What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC. They seem to
cost about a couple of quid for a packet of twenty on Ebay - must be
cheaper to buy a hundred elsewhere?

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Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they?

Never had to buy any, they just seem to accumulate in the oddments tray

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute...ews#6-32_screw

Of course you always use them up on friends' computers so your own discs
end up fitted with just 2 or 3 screws.

On Mon, 14 May 2012 15:34:26 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC.

Varies older discs I have (5 years) are probably UNC. More recent
discs seem to have machine screw thread tapped holes possibly metric.

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Cheers
Dave.

On 14/05/2012 15:34, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC. They seem to
cost about a couple of quid for a packet of twenty on Ebay - must be
cheaper to buy a hundred elsewhere?

There seem to be at least two common sizes. Some take the normal case
diameter screws, and others need the smaller ones that are closer to M3.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:

On 14/05/2012 15:34, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they?

There seem to be at least two common sizes. Some take the normal case
diameter screws, and others need the smaller ones that are closer to M3.

Three 3.5" drives to hand all take the "case" screws (both for side and
bottom mounting) but a 2.5" one takes smaller ...

Andy Burns wrote:

On 14/05/2012 15:34, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they?

a 2.5" one takes smaller ...

Hitachi website says M3 (max thread length 2.5mm) for those.

On Monday, May 14, 2012 3:34:26 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC. They seem to
cost about a couple of quid for a packet of twenty on Ebay - must be
cheaper to buy a hundred elsewhere?

My experience is:-
6-32 UNC for 3.5" drives
M3 for 2.5" drives iirc
M3 for optical drives (CD, DVD)

In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
On 14/05/2012 15:34, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC. They seem to
cost about a couple of quid for a packet of twenty on Ebay - must be
cheaper to buy a hundred elsewhere?

There seem to be at least two common sizes. Some take the normal case
diameter screws, and others need the smaller ones that are closer to M3.

I'd be ok if they were metric - got vast stocks of those in the common
sizes. So it's the larger ones commonly used on 3.5" HDs and desktop cases.

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Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they?

Never had to buy any, they just seem to accumulate in the oddments tray

Mine seems to empty faster than it fills...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute...ews#6-32_screw

They call it UTS 6-32. Not a term I know. I think it is what we'd call
American (or National) coarse 6-32

Of course you always use them up on friends' computers so your own discs
end up fitted with just 2 or 3 screws.

--
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Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

They call it UTS 6-32. Not a term I know. I think it is what we'd call
American (or National) coarse 6-32

I you're in no particular hurry for some ...

http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00032Q3BA

On Mon, 14 May 2012 15:34:26 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC. They seem to
cost about a couple of quid for a packet of twenty on Ebay - must be
cheaper to buy a hundred elsewhere?

UNC 6/32

--
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On 14/05/2012 18:08, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
John wrote:
On 14/05/2012 15:34, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC. They seem to
cost about a couple of quid for a packet of twenty on Ebay - must be
cheaper to buy a hundred elsewhere?

There seem to be at least two common sizes. Some take the normal case
diameter screws, and others need the smaller ones that are closer to M3.

I'd be ok if they were metric - got vast stocks of those in the common
sizes. So it's the larger ones commonly used on 3.5" HDs and desktop cases.

About 0.135 inch or 3.4mm according to my callipers...

A 6-32 UTC thread apparently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_case_screws



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

They call it UTS 6-32. Not a term I know. I think it is what we'd call
American (or National) coarse 6-32

I you're in no particular hurry for some ...

http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00032Q3BA


That's a better price than I found on Ebay.

--
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Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

They call it UTS 6-32. Not a term I know. I think it is what we'd call
American (or National) coarse 6-32

I you're in no particular hurry for some ...

http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00032Q3BA


That's a better price than I found on Ebay.

http://cpc.farnell.com/startech/scre...ews/dp/CS11295

They used to be in the 99p corner in the offer leaflets from time to time.
(I've not noticed them recently, but I stopped getting the leaflets for
about 6 months and they only just started coming again).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Andy wrote:

http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00032Q3BA

That's a better price than I found on Ebay.

Google Shopping has a few listed as "£1 free shipping" but I suspect the
free shipping won't apply for such a tiny order if you actually get as
far as the checkout ...

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Mon, 14 May 2012 15:34:26 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they? I'd guess at American Coarse or UNC.

Varies older discs I have (5 years) are probably UNC. More recent
discs seem to have machine screw thread tapped holes possibly metric.

I think 2.5" drives have different sized holes for mounting.. the ones the
OP is talking about fit the holes in the side.
there are different holes in the face but I don't recall what size.

dennis@home wrote:

I think 2.5" drives have different sized holes for mounting..

Those are the M3 size.

the ones the OP is talking about fit the holes in the side. there are
different holes in the face but I don't recall what size.

I had a suspicion the ones on the face of the disc were smaller than the
ones on the edge, but I checked, and the "case" screws fit all mounting
points on a 3.5"

On 14/05/2012 18:21, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article54SdnULLTsJOhyzSnZ2dnUVZ8sGdnZ2d@brightvie w.co.uk,
Andy wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they?

Never had to buy any, they just seem to accumulate in the oddments tray

Mine seems to empty faster than it fills...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute...ews#6-32_screw

They call it UTS 6-32. Not a term I know. I think it is what we'd call
American (or National) coarse 6-32

UTS = Unified Thread Standard, which is a generic term that encompasses
both UNC and UNF threads. As you say UTS 6-32 is also UNC 6-32.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Andy wrote:

http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00032Q3BA

That's a better price than I found on Ebay.

Google Shopping has a few listed as "£1 free shipping" but I suspect the
free shipping won't apply for such a tiny order if you actually get as
far as the checkout ...

It does if you remember to tick the correct box - it defaults to charging
you for first class postage. But VAT ain't included.

--
*Some days we are the flies; some days we are the windscreen.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article54SdnULLTsJOhyzSnZ2dnUVZ8sGdnZ2d@brightvie w.co.uk,
Andy wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

What thread are they?

Never had to buy any, they just seem to accumulate in the oddments tray

Mine seems to empty faster than it fills...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute...ews#6-32_screw

They call it UTS 6-32. Not a term I know. I think it is what we'd call
American (or National) coarse 6-32

Of course you always use them up on friends' computers so your own discs
end up fitted with just 2 or 3 screws.

6/32 is the same thread as used to fix power outlets in australia

In article m,
F Murtz wrote:
6/32 is the same thread as used to fix power outlets in australia

The UK used BA up until about '70, then changed to M3.5.

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Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.