Some years back, I bought a lifetime supply of stainless steel machine screws in the usual sizes, all in 1- and 2-inch lengths. I was always cutting the things to length anyway, so why not start with nice screws?
The problem with cutting a screw is holding it securely enough that it doesn’t fly off into a far corner of the shop, but without goobering either the threads or the head.
The secret, at least as far as I can tell, is slitting a nut to make a secure clamp for sawing, filing, and grinding. I ran a slitting saw through a nut to get the result you see here. Although it’s awkward, a slit through a point means grabbing the nut on two parallel sides squeezes the slot closed: exactly what you want.
Slit a bunch of nuts whenever you get set up to do this, because those ugly thread ends on the cut screws tend to chew ’em up. If you have any foresight, you’ll thread the nut on the screw before you cut it, but that doesn’t work for really short screws.
Yeah, a lifetime supply of all different screw sizes and all different lengths would be nice, but I really don’t spend a whole lot of my life cutting screws…
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Comments
10 responses to “Holding Machine Screws for Trimming”
Simple, but brilliant — Thanks for the tip!
I certainly didn’t invent the idea and I’m sure there’s a better way, but … it works for me!
[…] sent me this link to a cool trick for holding round-head screws while you cut the threads shorter. Cut a thin slit in a correspondingly-threaded nut, through one […]
Great idea. Don’t forget the jam nut technique, thread on two nuts and tighten them against each other. When you’re done trimming, loosen them and unthread them, they will chase the threads on the way off.
Whenever I do that and then present the screw to Mr Grinder, the jammed nuts unjam and the screw departs for places unknown to the ken of mortal man. Maybe I don’t put enough oomph on the wrenches?
This way, at least I have its undivided attention for a while…
Isn’t that why they make superglue? To temporarily stick nuts together… Smack them on edge with a hammer to shock them apart after.
Isn’t that why they make superglue?
I’ve never been able to get cyanoacrylates to agree with me on what “temporary” means! Either the bond is more shock-sensitive than I expect or it takes some serious beating to break free.
This way, I just crunch the split nut, do the deed, and then it’s done. No muss, no fuss, no gluing my fingers together…
… Not to take anything away from this Great Idea!
[…] sent me this link to a cool trick for holding round-head screws while you cut the threads shorter. Cut a thin slit in a correspondingly-threaded nut, through one […]
[…] first peak comes from the Make magazine blog: they liked the trick of holding screws in slit nuts for trimming and […]