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Threaded a VERY small screwhead
- Thread starter Sam On Maui
- Start date
i learned something tody
and i thought the only other "kid in town" was reed & prince
en.m.wikipedia.org
and i thought the only other "kid in town" was reed & prince
List of screw drives - Wikipedia
weyandsign
New Member
It may actually be a JIS screw, but still leaning towards pozidriv.
Signarama Jockey
New Member
I heard you can get a cheap, disposable screwdriver and dip the tip in epoxy. Hold the screwdriver in place (or figure out a way to keep it in place while the epoxy sets). That should work, right?
Or, you could do the baking soda and superglue trick, fill up the cavity completely, let it all dry and then use a Dremmel or something to carve out a notch for a flat head screwdriver? Although, that's probably overthinking it.
...also, I remember someone telling me that heat helps with screws installed with Loctite. To be honest, I don't know how much heat you'd need and looking at where you're working, I think a heat gun might create more problems than solve, but for what it's worth...
Or, you could do the baking soda and superglue trick, fill up the cavity completely, let it all dry and then use a Dremmel or something to carve out a notch for a flat head screwdriver? Although, that's probably overthinking it.
...also, I remember someone telling me that heat helps with screws installed with Loctite. To be honest, I don't know how much heat you'd need and looking at where you're working, I think a heat gun might create more problems than solve, but for what it's worth...
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What we need to remember is the OP is working in a very tiny space. There isn't room to get big tools in there or start using dremels or grinding things. It is also holding down a delicate print head that can be easily damaged internally by any impact around it. Add to this it is through a plastic plate so the heat needed to loosen a screw would melt the plate! You also don't want to be getting conductive grindings going into the connector on head.
The solutions people are suggesting are generally fine when working on a screw with plenty of space around it to get at, or that isn't holding down delicate parts, but in this case the only option is to drill off the top of the screw so you can remove the heads and get more space to work with.
The solutions people are suggesting are generally fine when working on a screw with plenty of space around it to get at, or that isn't holding down delicate parts, but in this case the only option is to drill off the top of the screw so you can remove the heads and get more space to work with.
DL Signs
Never go against the family
They're PosiDrive. There's a difference between them and phillips, even though they look similar. The blade angles are different, they have wider, more squared off blades and shorter tips. Some big box stores stock them, some don't. Best bet is an actual hardware store, or auto parts stores that sell tools should have them. If you can't find any locally, order a set, every shop should have them in the toolbox. They're common in machinery like we use, and electronics because they can be tightened with less downward pressure. You can get bits or screwdrivers.
Red loctite needs to be heated to be removed.
Only a fool would use red loctite in a printhead
I have never seen a head screw loctited in! There would be no reason to do it as the screws don't need to be that tight. Some copper grease on the screw would be a better idea to stop it seizing. Mind you, you never know who has been in there working on it in the past !
JBurton
Signtologist
This actually seems pretty likely, quote from a blog post about them moving production from Japan recently: "As part of efforts to improve production efficiency and enhance price competitiveness, mass production was transferred from Japan in 2021." https://www.rolanddg.com/en/news/2023/230523-thailand-factory-new-building
It's really an awesome screw, but a curse to introduce into a world full of phillips. They cannot be used with a phillips driver, as they have a very high chance of camming out because the driver doesn't fully seat in the head.
I'm embarrassed to say I'm a big fan of robertson heads...
DL Signs
Never go against the family
And the more we farm out everything to the rest of the world to build for us, the more tools we'll need to fix em'. Now you gotta figure out if something is SAE, metric, imperial, if it's phillips or pozidrive.... Not to mention all the different security fasteners so you can't open what you own.
I miss the days when all you needed to fix most things was two screwdrivers, a crescent wrench, and a BFH.
weyandsign
New Member
If it has a dot stamped into the screwhead it's JIS. My Roland has them.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
I stripped that same screw doing a head change and could never find a replacement. Try to tighten it a little before you back it out.
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
Heat might be worth a try. Use a soldering iron with a sharp tip. The irons are not much bigger than a paint marker and the heat would only be on the screw. A little heat and a good tip on the screwdriver should do it.
I am a fan of thermal stress after changing out two O2 sensors on my F150 just this week. MAPP torch made them give up and spin right out. I did pre-heat them with about 30 minutes of cursing at the Ford engineers for not rotating the sensor position about 5 degrees down on the exhaust pipe so a removal tool could be put on it.
According to Roland, it's a Phillips screw. They sell a long Phillips bit to go with their torque driver.
Since the carriage base is made of aluminum, it's also possible to strip the thread.
II had to drill out such a screw once on a FJ-540. It was tightened by someone else before...
While I normally don't use the torque driver, it makes sense to "calibrate your fingers" from time to time...
Small screws are overtightened by most people, while bigger screws are not tightened enough.
Since the carriage base is made of aluminum, it's also possible to strip the thread.
II had to drill out such a screw once on a FJ-540. It was tightened by someone else before...
While I normally don't use the torque driver, it makes sense to "calibrate your fingers" from time to time...
Small screws are overtightened by most people, while bigger screws are not tightened enough.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
Soldering iron, that is brilliant! They make induction bolt heaters but never wanted to spend the money on one. This trick here should be close enough.
JBurton
Signtologist
That or heating the driver and resting it on the bolt head. This thing came to mind. My mechanic buddy has one of these snapon butane soldering irons with a hot air tip. It's like a ~3/16" diameter tip that puts out enough heat for heat shrink/solder combo connectors, I really need to borrow it and try it out for spot fixes on wraps.
Snap-on Store
A soldering iron won't get enough heat into it, and if it did it would melt the brown head mount around it. There is also very little space to get an iron in there without damaging the head manifold as well.
The photo on the OPs post shows the gap between the head and the edge of the head carriage. It's about 10mm
The photo on the OPs post shows the gap between the head and the edge of the head carriage. It's about 10mm
Jim Hancock
Old School Technician
What is likely causing the screw to be stuck is probably dried ink. First, remove the dampers from the print head to give yourself some working room. I would suggest using an eyedropper and placing a single drop of acetone on the screw top and pressing a swab soaked with acetone on the bottom of the screw from under the head carriage. This will act like penetrating fluid and help dissolve the dried ink, which would be acting like Loctite. Then immediately before the acetone dries, using either a PH0 Phillips screwdriver or the Vampliers suggested by GAC05, try to loosen the screw. I have a pair of the Vampliers and they are probably the best thing to use here, as you can get maximum gripping on the screwhead with them.
Sam On Maui
New Member
I"m having trouble finding jeweler's screw extractors but did find these:
Amazon has them, the reviews seem good, but still investigating.
Amazon has them, the reviews seem good, but still investigating.
Jewellers extractors will be way too small, they are designed for removing tiny screws in watches and that sort of thing. To be honest, and having had experience with having to remove head screws that have been stripped in the past, your easiest option is just to drill the head off. It will only take a few seconds with a decent drill bit.
Messing about with heat, dremels, pliers and other tools etc.. you are more likely to end up damaging the head