Shop made screws

[deltap]

For just a few you could turn the thread od close to the chuck. If you need a longer thread, advance stock a little at a time while still cutting close to the chuck. thread with a tailstock die holder that spins free when when you let it go. I usually start thread under power and finish by hand when close to the hex. Turn die around if you want to thread right up to the hex head. A reverse center would work better for small stuff. Point the end of the stock and support in a tailstock holder. Much of this tooling may not be available to purchase but you can make your self.

[Tim Clarke]

I was able to turn the shank in one pass with a razor sharp hi positive insert with almost no nose radius

[John MacArthur]

Here's how I do it:

These are milled, hardened, and tempered #0-80 screws for mounting clock jewels
Johnny

[Rich Carlstedt]

Very Nice John, is that a Bagel with Cream Cheese you set them on ? 😀

Yes, buying screws works sometimes , but when you need scale heads , or Square heads, it gets slim pickings

Rich

[John MacArthur]

Looks like a bagel doesn't it. It's a piece of "pithwood" that clockmakers use to poke small thing into to clean off grit, dust and grease, about 1" in dia.
Johnny

[rklopp]

I love single-profile threadmilling small screws like John shows. You can get repeatable size right up to a shoulder with beautiful finish and perfect lead-out. You can cut any pitch you want. Plus it’s fast except compared to a die, which does not make threads anywhere near as nice. Thread milling is best done on a mill with helical interpolation capability. Then the threading move is a one-liner in code.

[BCRider]

I love single-profile threadmilling small screws like John shows. ...

Which doesn't help those of us without CNC setups one little bit.... I think he did some great looking screws... .But also that he's showing off his CNC to us more pedestrian folks just a little bit.....

[J Tiers]

Which doesn't help those of us without CNC setups one little bit.... I think he did some great looking screws... .But also that he's showing off his CNC to us more pedestrian folks just a little bit.....

Your only choices are to go CNC, or take up knitting or Mah-jong. Read any machining forum and you can find that out.

[John MacArthur]

Which doesn't help those of us without CNC setups one little bit.... I think he did some great looking screws... .But also that he's showing off his CNC to us more pedestrian folks just a little bit.....

Thank you for the compliment. It was given to me, had obsolete electronics and "anti-backlash" leadscrews (which don't work). That said, the basic unit (Dyna) is quite rigid and heavy. I spent weeks building a saddle for ballscrews, and replaced the stepmotors and drive system. I had an old Flashcut system that was very unreliable which I had paid very little for, but on which Flashcut allowed me a generous "cash for clunkers" trade-in. I have quite a bit less in this little CNC than you might think. However, I don't recommend this approach to anybody except the truly obsessive. I've also made hundreds of tiny screws with threading dies, and spent many more hours filing and polishing them to get rid of the galling and flash. I certainly won't go back at this stage, I've earned it, and yes, I suppose I'm showing off just a little.
Johnny

[Tim Clarke]

Your only choices are to go CNC, or take up knitting or Mah-jong. Read any machining forum and you can find that out.

I don’t think either will work for you, Jerry. What about playing the bagpipes? I’ve been told that girls like bagpipe music.

[ChazC]

Watch Joe Pie's playlist "Scale Models:" he makes incredibly small screws on what looks like a 10" or 12" lathe. Here he's making a 1/8" Ø x 1-1/4" left-hand lead screw (2" OA length): https://youtu.be/ApSNZqC_g1g

And here he is single-pointing 2-56 threads: https://youtu.be/gF1UtnKOg2A

MrCrispin goes into making a number of SS hex nuts (albeit 0.560" across the flats), starting with round rod: https://youtu.be/IoAu8TGU58Y

[J Tiers]

I don’t think either will work for you, Jerry. What about playing the bagpipes? I’ve been told that girls like bagpipe music.

Referring to Shakespeare, I seem to recall that he has a character say that some men cannot contain their urine when they hear bagpipes (possibly from Merchant of Venice?). I'd maybe learn them just to find out who that may be, hopefully some politician I don't like.

But as for CNC, I've never been really good at following silly orders, so I'll keep cranking handles for now. I did think of CNC-ing the Benchmaster, but I like the mill enough as it is that I shan't .

[GordonL]

I did buy some 5-40 Hex head from Microfasteners.com and they do look good. The main problem is the limited range of sizes. I need about 80 pieces of 5-40 x 1/4 and the only choice is 5-40 x 1/2 so I now have a bunch of screws to shorten. That will take less time than making all of them but still a lot of work.

[mklotz]

I did buy some 5-40 Hex head from Microfasteners.com and they do look good. The main problem is the limited range of sizes. I need about 80 pieces of 5-40 x 1/4 and the only choice is 5-40 x 1/2 so I now have a bunch of screws to shorten. That will take less time than making all of them but still a lot of work.

Reflect on how happy you will be next time you need a 3/8 or 1/2 inch screw :-)

Seriously, I always buy long and cut to fit. If you're making models, save the cutoffs; they make great studs - real or cheater.

Any of numerous simple jig designs and a Dremel armed with a cutoff wheel will make the trimming go fast.

[jimsehr]

Here is tool I made for my Logan lathe.