RCBS, great service buy werid parts choices

[Walter Laich]

OK, RCBS was great in sending me a replacement part when I broke the screw that holds the handle to the nozzle shut off pin.

It, the screw was frozen so I figured I'd add a cheater bar so I'd be sure to torque off the screw head--and was successful!! Yea, team!

I check the manual and the screw is listed as a 5/40 by 3/8 . . . OK, 3/8 is length but what is a 5/40 screw??

luckily the folks here set me straight that it is a 5-40 screw (and since I know what 4-40 and 6-32 screws are I now know what this screw is)

Now my new question is: they couldn't use a 4-40 or 6-32--easy to find them. 5-40, not so much.

I am using a 4-40 nut and bolt to hold handle and shut off pin together and it works great; just waiting on the replacement from RCBS which is in the mail

[Bent Ramrod]

When you set up a production line to make stuff, the toolmakers don’t care what standards they work to; they’ll set you up with any size and thread you want.

So then it’s a question of what you want. If your brother-in-law the engineer calculates that a 5-40 screw is just a teensy bit stronger or otherwise in some other way superior for the application, you go with that. If the Accounting Dept points out that you will have a captive market for spare parts if you use nonstandard threads, so much the better. If your Legal Dept advises that using some oddball size will keep people from using Home Depot Grade Zero stove bolts when they home repair your product and sue you when it falls apart, better still.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Walter,

A #5 screw has a major diameter of .1250",
a #4 screw has a major diameter of .1120",
a #6 screw has a major diameter of .1380.

Hope this helps, AntiqueSledMan.

[Land Owner]

Build a house. Fill it with materials that are currently available.

In [pick a number] seven years, when fans, light fixtures, faucets, switches, etc., begin to wear out and fail, those "readily accessible" products, available then, are discontinued, no longer made, or unavailable locally. Choices have to be made. Bent Ramrod makes a good argument...

[jonp]

Build a house. Fill it with materials that are currently available.

In [pick a number] seven years, when fans, light fixtures, faucets, switches, etc., begin to wear out and fail, those "readily accessible" products, available then, are discontinued, no longer made, or unavailable locally. Choices have to be made. Bent Ramrod makes a good argument...

He does. I have a list of parts I need that are "discontinued".