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Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 76
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 08:22 am: | 
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A couple of months ago, there was an interesting thread on screwdrivers in this group. I wasn't sure whether to resurrect that thread or start a new one. Anyway...
I work mainly on OLD cameras which often involves more woodworking than small mechanical repairs. Even the old shutters are often big and crude compared to the more modern classics more often discussed in this forum.
Not long ago, I picked up an old Kodak Enlarging Camera from early in the last century. It had a couple of fistfuls of heavily oxidized nickle plated fittings which pretty much required removal and a soak in vinegar before polishing. The old screws were often TIGHT in the century old wood, and the slots were often thinner than we're familiar with today. I was having trouble getting enough "ommph" with the tiny metal handles on my typical small screwdrivers, and kept falling back on an old wooden handled one of unknown origin... It not only had a thicker handle, but seemed to fit many of the old wood screws better than my modern set.
This led me to seek out more dinky old wooden handled screwdrivers of around three inch overall length, mainly on ebay, and I've been very happy using them. An added benefit is that many of the old wooden handles are so esthetically attractive that I've built a little rack above my bench for them. Looks kind of cool...  |
Msiegel
Tinkerer
Username: Msiegel
Post Number: 185
Registered: 03-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 10:49 am: |
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We'll have to believe you concerning the coolness of the look as there is, unfortunately, no picture.
But I agree with you that even the simplest wooden handle looks better than today's plastic grips.
I also made the experience on older cameras that screw heads often are not made for modern tools. Voigtländers often have screw heads with quite large diameters and narrow slots so that the screw drivers fitting the slot are too small to give enough torque.
Now I know what to add on my searching list when going to the flea market next time. Good hint! Thanks
Martin |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1094
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 07:53 pm: |
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In the larger sizes, the best screwdrivers you can get are the ones made for gunsmiths. These have the tips of the blades ground parallel rather than tapering, so that they do not cam out and bugger the screws - and they have nice big square-section wooden handles. They are not cheap, though! And I have seen imitations that look like them (and I think were being sold as 'gunsmith's screwdrivers') but do not have the parallel-ground blade tips. |
Msiegel
Tinkerer
Username: Msiegel
Post Number: 186
Registered: 03-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 18, 2010 - 01:42 am: |
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Thanks for the hint Rick. I fear those screwdrivers are difficult to find here in Austria but I will keep my eyes open now that I know what to look for. |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 77
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 18, 2010 - 06:51 am: |
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Wish I could post pics... The restored Kodak Enlarging Camera would probably be more interesting than my rack of little screwdrivers. For ten or eleven years, I used a webtv box. It had limited capabilities, but had the advantage of being SIMPLE. I have yet to figure out how to send or post pictures with this @#&% laptop. I've followed the instructions, but something isn't set up right or something. This probably has something to do with why I still shoot film too...
I DO have a set of gunsmith's screwdrivers, which I use on "guns." The blades on mine are too thick for my old cameras, but I regrind conventional blades on a small wheel to achieve the hollow ground parallel tips. That helps with just about ANY straight bladed screwdriver. |
Juliard1
Tinkerer
Username: Juliard1
Post Number: 7
Registered: 04-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 04:28 am: |
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Rick is spot on with his recommendations. Camming out is the biggest problem. I ordered a set of JIS screwdrivers from Micro Tools which work just fine on the heads of camera screws (Japanese). |
Zuikopath
Tinkerer
Username: Zuikopath
Post Number: 7
Registered: 05-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 01, 2010 - 01:27 pm: |
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I also use a set of proper JIS screwdrivers and they are a superb fit into Japanese miniature crosshead screws. |
Emtor
Tinkerer
Username: Emtor
Post Number: 4
Registered: 07-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2010 - 12:56 pm: |
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When fixing two old Rolleicords I also found the screwdrivers to be too thick so I ground mine down to fit the slots. I also made another discovery: Modern screwdrivers are magnetic. Not good when using them for poking around in shutter-units! |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 80
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2010 - 04:48 pm: |
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I find diamond sharpening "stones" indispensable for finishing up screwdrivers and good cutting tools. Ordinary stones get worn and lose their flatness where the diamond is on hardened metal so using a figure 8 pattern when honing I can get flat parallel surfaces.
Jay |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 138
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2010 - 10:04 am: |
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About the Voigtlander screws with long slots slim as razor blades: I believe you are talking about the one under the distance scale on a Voigtlander RF. If so, they also tend to be have shellac jamming the threads. You pretty much have to grind a screwdriver down very thin to get those out. The problem is, with a blade that thin, you usually can't apply enough tourque to break it free of the shellac. A ground down Craftsman screwdriver bent and a ground down Snap-on screwdriver broke -- twice. A ground down Stanly screwdriver held up though. |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 85
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2010 - 03:59 pm: |
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Around here you can buy a pretty nice set of Stanley miniature screwdrivers at Walmart at a reasonable cost. I find them preferable to the hardware store all metal ones which vary widely in quality. The Moody are very good if you need the JIS type. And RJ cool tools is the best source for Moody I have found in the US.
Jay |
Jayd
Tinkerer
Username: Jayd
Post Number: 86
Registered: 06-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2010 - 04:04 pm: |
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I am wondering what one could do to soften the shellac? would heat: like holding a solder iron tip on the screw help ? heat works for most lock tight compounds but I don't know about shellac? alcohol would soften it but you can't get it to the thread.
Good luck
Jay |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 79
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 08, 2010 - 06:04 pm: |
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Being the original poster in this thread, I think I may have finally figured out how to wrangle this laptop into posting a URL for a picture, so I'm going to make an attempt to show my rack of little screwdrivers...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-7/1052094/screwdriver%20rack%20001.jpg
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-7/1052094/screwdriver%20rack%20002.jpg
And this is the old Kodak Enlarging Camera that started the whole thing...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-7/1052094/Kodak%20Enlarging%20Camera.jpg |
Sedgwic
Tinkerer
Username: Sedgwic
Post Number: 2
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2010 - 07:35 pm: |
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Marty, I think I'd spend many hours looking at the goodies in your workshop. |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 3
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2010 - 08:14 pm: |
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You and my Dad have a lot in common Marty when it comes to workshops. I on the other hand have not had a permanent spot to set up a decent abode, so this is what I use.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/5060868650/in/set-72157625116229192/
It gets me by for now.
PF |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 81
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2010 - 09:52 pm: |
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Fun to see this thread resurrected. Anybody in the mood to read a long ramble about my screwdriver rack, shot through with some family history in a letter to my mother, can probably find it by googling "The Perfect Screwdriver Rack." I posted it awhile back in rec.woodworking. |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 82
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2010 - 10:08 pm: |
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Br1078lum, looks like you're off to a good start! My little room down in the basement has been evolving, deteriorating, and mutating for close to 35 years... Aside from old cameras, I've got a lot of old flashlights and memorabilia down there. |
