screws gives me the quality that I demand in the rest of my build.

I started making screws when I started doing restoration work on antique guns. It just did not seem right to replace a missing or broken handmade screw with a modern store bought screw.

[jerrywh]

 Now days they can't even get the slot in the center. Track of the wolf used to have some good ones.

[Pete G.]

Now days they can't even get the slot in the center. Track of the wolf used to have some good ones.

They don't any more. I ordered some #4 screws a while back and ordered twenty because I needed 6. On some the head was not fully formed, on others the head was misshapen and three didn't have slots. All of them needed some cleanup before use. I swage the heads into a countersink that I cut into a steel plate in order to reduce the head size and shrink the slot just a little bit.

[David Rase]

I have found the best place to order screw from is Blacksmith Bolt & Rivit Supply in Oregon. http://www.blacksmithbolt.com/  I just bought about 16 different sizes of unplated flat head wood screws to replenish my stock.  They sell oval head and round head screws as well.  These screws are coated in a blackoxide, but with a weak solution of muriatic or hydrochloric acid will remove the oxide.  I have heard that naval jelly or vinegar   will work as well.
These guys provide quick service and have a quality product.  I highly recommend them.
David