Replacement screws- whats your opinion?

[Jason]

Below is a reel I picked up from ebay a couple months ago. I'm thinking the screws are replacements, has anyone ever seen this type of reel with steel screws?

The click housing screws were replaced with tiny stainless hex head bolts that were too long so I ditched them. Does anyone know where I can get replacement brass screws? It would be nice if someone sold a kit of small brass screws of different lengths and head styles.

[Don Champion]

First, you need to find out which is the correct head shape of the screws used on your reel. Most likely the original screws were brass. The thread size & pitch are going to be hard to match up since this reel was made before screws were standardized. You can get some information about screws and where to buy them from ORCA's library. It is no. 615 and titled Fastners. There are 16 pages assembled by Col. Milton Lorens and Don Champion. If you want to send one of the replacement screws I'll tell you what the size & pitch of it is. Still don't know if it's the right screw though.

[Reel Geezer]

Of course they aren't the original screws - if they were, they'd be all buggered up.

That is a very cool reel.

[m3040c]

My opinion is, if modern replacement screws thread in, then the original threads are standard or someone tapped the screw hole to a standard. Try a 4-40 or a 6-32 round head, common slot in plain brass. That might do it for you. Or, you can remove a screw and go to your local hardware store and just keep trying different nuts on the screw you removed from the reel. Once you find one that fits, you now have your size. Good Luck.

[MrStandfast]

That is a good point about someone possibly having tapped the holes for a modern thread. Here is a URL giving a guide to the current American threads, which I believe should be fairly readily available in brass. Old American-made electric fittings are also worth exploring for useful screws.

http://www.sizes.com/tools/thread_NCNF.htm

Judging by later Pfluegers, the heads of modern screws are likely to be too bulky. I'd spin them in a drill and reduce the head on stiff or stuffly-backed abrasive paper. Ther much higher-speed Dremel tool is even better, but it comes with a restricted variety of collet sizes, rather than an infinitely adjustable chuck. Tou could tap a piece of brass tubing (K&N. from a model-making shop or eBay) to hold the screws.

Dremel's tiny cutting discs may be a good way of deepening a slot, or a junior hacksal blade with the wavy sides ground flat. The best, though, if you have a belt sander, is a bflad needle file thinned and ground smooth except for the edges.

[Hannibal Mike]

Brownell's in Montezuma, IA is a gunsmithing supply house. They sell special files made to cut screw slots and are easy to control. Dremels work, but can catch and jump. Sometimes screw heads can be peened with a small hammer, the the slot re-cut and the head reshaped or domed. They also sell thread gages. They have collet and pin vises that work well for holding while working on small items. Hannibal Mike