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18th February 2013, 01:02 PM #1SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
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- Newcastle NSW
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- 755
Rather than a handful of screws, getting the screws ready to be picked up
Hi all,
OK this is one of those "why didn't I do this before" kind of moments. There is nothing amazing about this little jig, but I was definitely doing it the dumb way before.
I have been making a couple of items that require about 24 screws to be installed in one go (3 rows of 8), and when I make them I do it about 10 at a time, so that’s 240 screws to pick up and put in the holes.
Not thinking how can I do this better, I have been getting a handful of screws and placing the 24 screws in the holes ready for me to come along and drive them in, and of cause most of the screws in my hand are at the wrong angle, and some fall...etc...etc.
So in an I am bored moment (yes I know, I must have been very bored), I decided to look at how factories do it, how do they get the screws in the holes (clearly they would be smarter than me, and not sit their adding screws one by one), and I found a machine like this one Pneumatic Screw Feeder - YouTube among others. Clearly I am not going into mass production, this is what I came up with:
sort screws.jpg
Clearly not pretty, and could obviously be refined, but it does the job a lot quicker than what I was doing before. Basically I got a piece of scrap ply, and using my drop saw with the angle set at an angle, I cut some groves, first one way and then angled back to the other side (big enough so the screw fits through, but not the head). I though having them close together was a good idea, but I will make it again, leave a bigger gap between (as the screws get a bit caught up).
Next pour a pile of screws out and run them across the groves. The screws fall into the hole and obviously not all the way through. Now I have a lot of screws all sitting in the correct orientation to be picked up by my magnetic tipped bit (I stroke the screw driver bits across a strong magnet to make the magnetism stronger). Now I pick up the screw with the drill and place it in the hole as I drive it home.
I highly doubt this is an original idea, but I have searched and can't find a reference to it anywhere, (possibly because it is one of those obvious solutions that no one thinks needs to be shared, because I can’t work out the right key words to search for). I don't think it will win any awards, but hopefully it might help someone who like me has been putting screws in one handful at a time.
Cheers,
Camo
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18th February 2013, 01:06 PM #2
Good thinking.
RegardsHugh
Enough is enough, more than enough is too much.
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24th February 2013, 09:00 PM #3
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27th February 2013, 01:49 PM #4Skwair2rownd
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
- Location
- Dundowran Beach
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- 76
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- 694
Excellent idea!!!
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27th February 2013, 06:13 PM #5
Great idea.Should send it to one of the mags.
anne-maria.
Tea Lady
(White with none)
Follow my little workshop/gallery on facebook. things of clay and wood.
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27th February 2013, 08:14 PM #6SENIOR MEMBER
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
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- Newcastle NSW
- Posts
- 755
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1st March 2013, 09:30 AM #7GOLD MEMBER
- Join Date
- Aug 2012
- Location
- Imbil
- Posts
- 815
Hi camo,
All the great invention's are the simplest, how often have you heard that is so simple why didn't I think of that well here it is again. Very well done.
Regards Rod.