Dull Screwdriver! Reprise

John Musselwhite john@musselwhite.com
Tue, 08 Oct 2002 10:27:54 -0600


At 07:40 PM 07/10/02 -0700, Joe G. wrote:


>sharpen a screwdriver. As an aside, I'm still using the same screwdrivers I
>purchased, inherited & found over the past 30+ years. They are not worn out!

Same here. I'm still using some of my father's screwdrivers he bought 
before WW II!

>If there are those of you, who do know how to sharpen a screwdriver, then
>jump right in here.<G>

One of the best shop classes I ever took at a PTG convention was Pris and 
Joel Rappaport's class on sharpening tools that they presented in Toronto 
in the 1980s. While they mostly dealt with chisels and scrapers, 
screwdrivers were on the agenda too.

The tip of a flat blade screwdriver should be hollow ground on both sides 
with the point ground flat so it fits right down in the bottom of the slot 
and grips the sides. Hollow grinding lets the blade exert pressure in the 
entire screw slot as opposed to flat grinding where the force is mostly on 
the top of the slot. For an extreme example, check the slotted sockets on 
one of those little multi-screwdrivers with all the short magnetic bits.

Joel is a frequent visitor to the Pianotech IRC chat Tuesday nights. You 
can get more details from him if you need them. See you tonight!

                 John

John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
Pianotech IRC chats Tuesday and Thursday nights and Sunday Mornings
http://www.bigfoot.com/~kmvander/ircpiano.html



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