Need help identifying a screw

[skorpien]

I hope this isn't too much of a strange request, but I was hoping someone could help me in identifying a screw.

I have two optical drives that I've dismantled so that I can paint the metal casing a gloss black. The build I'm doing has them both clearly visible and I'd wanted to blend them in a bit.

It seems though that sometime during the disassembly, I lost one of the screws that hold the casing parts together. I need help identifying it so that I can replace it when I put it back together.

The screw on the right is the one I need to find out. The one on the left is a #6-32 1/2" for comparison. I've been to Home Depot and they told me as it wasn't a standard size/type, they didn't have it and couldn't identify it. I figured I'd ask in here as searching online hasn't helped much at all.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!



PS - apologies for the low quality phone pic.

 

[EarthDog]

I see top and bottom. I assume the bottom is the one you know and the top is the one you need to find out, correct?

 

[Mr.Scott]

Top is a #6 self tapping sheet metal screw.

 

[Robert17]

^ It appears to be a #6x3/8 or 5/16" long, type 'B', which refers to the point being flat/blunt. But the head style isn't quite a pan head although you could probably go with that. In the Far East there is a propensity for metrics and although they use the same wire guages for diameter, they measure all in millimeters. My best guess based upon these pictures is 3.5mm x 10mm long cheese head sheet metal screw. Probably torx drive at that.

What will work, easy to get? #6x3/8 phillips pan head sheet metal screw type B. And they're cheap. Try Ace Hardware if you have one near by. Home Depot has a pretty good screw section these days as well.

 

[skorpien]

Strange that it's rotated. I uploaded it with my phone and it appears the right way on here... If you orient the heads of the screws to the bottom, then the one on the right is the mystery screw.

Edit: better yet, it's the shorter screw. The longer screw is the #6-32 1/2"

Thank you for the answers guys. Unfortunately I've already tried Home Depot without luck, and Ace Hardware doesn't have any stores nearby.

I'm going to try a few more hardware stores today. Though now I can try searching online to order some of the ones you guys suggested.

 

[Luke1978]

Get a small (most likely metric) ruler and measure the distance between 2 points of the thread. This is will be your pitch (I can't think of any optical drive that would have imperial anything in it) Use a caliper to measure the diameter of the screw, then the length... buy appropriate screw and reassemble.

 

[wingman99]

You might be able to call a case manufacture like Cooler Master and get the parts from there. If you have a PC repair shop nearby they have what you need.

 

[skorpien]

I think I've managed to find something that might work. My local PC parts shop didn't have anything but I found some tapered metal screws at Rona that look almost identical (4x3/8 metal screws). They are roughly 1/16" longer than the original so I think filing the taper should make it the perfect size. And the diameter and pitch look identical to me. I've included a picture for reference.

I don't have a caliper unfortunately, but a ruler measure of the two gave me a 1mm pitch and a 2mm diameter for both.



I just tried it on the casing and it works perfectly! Just need to file it to make it a bit shorter and I'm good to go thanks all for your help!

 

[pcgamer4life]

You've got more patience than I do. I would have crammed whatever screw I had in my box o' screws that looked similar and made it work, crossthreaded and all!

 

[wingman99]

You've got more patience than I do. I would have crammed whatever screw I had in my box o' screws that looked similar and made it work, crossthreaded and all!

LOL that would get er done.

skorpien glade you found a screw, I cant believe the Pc repair shop did not have one.

 

[Luke1978]

I've got 4 or 5 optical drives and none of them match the screw he is looking for (I would have mailed him one if i had it)

 

[Tbrooks]

Next time try http://www.boltsupply.com/EdmontonNorth.aspx or Profasteners.

 

[skorpien]

That's a bit of a drive for a little screw, Tbrooks. (Wow, that did not sound right at all ) Though I'll keep them bookmarked for sure just in case something like this happens again. I live a few hours' drive from Edmonton, but it'll probably be faster shipping than from Ontario or the US.

Edit: And I should really learn to look at things more closely. I just realized they have locations in Calgary. Sorry Tbrooks...

I was just about to cross thread something in there too at this point... I'm patient, but this was getting ridiculous.

I'm annoyed at LG for this. It's like they tried to make it impossible to replace those screws. "Oh, you lost one of the screws to your Blu-Ray burner? Guess you'll have to just buy a new one..."

Thanks again guys. I truly appreciate the help

 

[Robert17]

On sheet metal screws, again, the metric versions are just conversions of imperial sizes. Measuring the distance between thread crests doesn't matter anyway as they don't take nuts, no need to match up with anything. A #6 sheet metal screw in a type 'B' point has 20 threads per inch, a #4 has 24.

 

[skorpien]

Ah. Makes sense. Considering an inch is roughly 25mm, the measurement I took of 1mm between the threads makes sense as the screws I bought are #4.

It's funny how much I've learned in these past few years that I've gotten into modding. Soldering, basic electric circuitry and now this, amongst other things.