Author Topic: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth  (Read 2561 times)

Offline Terry Reynolds

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6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« on: October 12, 2021, 03:58:26 AM »
Looked on line and can't find a 6-32 lock bolt anywhere! Anyone have a source they would share? The Phillips head bolt just doesn't look right for some reason. :o  ;)
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Offline borderdogs

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2021, 04:17:58 AM »
Hi Terry,
What I have heard from some of the screw suppliers I use in my business is screw manufacturers can't get the material to make screws. All screws is what I have been told but especially the small and specialized ones. Some of the screws we use in my business  (Stainless mostly but some steel ones too) I can't get #6, #3 slotted screws and some others have lead times in +20 months. This has to have an impact on the screws we all use in gun building.
Rob

Offline deepcreekdale

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2021, 04:49:52 AM »
If you have some on hand, could you fill the Phillips head with a weld and recut a slot?
”Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Theodore Roosevelt

Offline rsells

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2021, 07:40:39 AM »
Check with Track of the Wolf.  I purchased some lock bolts from them, but have not found a source for tang screws .
                                           Roger Sells

Offline borderdogs

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2021, 01:27:33 PM »
I bought some screws from Track a few weeks ago just to have some for future projects I should have done the same thing with black powder
Rob

Offline 44-henry

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2021, 01:37:50 PM »
Easy enough job with a small metal lathe. Might pay to get one. A Taig, Sherline, Unimat, or a 6 inch Atlas would be good, even the Asian 7" lathes would work fine. A tailstock die holder would be my choice for forming those tiny threads. Lathe is useful for a lot of other things as well.

Offline 45-110

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2021, 02:55:06 PM »
Diluted hardware store muriatic acid will remove all zinc plating in a minute.  A little mix in a plastic container.

Offline Bob Roller

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2021, 02:57:00 PM »
Easy enough job with a small metal lathe. Might pay to get one. A Taig, Sherline, Unimat, or a 6 inch Atlas would be good, even the Asian 7" lathes would work fine. A tailstock die holder would be my choice for forming those tiny threads. Lathe is useful for a lot of other things as well.

I use both of my Atlas 618's and make screws down to 0x80.I make the scews for my triggers which are
3x56-4x40-6x40 and8x32 and have dies for special threads like 8 and 10x40 plus 10x28 and 4x48.
I have the 6x32 dies but seldom use them.I think it is too coarse for the tiny diameter of .130.
Machines like the 618 are not mass production systems.I make scews as needed and usually have some
made ahead for the triggers.I also made all the internal screws for my lock making when I made them
and also the hammer screws.!2L14 is my choice for all sizes.WHAT is the current cost of cross screws
in any size? I have no current catalogs from any suppliers we use on this forum.They are not hard to make
but time and the use of the machine plus material costs are involved and can't be ignored.
Bob Roller 

Offline EC121

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2021, 02:59:46 PM »
I just file down an 8-32 screw to get the die started and cut 6-32 threads on it.  It also leaves more metal if you have to file a clearance notch for the ramrod. 
Brice Stultz

Offline Craig Wilcox

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2021, 04:19:36 PM »
Usually  you can get the bolts from Midway or Brownells.  You may have to de-blue them.

Powder is a different matter.  Send me a pm, may be able to give you a lead.
Craig Wilcox
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Offline Mike Brooks

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2021, 04:19:56 PM »
I have never used a 6 X 32 lock screw in nearly 400 guns. Can't think of a situation where I would.
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Offline t.caster

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #11 on: October 12, 2021, 05:30:43 PM »
I bought some 6-32 lock bolts recently at Track of the Wolf. Used one for the front lock bolt only as the web was so thin on a pre-inletted stock.
Tom C.

Offline Terry Reynolds

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2021, 06:25:38 PM »
I bought some 6-32 lock bolts recently at Track of the Wolf. Used one for the front lock bolt only as the web was so thin on a pre-inletted stock.

Same here.

I do have a cheapo HF lathe but it's not much on threading. I'll just find some bolt and use the acid trick to get what I need. I appreciate the help.
aka “digger658”

Offline 44-henry

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #13 on: October 12, 2021, 09:07:12 PM »
I do have a cheapo HF lathe but it's not much on threading. I'll just find some bolt and use the acid trick to get what I need. I appreciate the help.
[/quote]

Nothing wrong with the HF mini lathes if they have had a bit of tuning. A simple tailstock die holder will be all you need to do basic threading for screws and such. Wouldn't do them this way if they were readily available at a good price, but I have made many screws and other parts over the years to save the time lost to shipping, or even a save an hour trip across town and back to get to the hardware store.

Offline Bob Roller

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2021, 10:51:42 PM »
I have never used a 6 X 32 lock screw in nearly 400 guns. Can't think of a situation where I would.

I have sent them with locks that had no room for the slightly larger #8.
Because the lower limb of the mainspring was long enough to create a problem.
That was "myBad"because i didn't trim the length back before I bent it..
Bob Roller

I looked at an old TOW catalog and saw a bunch of screws that were threaded
all the up the shank.Looked like common hardware scews to me and the machine
slotted heads ro me are ugly on any screw.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 11:49:36 PM by Bob Roller »

Offline Clark Badgett

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #15 on: October 13, 2021, 02:16:30 AM »
With things becoming harder to find, it might be time to learn to make the bolts that are needed. McMaster-Carr sells unplated all thread and some cheap cold or hot roll rod. Make a threaded head and silver solder it onto a piece of all thread and cut the slot and shape. And it surely will not look cookie cutter.
Psalms 144

Offline Bob Roller

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #16 on: October 13, 2021, 02:38:56 AM »
Cold rolled 1018 or hot rolled is not good screw material.McMaster sells 12L14 whch IS screw material that can
be machined with little effort and is not costly.
Bob Roller
« Last Edit: October 27, 2021, 02:19:42 AM by Bob Roller »

Offline Darkhorse

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #17 on: October 13, 2021, 06:19:18 AM »
Another option, seeing as 6-32 screws are unavailable right now, is to continue the build using the 6-32 screws as a stopgap
  untill  you can get some of the larger ones. This way you can continue the build.                                                                                                                                                                                                               
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Offline Clark Badgett

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #18 on: October 13, 2021, 07:46:38 AM »
Cold rolled 1018 or hot rolled is not good screw material.McMaster sells 12L14 whis IS screw material that can
be machined with little effort and is not costly.
Bob Roller
I wasn’t meaning to make the screw from 1018, although I have made many from such, I was saying to use cold roll to made the head and screw it onto all thread then hard solder, or weld it permanent. I was just offering up a method to make bolts without having to buy a lathe.
Psalms 144

Offline Bob Roller

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #19 on: October 13, 2021, 02:37:46 PM »
Looked on line and can't find a 6-32 lock bolt anywhere! Anyone have a source they would share? The Phillips head bolt just doesn't look right for some reason. :o  ;)
Phillips head screws on a muzzle loader look like wire wheels and whitewall tires on a Conestoga wagon.
Also screws wirh threads the full length look bad at least to me.I can make these little screws but not at
Chinese import prices with 3/8" heads and hand cut slots.I made some 8x32's for Herb some rime ago and
he said he liked them.I have a minimum charge of $6 for any shop work and my grandfather is the one to
thank for that.There is material (12L14) use of the lathe,electricity and then the cost of shipping any order
by USPS.Maybe someone has a chucker ot screw machine that can spit these screws out like a rapid fire cannon
but making them individually as a commercial idea makes no sense at all.
Bob Roller
« Last Edit: October 16, 2021, 01:51:25 AM by Bob Roller »

Offline Machinist John

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #20 on: October 25, 2021, 02:04:34 AM »
I have made hundreds of special screws for gun work.

Any objection by the Mods/Admin to me posting photos of the tooling and machinery I use?   By mistake when I first signed up here I put up photos of some of my shop stuff and it was deleted by admin as it was "modern equipment".  I do not want that to happen again.

Offline kutter

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2021, 07:10:18 AM »
I make most all of the screws needed for a project. I look at it as part of the building process.
I make the wood screws too, but use a machine screw thread and usually a counter sunk shoulder head instead of a plain V shaped counter sink as on a common wood screw.
The machine screw threads hold great in hard woods like maple. A #8 is the most common size I use for trigger guards, toe plate, etc. Sometimes a #6
Butt plates may use a #10.

For long shanked screws like lock bolts and tang screw, I often make the head and shank separate. I drill a blind hole on the bottom of the head, hard solder the shank in place and final shape and square up the head as one piece. Then thread as needed.

Sometimes I make them as one piece. Depends on nothing at all in particular at the time. Just how I want to make it.

I have a small JET lathe and it works well for the projects.
..and CRS for the screws works fine too. Plenty of that around in many forms and diameters.

I use a jewelers saw to cut the slots. They can be widened if needed either by double cutting with the same saw blade. Or simple filing the slot wider. Opening the slot to the old style V shape is easy to do also with a very slim needle file.

No need to depend on a parts supplier for screws.,,and they don't take much time.


Offline Bob Roller

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #22 on: October 25, 2021, 12:52:32 PM »
Many of the people on this forum have no machinery of any kind and making a screw of any style is not in their skill set.I don't understand about not posting pictures of machine tools to make screws.Barrels are made with deep hole drills and rifling machines that all rely on the electric companies we all use.I can't begin to calculate the number of screws I have made for locks and triggers and still do for triggers.I have no intention of reviving a primitive method of making screws.Many of the hammer screws on my locks in years past were made by a friend that I trained in the use of an Atlas 618 lathe I still use and he did a good job.He is now deceased but he and his wife had identical twin sons,one of them is now our family doctor and he is a good one and he and his brother share a medical office here.
Bob Roller
« Last Edit: October 25, 2021, 02:41:21 PM by Bob Roller »

Offline Dennis Glazener

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Re: 6-32 lock bolts seems to be scarious as hens teeth
« Reply #23 on: October 25, 2021, 01:53:44 PM »
I have made hundreds of special screws for gun work.

Any objection by the Mods/Admin to me posting photos of the tooling and machinery I use?   By mistake when I first signed up here I put up photos of some of my shop stuff and it was deleted by admin as it was "modern equipment".  I do not want that to happen again.

Tools/machinery ok believe the removed posts had modern arms which are not allowed by ALR rules.
Dennis
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