Reproducing Parts
My clock has a number of very worn or damaged fastening parts. The bolts are salvageable but there are a number of screws that have been been ground flat along the threads and the slots have been torn. The challenge is the parts are English (not American Standard) and most were hand made 125 years ago. At that time, “fillister head” screws were used.
I went to Amesbury Industrial Supply and they looked at what I had. The staff is first rate and very knowledgeable. They did their best, but fillister head screws just aren’t common. They searched their supplies and found some of the sizes I needed. *BUT* the parts are in batches of 100. I need a total of 18 screws across 6 sizes. Ordering new parts would force me to buy 600 pieces!
I pondered my options. Googled suppliers and even looked on eBay. I finally arrived at the idea of making my own. Fortunately, the thread sizes and lengths are common. All I needed to do was machine the heads.
Turns out (pun intended) it’s pretty easy to lathe a bolt into a fillister head and then use a Dremel to cut the slot. The picture show a 1/4×20 1/2″ bolt on the left and my finished fillister had screw on the right. I need to try and make the head even smaller for a couple of the parts but this is a pretty good start.
You’re makin’ your own screws….
This is pretty hard core Glen.
Is it as much fun as it looks?
I’m only making 12 or so screws - but yes, I am having to adapt bolts to resemble fillister head screws. It actually is a pretty quick process. I inherited my grandfather’s old wood lathe. Unlike most modern lathes, his old workhorse has a pulley set that allows it to turn pretty slowly, making it suitable for some metal work (like filing and polishing the arbors and now, filing a hex bolt down to a round head).
Part of the “fun” has been figuring out how to work with my limited knowledge, limited metal working tools, and how to recreate things that haven’t been around for 125 years. More “fun” is added by the fact that this clock is not common, undocumented, and seems to have been through a few “experiments” and alterations over the course of its early life.