doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Screwdriver question...

I know many a good gun has been marred from ill fitting screwdriver. Would a regular household screwdriver, ground to fit- be ok to use on a dbl? My thinking was that there are so many old screwdrivers out there for virtually nothing, maybe it would be an in expensive way to have a bunch of different gunsmithing screwdrivers? Is the metal in these different from those found on the special gunsmith tools?

Thanks

Alex

The only problem I see is there are a lot of crappy screwdrivers out there that no matter how well they fit will be to soft.

Bill G.

I buy older stanley screwdrivers, good blades or bad at the pawn shop. A buck a piece, grind em up as you need em.
Steve

Your idea is not a bad one, IMO. I have a deluxe set from Brownell's and if anything, they are too hard(brittle) and break under a heavy load, causing a scratch where you don't want one.

Exactly what I was thinking. Between pawn shops and yard sales- you can get a ton of screwdrivers for nothing.

Thanks guys

The only problem I see with store regular screwdrivers is that they are wedge-shaped and only a part of the wedge is gripping the slot. What I do is buy screwdrivers with chrome valadium shanks, under $2.00 a piece with 4" shanks, total length 6-7 inches. I grind them on the side of a grinding wheel, this way I can keep one side parallel to the other. I usually use a feeler guage to get the size of the slot and then use a vernier caliper to get the correct size of the tip. When done you will probably need to de-magnitize the tip because of the grinding.
Not only does this apply to gun screws, it applies to when I use slotted screws for appearance in woodworking.

Why not grind your own if you're skillful enoughu with a bench grinder. However; I'd rather buy the store bought variety and confine my "screwdriver" activity to the liquid variety!
Jim

at school brownell bits are annealed.and like you said soft blade will bend and not break leaving a really jagged edge.i file up turnscrews to fit. mc

In a pinch I have made some decent screwdrivers from old allen wrenches that I ground to the correct dimensions. If you can grind them without taking out the temper so much the better, if not heat treatment is a simple activity that I have my shop students do all the time. You could also regrind the mild steel screwdrivers and than caseharden them afterwords, though this would be a less desirable method in my opinion.

For a really first class set buy some 1/4 and 3/8" high carbon hex stock and make a complete set, Howe gives very good instructions on this topic.

I grind bits from Black and Decker sets, that Wally World sell for $6, to fit each screw. They are very tough and the cost is low. Of course the first turn out on an old screw is made with a drill press.
bill