Screwdrivers
- Thread starter SIGP2101
- Start date
Just about any screwdriver will do. I bought a bunch of different sized Craftsman drivers about 1970 or so. I grind them to fit the job. I still have most of them. Pick out some with good handles that feel good for you.
I also use a bunch of replaceable bit drivers too.
I also use a bunch of replaceable bit drivers too.
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SIGP2101 said:
Get a set of "magnetic tip" hollow ground screwdrivers. They work well and are inexpensive and can be found in any hardware store. The standard tapered blade screwdrivers are no good, they will bugger up your screw heads in no time
RifleDude said:Get a set of "magnetic tip" hollow ground screwdrivers. They work well and are inexpensive and can be found in any hardware store. The standard tapered blade screwdrivers are no good, they will bugger up your screw heads in no time
Hollow ground blades are the same as taper blade screwdrivers - no good if they don't fit.
That's why gunsmiths grind them to fit the slot.... they end up being hollow ground and very precise.
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beretta boy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Orillia, Ontario
I'll second Bigbull's advice.
Best money a Gunnut can spend if you work on your own firearms.
The "Magna Tip Super Set" ( interchangeable magnetic bits ) is well worth the investment, and you can supplement with individual fixed blade Brownell screwdrivers for more frequent work if you prefer. Either/or - 1st quality tools! Forster/Bonanza and Grace brands are also very good tools. "Regualr" screw drivers can be ground ... a few months of practice on a hundred or so screw drivers and fifty or sixty "buggered" screws - you should be able to get an idea of how to do it right ! The correct hardness is another matter altogether.
If, as your moniker suggests, that you are mainly interested in SIG's, Brownell's also makes a fairly complete SIG specific tool set, basically designed for police armorers and gunsmiths. At a little over $ 200 (US), it's well worth having. ( The SIG sight remover fixture is a liitle over $100 by itself, but indespensible for the job ! )
Best money a Gunnut can spend if you work on your own firearms.
The "Magna Tip Super Set" ( interchangeable magnetic bits ) is well worth the investment, and you can supplement with individual fixed blade Brownell screwdrivers for more frequent work if you prefer. Either/or - 1st quality tools! Forster/Bonanza and Grace brands are also very good tools. "Regualr" screw drivers can be ground ... a few months of practice on a hundred or so screw drivers and fifty or sixty "buggered" screws - you should be able to get an idea of how to do it right ! The correct hardness is another matter altogether.
If, as your moniker suggests, that you are mainly interested in SIG's, Brownell's also makes a fairly complete SIG specific tool set, basically designed for police armorers and gunsmiths. At a little over $ 200 (US), it's well worth having. ( The SIG sight remover fixture is a liitle over $100 by itself, but indespensible for the job ! )
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
I've found that often a magnetized screwdriver tip is a nuisance. I have also found that, although handy, there is often not enough clearance to use a screwdriver which accepts interchangable bits - as has been the case with my Chapman set. Taper blade screwdrivers make good chisels, but they have no place near a gun you care about. I think that Brownell's fixed blade set is the way to go.
All of the bits Brownells sells are available from http://www.tenaquip.com/site/toolscat/0486_2.pdf
in Canada (except for some very specific ones)
in Canada (except for some very specific ones)
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
You paid how much for the rifle? Now using a cheapo screwdriver to work on it just doesn't make sense.
I agree on Brownells with one handle and interchangeable tips. Why that? Because if you bugger a screwdriver that doesn't have that feature, you have lost the entire screwdriver. If you manage to bugger one with interchangeable tips, you have only lost the tip.
If you work On Enfields the screw slots are narrower than other makes. For that matter most european guns have narrow screw slots. Have seen enough enfields with the rear trigger guard screw slot almost destroyed by cheap chisel tipped hardware store screwdrivers that turn out of the slot when you have a tight screw.
You will save money in the long run by getting the Brownells set, and you can customize it as the tips are available individualy as well as a set.
Use the hardware store screwdrivers to install wood screws. That's what they were made for.
I agree on Brownells with one handle and interchangeable tips. Why that? Because if you bugger a screwdriver that doesn't have that feature, you have lost the entire screwdriver. If you manage to bugger one with interchangeable tips, you have only lost the tip.
If you work On Enfields the screw slots are narrower than other makes. For that matter most european guns have narrow screw slots. Have seen enough enfields with the rear trigger guard screw slot almost destroyed by cheap chisel tipped hardware store screwdrivers that turn out of the slot when you have a tight screw.
You will save money in the long run by getting the Brownells set, and you can customize it as the tips are available individualy as well as a set.
Use the hardware store screwdrivers to install wood screws. That's what they were made for.
Breaking news,Brownells are 1/4" hex industrial power bits.The magnetic screwdriver is common enough in the auto tools.The real trick is in the regrinding,the inch and half die-grinder wheel to get the tight hollow ground.My question is why those foreign idiots use slot when there is Robertson?
I hear ya guntech, I like to line up the slots of the screws that hold light switch covers too
My question regarding lined up slots on a gun is do you over tighten them or under tighten them to put them where you want? Or is it just not always possible?
The slot screw is a relic but lots of people still manage to butcher Robinson's so really it comes done to operator control on the screwdriver.
I use a product called screw grab friction drops to help with mangled screws, works pretty good just a small drop on the end of the screwdriver increases the friction in a worn out screw head.
I've heard it's simillar to lapping compounds for grinding/pollishing valves but I just buy the little tubes from Lee Valley.
My question regarding lined up slots on a gun is do you over tighten them or under tighten them to put them where you want? Or is it just not always possible?
The slot screw is a relic but lots of people still manage to butcher Robinson's so really it comes done to operator control on the screwdriver.
I use a product called screw grab friction drops to help with mangled screws, works pretty good just a small drop on the end of the screwdriver increases the friction in a worn out screw head.
I've heard it's simillar to lapping compounds for grinding/pollishing valves but I just buy the little tubes from Lee Valley.
Can-down said:I hear ya guntech, I like to line up the slots of the screws that hold light switch covers too
My question regarding lined up slots on a gun is do you over tighten them or under tighten them to put them where you want? Or is it just not always possible?
Lined up screws are a custom fit. The maker or the gunsmith must fit each screw that way. Usually this is done by having a screw with a head protruding straight up a considerable way. Then material is removed from the "bottom" of the head until when really tightened well the slot lines up. Then the head is dressed down and finished.
Friendly reminder:
Question was how to modify – grind commercial screwdriver to fit purpose of gunsmith.
I was thinking more about important differences between these two screwdrivers. Can somebody give more light to this?
I know we can by everything today but what is the challenge in that. So my question is what is the gunsmith screwdriver tip fundamental difference from regular screwdriver tip.
Thanks
Question was how to modify – grind commercial screwdriver to fit purpose of gunsmith.
I was thinking more about important differences between these two screwdrivers. Can somebody give more light to this?
I know we can by everything today but what is the challenge in that. So my question is what is the gunsmith screwdriver tip fundamental difference from regular screwdriver tip.
Thanks
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Basically a hollow ground screw driver contacts the screw slot evenly to it's full depth, where as a tapered screw driver can only contact the slot at the point where the taper and the screw slot are the same width - or worse the taper is too narrow so the blade only contacts when the blade sits diagonally in the slot.
downwindtracker2 said:
IMHO, for small screws, the Robertson or Allen head style would weaken the screw head. However, some companies use Allen head screws for the larger, i.e. action screws, now. And I for one applaud them
