Please help finding small screws

Micro Fasteners. They are in New Jersey.

Also available at Walthers (either on line or carried by most hobby stores).  I use the #2-56.

Allan

Ace & True Value Hardware both carry 2-56 screws

You can also try www.smallparts.com. 

And, on the web,

http://www.microfasteners.com/

Nice blackened 2/56 pan head screws; they also have #0 x 3/8" for those who might have wood cars.

Wow!. That's the place, microfasteners. I will check the other site also.  Again Jack you are the first with the info. Do you have a hot line for answers?

Thank you to all of you who so quickly responded.

Ray Marion

Ray,

You might want to check out the drills and taps while looking . It is sometimes necessary to drill#50 and tap 2-56 holes to mount couplers. You can get a box of 100 at the local hdw. store for a couple of bucks. You can get different styles of heads also- round, hex, pan,etc. as well as stainless, brass, black oxide, plated, zinc, etc,whew! McMaster Carr is another place to look for just about anything on the planet! It is usually cheaper to buy screws by the box instead of a couple at a time. Good luck with your project.

Frank

Frank

    You are correct about the taps. luckily those I have plenty. McMaster Carr looks interesting.

Thanks

Ray Marion

Ray,

I have purchased small screws from Micro Fasteners and they are nicely made.  However, I have recently been using McMaster Carr for my hardware purchases.

As a hint, I recommend 0-80 x 3/8" screws for installing Kadee couplers along with. No. 0 flat washers.  2-56 will certainly work, but you have to be dead on with your drilling if you are installing the couplers with two screws into each coupler pocket.  Using 0-80 screws with washers leaves a little bit of clearance if you drill the holes slightly off their mark.

Also,  look at the different materials available for screws.  There is quite a difference in price between steel and brass.  I was recently checking out the cost of No. 0 flat washers.  The brass ones were around $7.00 for 25 and the stainless steel ones were less than $3.00 for 100.

I have installed hundreds of Kadee couplers on 3 rail to 2 rail locomotive conversions and have never had a coupler held with 0-80 screws fail.

To keep the screws from working loose, put a drop of Loctite 242 Removeable Threadlocker on them when you install them.  Loctite is also available from McMaster Carr.

Best regards,

Joe Foehrkolb

Baldwin Forge & Machine

I too use MicroFasteners.  my personal preference is steel socket head, and I use literally thousands of them.  A cab forward uses 32 just to hold the drive wheels in place.

I use 2-56 for Kadees, and have no trouble with line up.  Just get a spare metal box and a #44 drill for dimpling, and the holes will be dead accurate.

For cranking caps I use a lot of 0-80 FH socket screws - they look great.

I used to use Coles Power Models steel hex heads, but the price went astronomical.  Now I use brass hex heads only where strength is not required.  Micro has brass at reasonable prices.

Make that crankpin caps.  I am going to disable auto correct as soon as I figure out how.  Sometimes it comes up with some really strange stuff.

Bob,

I also use a  Kadee box to align the holes when drilling and a small toolmakers clamp when possible to hold the box in place while dimpling the coupler mount with a No. 43 drill.  Drilling is done in a good old USA made drill press.  Holding the Kadee box in place for locating the holes on various freight cars can sometimes be tricky (at least to me).  In that situation, I hold the box in place over the car's mounting pad with one hand and run a No. 43 drill held in a pin vise down through the holes in the coupler pocket to make marks where the holes are to be drilled.  Then I remove the box and prick punch the tiny dots made by the drill in the coupler pad surface.  Then I drill and tap for 0-80.  I just converted nine Lionel 3 bay diecast hoppers this way with no problems.

I have also made hundreds of brass coupler adapters for tenders and  rail converted diesels and electrics this way.  The brass pads are machined from 1/8". 3/16" or 1/4" x 3/4" brass barstock.  Various shapes are employed, sometimes with steps milled into them to get the mounting adapter at the correct height and location for mounting of the Kadee box.  These coupler adapters are attached to the model with 2-56 or 4-40 screws but the coupler pocket attaches to the adapter with 0-80 screws as stated in my previous response.  Not knowing what Ray's shop equipment consists of, I thought using the 0-80 size screw would allow for a bit of error when drilling.  It's his decision.  2-56 screws will certainly work but require very accurate drilling.  I am just pasing along my personal experience on this topic.  

Anyone for 1-72 screws?

Joe Foehrkolb

Baldwin Forge & Machine

That's a useful thought, Joe.  There are a few cars every so often that are "tricky" and using 0-80 does build in some acceptable flex for mounting KaDee coupler boxes. 

I guess I'm somewhat lucky in that due to the period that I model, the vast majority of my cars are wood and so I'm using #0 x 3/8" wood screws - I used to be able to get these from a company called Perfect(?) through my LHS and they were blackened, too. I've just about run out of my stash of those but the regular brass ones are pretty easy to find.

While I've got the taps (and a die!??) for 1-72, I don't think that I've ever put either to use in recent memory.

I just ran across a few boxes of #3 wood screws - no idea where I got odd numbered wood screws,

Required force at which Kadee mounting screws will fail.

Single Shear load. Two screws per draft gear box.

A kadee coupler mounted with two Brass No. 0-80  screws:  130 lbs

A kadee coupler mounted with two Stainless steel  No. 0-80 screws:  176 lbs

A kadee coupler mounted with two Brass 2-56 screws:  267 lbs

A kadee coupler mounted with two Stainless steel  2-56 screws:  362 lbs

Based on these results I think the Kadee coupler or coupler draft gear box

Or the cars/locomotive mounting would fail before any of these size

screws would break.  Even the smallest brass No. 0-80 screw at 130 lbs

is more than any O scale train drawbar force.

I think you are safe Joe.

Dave Eisinger

Dave,

Thanks for the engineering data.  Since I have never had a screw failure on couplers I kinda figured that they were well within the anticpated shear forces to be encountered by a Kadee coupler.

Joe Foehrkolb

OK! I have some small self threading screws for plastic that I need replacement- the philips heads are stripped.

I see McMaster Carr does have something quite similar:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#tapping-screws/=gwh67u

But my question is which is correct 4-20 #1 drive or 2-28 #1 drive?

Ray,

Base on your photos, I think you need a No. 2 screw.  A No. 2 machine screw tap drill is close to 1/16".  That would make sense based on the previous comments above.

Joe Foehrkolb