On Feb 19, 11:15*pm, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
"Evan" wrote in message

...
On Feb 19, 6:29 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:



I needed to replace some screws in a metal door hinge where I work They
must have used some odd ball size. I tried a #6 metric and it almost fit
but didn't. Went to a 1/4 inch in the two number of threads and it was too
big. The next size I could find was a # 12 and it did not fit. The #5
metric was too small. I found a new package of hinges with the screws and
they fit fine.

Which sizes of machine screw did you try ?
1/4-20 is the most common, but there is also:
1/4-28 and 1/4-32
assuming steel door frame, you would drill
two different sized holes depending on the
thread pitch for a 1/4" machine screw:
for 1/4-20 you would use a 7/32" drill bit,
for 1/4-28 or 1/4-32 you would use a #1 bit...
The same logic applies to a #12 size
machine screw...
12-24, #12 drill bit, 12-28, #10 drill bit,
12-32, #9 drill bit...
So the "size" of the fastener makes a
difference as well as the thread pitch...

Yes, I am aware there are diffent thread pitches. *The holes were already in
the door frame and the screws had fallen out over the years. *They just
needed to be replaced. *This is in a very large plant and we have a good
assortment of screws and bolts. *They are stored all over the place and
difficult to locate an exect size unless you know what it is and then we can
look it up on a computer database. There are 3 storage areas with shelves
that are about 40 by 80 feet. *Nothing is in order. *Real poor way to run a
system of parts. * I did try using a tap assortment to see if any of them
would work. *Nothing I had would work. *I did not care what kind of head the
screw had as I just wanted to find out what the thread size was.

*I know how to read the screw drill charts and do the tapping, but the holes
are already there. *I thought the holes might be stripped out,but when I
finally found a new hinge set that had the screws in it and the screws fit
just fine.

I am an electrician and was working with a mechanic on this. *This was on a
night shift and there were only the two of us there. *On the day shift there
are about 20 electricians and 40 mechanics to do the work. *That may give an
idea of the size of the plant.
We normally just work on emergency breakdowns at night , but also do other
things while all the equipment is running.


Sounds like your plant could do with trading a couple of mechanics for
a couple of inventory control clerks to organize the parts and stock
rooms...

If what you described is true and I have no doubt that it is as I have
seen
such environments before (the large poorly lit "warehouse" type
storage
rooms or cages in basements) then your group of 60 employees wastes
more than 80 hours in a week just seeking out and fetching parts from
amongst the 3 storage areas... Having a full-time person/people who
do
nothing but maintain and organize the stores means that fewer people
will have input into ordering things that they can not seem to find
even
though the computer says they *should* be there somewhere... That is
how you end up with many smaller caches of the same item in multiple
locations as people order more of something that can not be found in
the disorderly situation...

Your efficiency and productivity would be greatly improved if the
three
separate locations were merged into one central parts storage area
where you could walk up to a counter and ask the parts people for
whatever you need... That worked wonders for one of the sites I
used to work for, as fewer people had access to the parts and
supplies so a lot less of them were walking away or having the
leftovers returned to the wrong place...

~~ Evan