Forgot the two places someone suggested to find this piece, as I’m disorganized lately. Remind me please. 
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Sorby replacement screw—remind me again
- Thread starter Alan Weinberg
- Start date
The black allen head screw itself? A "button head screw"?
Should be able to find metric and 'Merican thread versions of those at good local hardware stores (not the "home improvement" stores). Take the tool with you and try out screws until you find the one that fits.
Should be able to find metric and 'Merican thread versions of those at good local hardware stores (not the "home improvement" stores). Take the tool with you and try out screws until you find the one that fits.
Any decent hardware store will have an assortment of possible replacements. It would be tempting to go stainless to prevent rust, but a magnet won't help you find it. (you know, that one time you drop it)
Amazon have them, if you don’t mind buying a few.
Ha! I believe in preemptive strikes!
I love those hardware assortments and filled a tall tool box snd shelves with a variety of bolts, nuts, washer sets, in steel, brass, and stainless, imperial and metric, various head types. When I need something I don’t have I order an assortment. Another cabinet has assortment boxes of springs, cotter pins, o-rings, clips. SO handy.
I do recommend getting good thread gauges in imperial and metric. And don’t forget sets of taps, dies. Also helpful are those strings of thread testers you sometimes see at autoparts and hardware stores - they have both external and internal threads.
When I kick off someone can open a hardware store.
I buy most of my fasteners from eBay and always order more than I need.
I just checked four of my Sorby tools that have button head screws with hex sockets.
I have three different tools, two larger, and one small, with that attachment.
They all use the same thread: 3/16"x32. Some are about 5/8" long and a some are shorter, about 3/8" long.
All of these use a 1/8" allen wrench.
I have two other Sorbys made for texturing - they use different screws.
And you might use the search feature at the top right of the screen and locate the other thread.
JKJ
I have three different tools, two larger, and one small, with that attachment.
They all use the same thread: 3/16"x32. Some are about 5/8" long and a some are shorter, about 3/8" long.
All of these use a 1/8" allen wrench.
I have two other Sorbys made for texturing - they use different screws.
And you might use the search feature at the top right of the screen and locate the other thread.
JKJ
For very specialised screws (type, length, etc), McMaster-Carr is my go-to.
I’m surprised Sorby tools have imperial threads. I’d expect them to be M5 x .8 or M6 x 1.
I checked mine with calipers, by the thread count, with both metric and imperial thread gages and with the metric and imperial thread testers. Mine are 3/16 x 32 tpi.
Of course, I didn't buy mine in the UK. Wouldn't make much sense to me but maybe they sell different hardware to different markets. Maybe there were different batches made at different times - mine are relatively old. Or maybe some are manufactured in different countries. Stranger things have happened.
I still recommend a person measure the thread of the tool in their hand. Without having the thread tester at home, if the screw is missing it might be easiest to carry the tool to the hardware or auto part's store or a mechanic and ask them to check the threaded hole with a tester or with a screw from their stock.
They are 10-32 x 5/8 inch. Ace didn’t have that size but got some 1/2 inch that may be ok. Thanks all.
As Robert Sorby is a UK company I doubt it.
I came across this post on another site that possibly explains the confusion. Possibly good enough for a non critical application but M5 screws aren’t difficult to source. Whether you need High Tensile 12.9, or stainless steel is good enough is another matter?
The worst part of the button head is the shallow recess for the wrench, it guarantees it will wear out sooner than later. A far better choice is the standard cap head, black not stainless as the stainless is soft and will ear out much like the button head. The black is high tensile and can take a lot of abuse before the need to replace.
and I learned that the length of the screw refers to thread length and not including the head—I’m new at this. So it’s a 10-32 x 1/2 inch. Found some on line. Shipping more than the screws.
Many years ago I found out from bitter experience that Hex socket screws, at least in the smaller sizes, are quite easy to round out, even in high tensile screws. Probably the worst for this are countersunk screws. If for any reason I have to use CS screws I go for the Torx variety whenever possible.
Cap Head socket screws are normally fine. I’ve used these down to M2.5 and not had any issues in the past.
I bought a Supernova 2 Chuck a while back and was pleased to see they had Torx screws rather than Hex that most other chuck manufacturers use.