Early on I noticed that the clutch head tools fit very sloppy in the original clutch head screws on my truck. I just thought it might be because the slots were wrung out by previous removal and installation.
But being the curious type that I am and a nit picker on top of that I've noticed some little details that stand out when I look at the original advertisement from “UNITED SCREW AND BOLT CORPORATION” that Tim posted. The reproduction screws and screw drivers aren’t the same shape as the originals.
The screws that are on that "tractor" John Deere site really don't have the original hour glass shape and looking at reproduction screws that I've gotten from several of our vendors the same thing hold true with their screws. Also all of the drivers sold today are also wrong, whether they are those sets of four screwdriver handle bits or the individual hex drive bits that McMaster sells or the SnapOn and hardware store square drive choices. None of them have the original shape. For ease of manufacturing all of the drivers today are simply cut using standard end mills, which gives them a butterfly/bowtie shape. If you have a mill you can duplicate this very easily, I’ve made a couple my self.
The original shape is perfectly clear in Tim’s advertisement, there is a large outer diameter and a small inner pilot diameter and the straight lines. These lines are very crisp and will defined in the original screws. The matching drivers are cut using a form tool not an end mill, which is also quite clear when you look at the end of the machine cut on the bit.
As the literature states, all of this gives a positive “lock on” of the screw and driver which I have yet to see with any of the reproduction screws or drivers.
So I guess this explains why this is just one more of those poorly executed attempts at reproducing an original part or tool.
Oh if I only had Jay Leno’s money and could afford to design and manufacture some decent American Made high quality reproductions!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Last edited by Denny Graham; 10/26/2008 1:29 PM.
