In one of the recent working with brass articles in GRR, Kevin showed how to make a tiny screw (bolt?) with a handheld die that you twist. This is exactly what I need, I thought, for a variety of projects. For instance, I’d like to make screws out of gauge 14 wire, of which I have a lot.
So I trucked over to Harbor Freight and picked up a set of taps and dies. When I got home, I discovered that the brass wire is too thin to cut grooves.
So I went to Radio Shack, Home Depot, Lowe’s Ace Harbor and other places, and ALL of their dies are too large (as are the taps).
Then, I went to my MicroMark catelog (which magically appears from time to time in my mailbox). Their sets begin at about $86 and I can’t tell by the description if their dies would thread a screw or what size screw.
In short, it is soooooooo expensive, and you need sooooooo many to make the screws in the size you need (or in the case of taps, in the size you need).
Your comments would be appreciated.