Ultra thin screwdriver

A hacksaw blade is .025" thick and will make a good blade if it's bround to shape. Then all you need is a holder, (assuming needle nose pliers won't do).

John

On Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:42:20 +0000, Christopher Tidy did e-scribe thusly...:

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25thou isn't particularly fine, or "exceptionally thin", in terms of a watch screwdriver... (0.635mm is almost 'heavy') ...so any of the cheap packs of those (which are usually somewhat 'clunky' when compared to professional sets) should give you want you want. The last time I was in the 'anything for a pound' store they were selling cheap sets of "watch screwdrivers".. if it's still a bit thick then simply stone it you don't need a grinder as such. One of the first things trained horologists learn is how to make their own screwdrivers, if you're going to be working on clocks I would suggest such an exercise would be time well spent.

I have made a "fairly" thin screwdriver for old fashioned saw nuts (don't ask).

I did it by hollow grinding on a small grind stone mounted in a fixed drill.

Quite easy to do freehand, since the flat of the screw driver is self registering.

e.g. one of the cylindrical ones here

BugBear

I wouldn't grind on a wheel at all, I would start with the nearest oversize jewellers' screwdriver and grind by hand on a normal "chisel sharpening" stone. (On the edge, if it is a good one, to avoid making a hollow). Or these days on one of those diamond plates.

Step 1 : buy a normal screwdriver

Step 2 : Old watch & clockmakers method, file crosswise to thickness. Do not grind!

Steve R.

I posted this idea before but it seems to have got lost in the ether. A hacksaw blade is .025 thick and would make a tough blade if you just grind it to shape. The all you need is a holder (assuming needle nose pliers won't do).

John

It's spring steel. Slot the end of a piece of 3/16 drill rod to 1/2 or so. Insert 3/16 wide piece of .025 feeler gauge. Or hacksaw blade as John suggested. Either is good hard steel. Leave just enough sticking out to bottom in the screw slot, probably

1/16" or so. Epoxy in place. Add a handle for torque

Should be plenty strong enough.

You could also start the process with an old screwdriver with a 3/16 or larger slotted shank.

On Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:58:23 -0500, the infamous Don Foreman scrawled the following:

Don't they even ban -butter- knives there.

-- "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Benn

Or even a file.

You should be able to make one easily. A 25/1000" (.025") blade thickness is even thicker that some jewelers screwdrivers available commercially. Get a

3/16" or wider round or square tool steel rod and carefully mill or grind the end to form the required thickness blade. Another way is to buy 3/16" flat bladed screwdriver at Home Depot or wherever, and just grind or file the blade to achieve the thickness you wanted.

[ ... ]

No it didn't. You're posting through Google groups, which apparently takes your postings out to the usenet quickly, but puts a long delay (several hours) before showing it on the local Google interface itself.

If you think that it didn't get out, try checking it through some other usenet server and I'll bet that you'll see it.

But the hacksaw blade is a good suggestion.

Enjoy, DoN.

The best quality jewellers screwdrivers can be filed! You don't want a blade that is very hard, just tough. they should be sharpened by filing cross wise, as the tool marks help the blade "grip" the slot.

Steve R.

While this might work, especially with a bi-metal hacksaw blade, I think it sounds harder than trying to grind an existing screwdriver.

Chris

The toolrests on my grinder are adjustable. I'm not sure I've ever seen one that wasn't. Even if yours isn't, for an application like this you could be resting it on the far edge of the rest.

Sorry, it looks like I've created some confusion. I should probably have said 3/16" wide, but I wanted to avoid confusion between width and thickness. I am talking about the tip only.

Good point. Unless you can grind away a curved piece of material, so that the blade faces are parallel at the tip. I think this is what you're suggesting below.

This sounds a bit risky. Something that, going by my gut reaction, I would prefer not to do. Also, the wheels on the grinder I have access to are covered at the top. The are only exposed at the front.

Surely drill rod in its raw form isn't as hard wearing as a good screwdriver, is it?

I was referred to the gun tools supplier Brownells yesterday

They have a set of especially thin screwdriver bits which look suitable. But I e-mailed them and found out that it's $35 to have them shipped to England. That put me off a bit, but I might still go for them as I think they'd be useful. Anyone know how good the Brownells tools are?

Many thanks,

Chris

If the hole is at least 5 mm across, this will possibly do:

Does anyone know the difference between the India and Arkansas grinding stones which are offered with them?

Best wishes,

Chris

I guess you can file drill rod. I'm not sure you could file a good screwdriver, though. And poor screwdrivers, in my opinion, are not worth having.

Chris

Bill, have you (or anyone else) used those Brownells bits? I'd like to know how good they are. That is, how precisely made and durable they are, etc.?

The price is fair, but with postage and likely tax it won't be so good.

Many thanks,

Chris

I have access to a lathe, but not a vertical mill. The lathe has an attachment for milling (right now I've forgotten its name), but it was made by the lathe's previous owner and is not very satisfactory.

I haven't got a Dremel. I have always eschewed them in favour of more powerful grinding tools. I just tend to use a variety of hand files for Dremel-sized jobs.

You back up to speed now, Don? I remember you mentioning Labor Day as one of your targets, and I think that just passed. How are you doing?

Best wishes,

Chris