Incompetent Boob! (a minor rant)

[mick]

The screws should go back to the supplier with a please explain if they are not correct or as ordered , if they are accepted then the supplier ( like most of them ) will think it ok to supply the wrong shit or stuff that's not quite right , how can we whinge about the quality of parts and then expect someone else to put up with it just because they only make a couple of pickups ?

Mick

[WolfeMacleod]

It suddenly hit me that the alloy being used is critical to tone and this was easily proved by switching from Guitar Jones screws to StewMac screws, the difference in tone was remarkable..

By the way, I recently found out what type of steel that was. Spoke to several screw manufacturers about it and they said "um..NO..."
Apparently, it doesn't come in the wire form they need to make screws with.

[R Walker]

Well the point is that some guy making a couple humbuckers a year doesn't have nor need the high standards that Wolfe is trying to keep up. I mean most hobbyists don't even pay attention to such things, so if Wolfe got stuck with a train load of screws with slightly flat tops they're probably still better than what Stew Mac or GJ is selling. Shit, even dumb ass ME, didn't pay that much attention to pole screws until I read and reread that Seth Lover interview a couple times. It suddenly hit me that the alloy being used is critical to tone and this was easily proved by switching from Guitar Jones screws to StewMac screws, the difference in tone was remarkable. So in getting some vintage samples ready to send to this fastener maker I was looking at his tech sheet from 1961, looking at my screws and all of them and everything was different. So here I am having to tell this guy how I want my screws made and I'm overwhelmed by all this information and did the best I could come up with. But then now I am at his mercy and sending me what they are capable of making. You use what you can get, I don't like anybody's keeper bars that I can buy but I'm stuck with what I can get, so if Wolfe has some real good screws he doesn't want with something he didn't like about them that the regular hobbyists wouldn't care about or notice then they'd be lucky to get some halfway decent screws that are probably better than the metric crap thats out there. Make sense?

What size tap do you use with the StewMac screws? I know they aren't 5-40. I have some laying around I would like to use but have no idea what size tap to use for threading the bobbins.

[David Schwab]

What size tap do you use with the StewMac screws? I know they aren't 5-40. I have some laying around I would like to use but have no idea what size tap to use for threading the bobbins.

Stew-Mac list them as:

5944, Fillister head, nickel-plated
M3 x 0.5 thread, 0.850" overall length
0.192" screw head diameter.

M3 X 0.5? Is that metric?

[mick]

Yes that's metric , I think M3 = 3mm , which would be the diameter ( DUH ) and the 0.5 ? don't know what that is ????

0.5 is the pitch

[Possum]

alloy...

Wolfe what did you find out? My supplier says they are pretty sure its 1022 which was a shock to me, I thought 1018 so I ordered both, the alloys in the vintage screws and 70s era all are seemingly consistent....These guys looked at the crystal structure under a microscope...

[mick]

Speaking of screws , just received a quote back from a screw maker/supplier ,

$450US per 1000 plus he reckoned shipping will be more than the cost of the screws , wow almost $1 per screw , BARGAIN!!!!!!!!!

Mick

[R Walker]

Speaking of screws , just received a quote back from a screw maker/supplier ,

$450US per 1000 plus he reckoned shipping will be more than the cost of the screws , wow almost $1 per screw , BARGAIN!!!!!!!!!

Mick

Holy crap!! What the hell is he making them out of?

[mick]

I dunno ? but they must be good at that kind of money...

[WolfeMacleod]

Wolfe what did you find out? My supplier says they are pretty sure its 1022 which was a shock to me, I thought 1018 so I ordered both, the alloys in the vintage screws and 70s era all are seemingly consistent....These guys looked at the crystal structure under a microscope...

It's neither.
Call me.

Holy crap!! What the hell is he making them out of?

Better be making of F*cking GOLD!

A screw should cost no more than 10 cents. And even at that...

[mick]

Nope , not gold , but nickel plated steel , just got a quote for the same thing for nearly 400 bucks less , Anyone noticed the cost of mags doubling in the last 12 months ? Something to do with nickel and cobalt being more expensive

Mick

[R Walker]

Is it fairly complicated to make these screws? I wonder how much it would cost to get an older screw making machine that could do these? Hmmmm...time to browse ebay.

[Joe Gwinn]

Stew-Mac list them as:

5944, Fillister head, nickel-plated
M3 x 0.5 thread, 0.850" overall length
0.192" screw head diameter.

M3 X 0.5? Is that metric?

Yes. The nominal outside diameter is 3mm (0.118") and the pitch is 0.5mm (advance per turn).

In US terms, this is a 4-51 screw, although there is no such US screwthread. The closest is 4-48.

The bible on such things is "Machinery's Handbook", published and periodically revised since 1914 by the Industrial Press.

[R Walker]

Lookes like Lowes has a 26pc metric tap set for 40 bucks
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...49-1083-358360

Tap sizes: 3 mm-0.50 mm, 4 mm-.070 mm, 5 mm-0.80 mm, 5 mm-0.90 mm, 6 mm-1.00 mm, 7 mm-1.00 mm, 8 mm-1.25 mm, and 10 mm-1.50 mm
Hex die sizes: 3 mm-0.50 mm, 4 mm-0.70 mm, 5 mm-0.80 mm, 5 mm-0.90 mm, 6 mm-1.00 mm, 7 mm-1.00 mm, 8 mm-1.25 mm, 10 mm-1.5 mm
Drill bit sizes: #40, 1/8, #19, #20, 13/64, 15/64, 17/64, and 11/32

I know what i'll be picking up this week lol.

[Joe Gwinn]

Lookes like Lowes has a 26pc metric tap set for 40 bucks
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...49-1083-358360

Tap sizes: 3 mm-0.50 mm, 4 mm-.070 mm, 5 mm-0.80 mm, 5 mm-0.90 mm, 6 mm-1.00 mm, 7 mm-1.00 mm, 8 mm-1.25 mm, and 10 mm-1.50 mm
Hex die sizes: 3 mm-0.50 mm, 4 mm-0.70 mm, 5 mm-0.80 mm, 5 mm-0.90 mm, 6 mm-1.00 mm, 7 mm-1.00 mm, 8 mm-1.25 mm, 10 mm-1.5 mm
Drill bit sizes: #40, 1/8, #19, #20, 13/64, 15/64, 17/64, and 11/32

I know what i'll be picking up this week lol.

Why aren't the drill bits metric? This sounds odd. Metric drill bits are no more expensive than US size drill bits of similar size and type.

If you are planning to thread anything other than plastic, I would not buy such a cheap tap, die, and drill set - the metal in these tools will not be good enough, by a lot, and you will end up screaming with frustration.

For good quality taps and dies and drill bits, go to MSC and get US or German made products. I've bought a lot of stuff from MSC, and never a problem. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRHM

The rule for ISO metric machine screw threads is that the thread-cutting tap drill diameter is the screw size (3mm) minus the screw pitch (0.5mm). So, for M3-0.5 threads, use a 2.5mm drill bit to make the hole that will be tapped. (If using a thread-forming tap instead of a thread-cutting tap, follow the manufacturer's reecommendation.)