Hoot's Head

[Eggman]

Well Hoot got nailed in the head by one of those blow out clean out screws in the Itallian Smith Saturday. Hoot is OK but the head of the screw was dented somewhat.

[Maillemaker]

Wow, I had not heard about that one!

Had a great time at the shoot though!

Steve

[Joe Plakis, 9575V]

Had the same thing happen to my Smith and my Fathers, both Italian Repos, Hoyt has a fix where he thread in a piece of all thread and gives a new screw more than on threads worth of grip....

[jonk]

I got my smith used, and it had evidently happened to someone in the past with it... as the threads on the screw and in the bolster were both stripped, and it was JB welded in place. Not evident until I went to remove the screw.

Easy enough fix to re-thread it for a size or two up and install a new screw.

[Michael Bodner]

Jonk,

Be cautious about removing that screw with the intent of just 'up-threading'. My Pietta Smith had been over-milled: That is to say, they milled too deeply thus resulting in a very thin wall where the screw had only 1-2 threads to catch. Even if I re-tapped, the new, larger screw would also only have 1-2 threads...

I went with a repair: Measure the angle of the flash-hole to clean-out screw (YES, that's why the hole is there - Not for cleaning, but for drilling the straight flash hole...), insert/make a rod that fits inside the bolster as flush/tight with the walls as possible, remove it, drill it at the correct angle, then center bore it (partial depth) for the flash channel, then thread 1/2 of the angled hole. Return it to the bolster and line up the threads with the original clean-out hole. Install screw into this new, longer threaded hole!!

Kevin on 111th Ohio taught me this method (Thanks Kevin!). He's a genius at this repair and was kind enough to teach me how to do it...

I've made several as the mild steel tends to burn out over time. I suppose I should harden one and see if it lasts any longer (getting YEARS out of the BTW)

-Mike

[Eggman]

Just a thought but maybe a brief workshop on this early Saturday night at the national might be valuable. Maybe alongside the Celtic bodhram beaters. A lotta Smiths. A lotta weak screws -- big safety issue. Kevin and Bootsie??