Thread: Rather than a handful of screws, getting the screws ready to be picked up

Good thinking.
Regards

Originally Posted by camoz

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

Camo you have done it again!!...... Take another $50 out of the till
Col

Ps its been raining and very windy can't get out for fishing

Excellent idea!!!

Great idea.Should send it to one of the mags.

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Originally Posted by colbra

Ps its been raining and very windy can't get out for fishing

Col, I wish I could be thinking about better ways to fish, instead I am spending my time sorting screws.....hopefully one day soon.

Camo

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.