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ghporter · Apr 22, 2009, 05:11 PM

I am looking for a screw to replace the (missing) ones for an external hard drive enclosure. It's a #6-32 threaded screw about 3/8" long...that's the easy part. The problem is that it's a "flat head" screw, but the head is TINY. A typical 6-32 flat head screw's head diameter is around 0.23-0.25", but this one is only around 0.15" (as judged from the countersink it is supposed to go into.

This is not a custom screw. It's apparently used in old IBM drive caddies, and I've seen the style before in retail hard drive packages. I just do not know the name for this particular screw head and that bugs the snot out of me!

Plus it's hard to find a part if you can't describe it fully...

Does anyone have a hint, glimmer, clue or guess for what the head on these screws is called?

mduell · 08:11 PM

Sounds like just a narrower angle on the countersink, like 60 degrees instead of the usual 100 degrees.

Or it could be undercut instead of countersunk.

msuper69 · Apr 23, 2009, 12:11 PM

Post a clear, in focus close-up picture.

Might be easier for someone to identify that way.

reader50 · Apr 23, 2009, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Need a Technical Term for a Screw

"TOS" for most cable ISPs?

More seriously, give us a picture of one, like msuper69 suggests. Provide a penny for scale, because it's traditional, and inexpensive.

hwojtek · Apr 23, 2009, 01:47 PM

"Screw (n): universal cylindrically-shaped metal connector with spirally-threaded sidewall and top plane shaped to accommodate a (see:) screwdriver."

(sorry, I just couldn't stop myself from making it happen)

CharlesS · Apr 23, 2009, 02:24 PM

Your self-control is weak. I, too, was tempted to do that, but I managed to hold myself back from screwing up the thread. Shame on you.

ghporter · 03:51 PM

If I had ONE to photograph, I'd also have one to show hardware store guys...

My search continues...

P.S.: it doesn't look like an undercut head; the head tapers closer to the threaded body, it's just VERY small in diameter.

mduell · Apr 24, 2009, 08:48 PM

How about a photo of the hole?

Why isn't it a 60 degree countersink?

ghporter · Apr 24, 2009, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

How about a photo of the hole?

Why isn't it a 60 degree countersink?

When I get home Monday, I'll take a picture. I'll try to get my engineer's scale in it too, so size comes across.

The application for this screw is kind of special: it's on a bracket that has to clear a very close enclosure shell, and the countersink in the bracket is just about all the room there is.

I had really hoped that this screw was an "unusual but common" type of screw. Being "special" is good now and then, but this is way too special for me.

ghporter · May 18, 2009, 07:17 PM

Well I finally got this issue fixed. The manufacturer sent me replacement screws, and I took a picture of the head to show what it is.

It looks more like a 120º angle on the head. These are still 6-32 screws, so you can look see how they compare to a standard screw.

I still want to know what these things are called, but at least my wife's enclosure is together and complete.

Spheric Harlot · May 19, 2009, 02:30 AM

Saw the thread title and thought, "intercourse", but decided against posting it.

Luckily, considering the last post about your wife's enclosure.

ghporter · May 19, 2009, 08:05 AM

Lame, SH, really lame...

For some reason I NEVER consider the "humorous aspects" of terms I use here. For someone who has spent so much time being particularly careful to select just the precisely correct wording for so many things, you'd think I'd have learned...

So, do you have a name for the particular type of fastener in the drive enclosure I got for my wife? Does anyone?

Spheric Harlot · May 19, 2009, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Lame, SH, really lame...

Good thing I decided not to post it, eh?