Making new screws look old

[Tool Pants]

The after picture does have both "antiqued" screws in it. That is why I said it was a trick question.

After 24 hours the 5% vinegar turned them dark and that is what you see in the original test pictures. I let them sit another day, and now they are in the middle cadmium plated pebble. The original screws are in the left and right pebbles.

Just screwing around. Swaping screws between ratchets I mean.

I am happy with the results. If I did not know what I did, I would not be able to tell which ratchet has the 2 repro screws. Modern screws have small raised markings on the head. As I said, that is why I rubbed the heads on the sharpening stone so they were flat like the originals.

[Tool Pants]

Playing around with screws again, for a female 1/4" drive Craftsman. I took the 3/8" male drive apart for comparison.

With my old ratchets sometimes the screw threads are buggered up. I clean up the threads in the plate with a tap and use a die for the screws. My tap and die set goes from 4-40 to 6-32 for machine screws. But the #4 was too small and the #6 too big. My thread pitch gauge said the screws are 40 per inch.

I thought at first maybe the screws were not original, because they are not threaded all the way like the male. But the screws from the male fit the female. Then I thought, is there such a thing as a #5 machine screw? I thought machine screws ran in even numbers. Googled it and sure enough there are 5-50 machine screws. I knew I would not find a 5-40 tap and die locally, but I went to 5 local places anyway, and no luck. No luck for replacement screws either.

I did find a 5-40 tap at the flea market however. So I was able to clean up the threads in the plate. The threads are mostly gone on one of the screws, so a 5-40 die may not be able to clean them up. Don't want to buy a box of 100 screws on the internet. So the local search continues. Also need a 1/4" drive plug.

The ratchets are interesting. The parts interchange. New Britain took the 3/8" male ratchet and put in a 1/4" female drive, and made the head a bit narrower.

[Papaw]

Excellent "Show and Tell" there!

[Tool Pants]

Screwed again.

Finally received a 3/8" drive Craftsman to go with the others. It is the top one in the first picture. The bottom one in the first picture is one of the two 1/4" drives I have. Goes by different names, such as boxhead. I just call it the Snap-On style.

The slots in the Phillips screws for the 3/8' are buggered. I managed to get one out, but the slots in the other are too far gone and I have not managed to get it out. The screws for both the 3/8' and 1/4" sizes are the same, except for the length.

My thread gauge only goes to 40 per inch, and it did not match. I went to the local ACE and they had some stainless steel machine screws in 3-48 which fit, but they were panhead screws.

So now I need #3 screws for this one and #5 for the female. Weird that a more common size was not used, but maybe back then it was more common then it is today.

[Tool Pants]

Finally got the other screw out of the 3/8" drive, and went back to ACE today for another look. Found 3-48 recessed Phillips screws in stainless steel, that my old eyes did not see the first time. I need them in 1/2" long. There was a box with that size on it, but what was in the box was something else.

So I bought the 3/4" long 3-48 screws. Could not find a matching nut for when I chop off 1/4" of the screw and need to clean up the threads. I guess I will have to use the threaded holes bearing plate as a nut.

[rev1]

Cool thread. Now I want a plumb ratchet with a screw missing.

I have one that needs a screw but it also needs the selector. I've been holding off on buying the kit because of this exact problem so I so waiting to find a used one that might not be in great condition. Now, I'll think about getting the kit and "aging" it. Great tip!

[Tool Pants]

The operation is over. The nippers gave me more leverage so that is what I used. Then I cleaned up the ends of the screws on a grinder.

[Papaw]

Nice job there!
Ratchet repair done right.

[lewill2]

Just an FYI for future reference McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) has a large selection of hardware in their inventory. I did a quick check and they have some "#0" size all the way through (#12) size hardware in some styles. It looks like the stainless steel screws have a bigger selection. Pan head, Flat head some Phillips and some slotted head styles.

I didn't look but they would probably have the taps and dies for these sizes too.

Nice post on the process of re-building your ratchet.

[bgott]

The next time you have a problem removing Phillips screws, try dipping your screwdriver in some Clover valve lapping compound first. That stuff will give your screwdriver a little "traction" and keep it from jumping out of the screw.