Screwdriver bits for WIDE screw heads

Sam_PNW · Jul 21, 2020

How do you deal with screws with WIDE narrow slots, like this one on a Graflex shutter plate? I have an array of hollow and precision ground bits which work great with ordinary screws, but I don’t have a good solution to these. Even with a bit that fits properly thickness wise into the slot, none I have are wide enough to fit all the way across, and they can still chew into the head.
I’m thinking about getting some ground flat stock of varying thickness and fabricating my own, but an off-the-shelf solution would be simpler.

John Koehrer · Jul 21, 2020

I've defaced dimes before to make "special tools" for specific uses. They've had the width and are thin enough and soft
enough that it's not an all day job. For a handle a small set of vice grips or solder a wide piece of brass to it.

AgX · Jul 21, 2020

Acquire large screwdrivers, best with short stem, and grind them to size.

Truzi · Jul 21, 2020

Assuming nothing is in the way, I'd just use the flat stock as-is. Put it in long-ways and use as a lever. Unless you specifically want a tool, you may not even need to buy anything - just see what you have laying around. If you have a junk-drawer you may find something to improvise.

John Earley · Jul 23, 2020

Like Truzi I frequently use flat stock as is or ground to the correct thickness to fit across the width of the screw. For deeper areas I've slotted a rod and soldered a short piece of flat stock of the needed width into the end. The stock has to be hard/rigid enough to not just bend when torquing the screw.

outwest · Jul 23, 2020

That's not cut for a quarter, is it?

John Earley · Jul 23, 2020

This is an example made from a SS bandsaw blade for a special set of screws. Shaped with a hand file the blade is 15mm wide x .85mm thick.

Custom made screw driver from bandsaw blade by JOHN EARLEY, on Flickr

AndyH · Jul 23, 2020

I get high quality "gunsmith" type screwdrivers and grind them down when I need a special tool.

Andy

AgX · Jul 23, 2020

Good point. But the term "gunsmith screwdrivers" may not be known to those outside the USA.
At least it was unknown to me, as were the depicted models I saw searching for this term

AndyH · Jul 23, 2020

AgX said:
Good point. But the term "gunsmith screwdrivers" may not be known to those outside the USA.
At least it was unknown to me, as were the depicted models I saw searching for this term

Fair point. I'm not even sure what they're called outside of the US, but they're generally wooden handled and made from a "blued" steel rather than chrome vanadium and the like. If you have a particular camera or particular need often enough that it's worthwhile, they are easy to grind and retain their strength. You can also re-anneal them by heating them up with a torch and immersing them in oil to quench.

Andy

eli griggs · Jul 23, 2020

If you can weld, or silver solder, consider going to pawn shops, flee markets and buying square shafted, wood handled "Great Neck" slotted screwdrivers in medium to large sizes, and then take, depending on your welding or silver soldering or epoxy choices, cut the existing tips off, then saw and file a slot in the shaft, deep enough to take either a coin half, (You wont be in dutch with the law for defacing currency), or a piece of HHS, such as the M2 Blanks sold at Harbor Freight for less than $5 a set, and join it by welding, Sliver Solder, epoxy, or use permanent Loctite Red gel if it's available, (which is great, but must be a close fit) and when ready, dress the edge and thickness of the mounted coin for best results, to fit the slots in your cameras.

This will give you long handles with good grips and the ability to, if ever needed, to cut down the modification and either grind a new tip or add some other feature.

Those shafts, by-the-way, age good quality tool steel, so if you do your part, correctly, they will last a life time and give you a high quality and simple option to get the job done right.

I hope this helps and, Cheers to all.

AgX · Jul 23, 2020

One can do so, but would it not be easier to take a commercial screwdriver and grind it to size than to the solder a coin or sheet of metal to such screwdriver?

Sam_PNW · Jul 23, 2020

Thanks for the gunsmith screwdriver lead - I had looked through those before and not found anything suitable. But I took another pass and I’ve found a ‘Leupold windage bit’ which is 0.432x0.069” or 11x1.75mm in size. That is a little too thick but plenty wide - I can grind it down a little and it should be perfect.

AndyH · Jul 23, 2020

Sam_PNW said:
Thanks for the gunsmith screwdriver lead - I had looked through those before and not found anything suitable. But I took another pass and I’ve found a ‘Leupold windage bit’ which is 0.432x0.069” or 11x1.75mm in size. That is a little too thick but plenty wide - I can grind it down a little and it should be perfect.

Good news! Spendy, but worth it.

I ground down a cheap, Made in China version for a one-off project a few years ago, when I didn't think I would use it for anything else. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of a five dollar item. The Chinese tool industry is making some great progress.

Andy

eli griggs · Jul 24, 2020

AgX said:
One can do so, but would it not be easier to take a commercial screwdriver and grind it to size than to the solder a coin or sheet of metal to such screwdriver?

Think about the geometry of the camera slots and the size coins most are made, then about the largest width of most screwdrivers, which at best, is often maxed out at about the width of a small coin, such as a dime.

The sweaping crescent of the normal camera covers requires a like, sweep be ground into the screwdrivers, to help prevent 'torquing out of the slot and damaging the camera slots.

You're also are better off by avoiding the typical tapered profile of most screwdrivers and using a flat or even hollow grind tip.

By the way, I err when I said to put the cut flat of a coin downward as the piece going into the slot.

The rounded edge of a coin or coin half needs to be the tip of the modified screwdrivers.

Damage to finish, slots and the camera in general by badly fitting tips that torque out when maximum twisting force is applied can ruin the value of even a good beater, just as the wrong screwdrivers instead of good firearm screwdrivers used by Smith's can be.

I suppose the last thing I'll mention is there is another option to the square shafted Great Neck drivers, can be square shafted removable two or three inch shafted bits for drills and multi-tip screwdrivers, including racheting types, so modyfing these would be simply easier than hunting up the dedicated G.N. screwdrivers.

IMO.

AgX · Jul 24, 2020

Concerning the coin-screws at cameras I use indeed sheet metal (aluminium, or brass) that I milled to thickness and rounded to shape. I only know few camera models that need even more elaborated tools. These are the Minox 35 etc. where the "coin" bit needs to be handled right next to the lens.

grain elevator · Jul 24, 2020

AgX said:
Concerning the coin-screws at cameras I use indeed sheet metal (aluminium, or brass) that I milled to thickness and rounded to shape. I only know few camera models that need even more elaborated tools. These are the Minox 35 etc. where the "coin" bit needs to be handled right next to the lens.

Why not use a coin? If you want something gentler, softer, guitar picks often work.

eli griggs said:
The sweaping crescent of the normal camera covers requires a like, sweep be ground into the screwdrivers, to help prevent 'torquing out of the slot and damaging the camera slots.

You're also are better off by avoiding the typical tapered profile of most screwdrivers and using a flat or even hollow grind tip.

Highlight one: Can you elaborate? I don't get it.
Highlight two: Excellent point, I suspect a hollow grind would have awesome grip and can't deform a screw head, as long as it's in good shape. I need to make one or two.

eli griggs · Jul 24, 2020

The op was unable to put enough torque on the coin to force it open, which is why I suggest a proper fitting modification, so the resulting tool has enough leverage to do the job.

The use of coins or coin shapes, whether round or 50% of the coin used to properly fill those slots, which have concave depressions, will give needed mechanical advantage, better than a flat head screwdriver, hollow ground or no.

Given a long enough screwdriver, you can move the World.

IMO.

AgX · Jul 24, 2020

grain elevator said:
Why not use a coin?.

None of the Euro coins fits. The one with best circumferal fit, I have to grind down, just to get it into the slit.s. Furthermore they got a raised edge, that would marr the slit.

The result of use of unfit coins I can see at countless coin-screws at cameras and accessories from my collection.

eli griggs · Jul 24, 2020

An American penny will fit but use a pre-1982 copper coin, which smugly fits the F and A series Canons, Nikon FG and EM, Minolta X-370 Pentax K100, Yeshica, slr, Olympus 35 and XA/XA2 and the Zenit 12 XP, though it does have a small ridge which can easily file/sanded down for a smother fit.

A set of Dime, Penny, Nickel, Quarter of American coins with mounting holes drilled for on a key chain, should fit most needs and a modified screwdriver or small stiff, mild steel bar with a coin fixed either at the end of a vertical or at the end side of either leverage tool for stuck caps. Alternatively, a .5 inch or 12.5mm flat head screwdriver or slightly larger, at the tip, will grind down nicely, however I suggest cutting off the thinner tip, and moving the beginning grind up the blade until it is in metal the thickness of a penny, giving it it's arc and hallow grinding both sides just shy of a penny thickness.

If the majority of your cameras will take a penny grind, this is the simplest way is to modify a screwdriver, as others have suggested, but I still recommend using heavy steel shafts in square profile, as, when needed, you can clamp a Vice-Grip to that shaft or just use pliers, to give extra force to a frozen battery/motor cap.

If your screwdriver has bolstered handle cap, like this set at Harbor Freight, you can use a socket and rachet to apply torque,though I think the round shaft and blade on the largest is too small so heavy cutting and grinding will be needed.

Personally, I do no care for forcing a cap off with that much pressure but better to replace the cap and rechase camera threads then let Heaven knows what be destroyed by batteries and their corrosive content.

Cheers and Godspeed to all.

IMO.

IMO.

AgX · Jul 24, 2020

eli griggs said:
Personally, I do no care for forcing a cap off with that much pressure but better to replace the cap and rechase camera threads then let Heaven knows what be destroyed by batteries and their corrosive content.

How do you "rechase" the thread for a coin-screw? They are of a dimension one typically has neither a tap for, nor would such work, unless the camersa is heavily disassembled.

eli griggs · Aug 10, 2020

AgX said:
How do you "rechase" the thread for a coin-screw? They are of a dimension one typically has neither a tap for, nor would such work, unless the camersa is heavily disassembled.

I believe of the shelf flat bottom taps exist for doing this work, otherwise, how could a camera repair shop do that s work, and if you can no find what you need at first, a machinist can do the job.

Too many people want to do an hour's searching online, and then believe because they did not find what they are looking for, that it does no exist.

Part of the fun of using old cameras is keeping them running well, and hunting up solutions to the regular and irregular issues is part of that, too.

I'll always suggest, instead of butting heads against walls by always coming at problems straight on, try coming at a roadblock a bit askew, using new perspectives to see possibilities that would no present themselves any other way.

IMO.

eli griggs · Aug 10, 2020

Just found this to add to the topic at hand.

https://www.amazon.com/PB-Swiss-PB-...7040516&sprefix=pb+swiss+screwdriver&sr=8-13#

IMO.

AgX · Aug 10, 2020

The problem is, those screw caps have slits that vary both in radius and slit-width. However such off-the shelf tool might be the start for customizing.

eli griggs · Aug 10, 2020

I agree, especially if your majority of shooters are, as is in my case, Canon F series, or Nikon's or Pentax, etc, and have the coin slot covers we are discussing in this thread.

IMO.

Screwdriver bits for WIDE screw heads

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