Parting off small screws - well, it may be new to somebody

In the process of making up a batch of 10BA screws I have discovered that in order to avoid the screws from being lost in the swarf it is quite effective to capture it using an old toothbrush. Nothing new under the sun of course but it works for me and it avoids meddlesome fingers near a rotating chuck.

Nice one, for larger items, I tend to catch them in aluminium foil ready meal trays.

Bill

I use the grill tray from our previous oven

What a good idea, well thought out, I'm about to make some batches of 8 ba PB screws for boiler construction I'll definitely give this a go.

Dave

Yes, it was new to me

David

When parting off parts with a bore, I catch them on a short length of welding filler rod held in the tailstock chuck.

I have a small muck tray under the chuck, travels with the saddle, slotted to slide under the hex hd BSF screw in the lower left side. Myford tapped it to hold their travelling steady which I rarely use or need. Small parted off items drop into tray. Use old toothbrush to sweep swarf overboard down back of lathe where it falls into an old shallow baking tray for occasional clean up. The permanently fitted BSF screw keeps swarf out of the tapped hole. Tray keeps muckiest part of lathe bed clean.

John

Baking trays, pots [no longer required by SWMBO ], where would we be without them ?

Also the old" piece of wire in the tailstock trick ", great for catching spacers or thick washers.

Simple, but they work !

I can loose 1/2" bolts in the swarf in the lathe, no bother.

Well have a tidy up then!

With a small amount of cutting oil, the brush will also lubricate as it holds the small parts. I like the brushes with the extended front bristles , as they will reach into the groove being created.

I'd be worried about the wife swallowing a screw in the morning

Having made a John Ashton Universal Screw Modification Fixture, I use that.

It means making a holder for every size / thread of screw, (And I HATE mass production, the score now stands at over a dozen! ) but it holds the screw firmly so that it cannot screw itself back in, or get lost.

The time making it and the various holders (From 8-32 UNC up to M8 ) was well spent.

Howard.

If it has a hole in it, I use a bit of something small enough in the tailstock chuck, as per Nicholas above. If it does not have a hole in it I catch it in a bit of 15mm copper tube, with the bottom end blocked with a wad of kitchen roll. If it is too big for 15mm tube, use bigger tube.

Either way, watch your fingers.

Dick

A small tube filled with grease over the part works well. Use this trick for watch parts - like balance staffs.

Dave

I use a tea filter to catch parts on the lathe