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DeadMeat666

Steel hex screws

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I just received a Tamiya kit that I ordered due to being teased by someone who's name I shall not mention, and I'm looking for a good source for steel hex screws for it. I'd prefer a vendor that has screw kits, but would settle for one that I can mix and match from, as long as I can find all the screws I need for this kit.

Oh, it's an XV-01.

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24 minutes ago, svenb said:

These? Or a dedicated screw kit? 

16010366071529091642476790595812.jpg

I didn't even know Tamiya made those lol. Do you have all the sizes needed for an XV-01? Or are you just teasing :lol:

I was hoping not to spend silly money on screws if possible.

That being said, I posted this originally because I just received word from RCjaz that they won't be able to fulfil my order for the XV-01 titanium screw set, and I can't seem to find it anywhere else ATM, so here we are.

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17 minutes ago, Juhunio said:

Thanks @Juhunio, I'd seen these already, and having bought a yeah racing titanium screw set before for my TT02B, I didn't like the quality much. I managed to strip a few after screwing them into aluminum pieces with only moderate force, so I'm worried to use them now (and I have a blue aluminum battery post stuck in a TT02 tub forever lol.)

Also, I wanted to stay away from stainless steel screws, as I understand they are not quite as tough as 'black' steel, and tend not to play nice with aluminum either. Even though this is for an XV-01, there's close to zero chance that this car will ever encounter wet or muddy conditions here in the desert, so rust-resistance isn't really an issue.

At the end of the day I just want strong steel hex screws to replace the JIS ones because I don't like JIS.

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8 hours ago, DeadMeat666 said:

I just received a Tamiya kit that I ordered due to being teased by someone who's name I shall not mention, and I'm looking for a good source for steel hex screws for it. I'd prefer a vendor that has screw kits, but would settle for one that I can mix and match from, as long as I can find all the screws I need for this kit.

Oh, it's an XV-01.

Banggood sell screw kits in bulk, ie 50 of each size. I bought them in cap head, button head and countersunk head and I think all those screws would be about half the price of a cheap titanium screw set. They normall list the type of steel too. Quality seems fine too, I use them in my race cars more than the Tamiya's. 

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9 hours ago, DeadMeat666 said:

I'd prefer a vendor that has screw kits, but would settle for one that I can mix and match from, as long as I can find all the screws I need for this kit.

You could try - 

https://dmrcracing.com/

He's a kyosho guy, but if he's got the screws you need ,he should do you a kit.

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Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I ended up getting a set of high-tensile hex screws from https://rc-schrauben.de/

It helps that they make screw sets for most cars, including the XV01.

I'll update this thread with my feedback after I receive them.

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@DeadMeat666 sorry if this is a premature question. Have you received your screws? Curious to hear what you thought about them. Wanted to get a set for a kit I’m about to build. And these are metric and I assume like they typical 1.5mm, 2mm hex drivers? Thanks!

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17 minutes ago, Mechanic AH said:

@DeadMeat666 sorry if this is a premature question. Have you received your screws? Curious to hear what you thought about them. Wanted to get a set for a kit I’m about to build. And these are metric and I assume like they typical 1.5mm, 2mm hex drivers? Thanks!

Actually you're right on time! I received them yesterday. Yes, they use the normal metric drivers, and they seem pretty good at first glance. There are angle allen wrenches included, as well as some of the washers for that particular kit in stainless steel. One thing's for sure, the set box contains more screws than you'd need for the kit, which is great. 

The box itself however leaves something to be desired. It's compartmentalized quite nicely, but the lid has a gap in it when closed so washers and M2 screws may fall out in storage, or in shipping. In fact I found a washer floating around in the parcel when I received the set. But I'm just being picky by criticizing the box; I bought the screws after all, not the box.

All in all good first impression, but I'll reserve final judgement for when I use them.

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@Nicadraus Unfortunately I can't buy anything from Aliexpress. They seem to give me issues with my payment details every time I try, where I'm asked to contact them and appeal my payment by sending ID info, and the only ship via snail (standard) mail. Not worth the trouble, or the wait.

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@Nicadraus the black ones are all plastic though - nylon (I thought at first they were metal). In the first set.

a steel version here though for a tenner (for uk Tamiyaclub members)

Steel

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I keep a regular stock of the Tamiya ones. I like the hard finish coating on them. They also have good tolerance for the 2mm hex, not much play and are magnetic.

I don’t like stainless steel ones because that are not magnetic. I also have not found a brand that has good tolerance for the 2mm hex.. hence easy to strip and wear out 

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13 hours ago, Raman36 said:

I keep a regular stock of the Tamiya ones. I like the hard finish coating on them. They also have good tolerance for the 2mm hex, not much play and are magnetic.

I don’t like stainless steel ones because that are not magnetic. I also have not found a brand that has good tolerance for the 2mm hex.. hence easy to strip and wear out 

So do you buy them in those Tamiya branded bags that contain 5-10 screws or do you mean you keep spares from other kits? Don't most kits have JIS screws? I'm not sure I follow.

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Here in the States, I order black oxide metric hex screws from McMaster-Carr in quantities of 100. The pricing is reasonable, they're 10.9 or 12.9, and now I don't have to chase hardware for each build. I replace every JIS screw on every kit as I build, because, even after four surgeries, my carpal and cubital tunnel and damaged joints cause significant pain when driving Phillips/JIS screws. Totally worth the slight hassle of maintaining a deep hardware inventory - cap, button, and flat heads in a variety of sizes and associated storage boxes probably cost about $200 or so initially, and I make a $50 order or two a year. It's way better than paying $3.99 or whatever for four to ten screws in a little bag at the hobby shop, that's for sure. 

Pro tip:

Young fellers, your hands are not hammers. Your fingers and hands will be full of tiny stress fractures and outright breaks that you didn't notice, and they'll cause a loss of dexterity and constant pain as you age. Between the fractures and heavy vibration from power tools, your hands will feel like tingling hot blocks of wood by the time you're 40. Wear vibration reducing gloves, use a hammer instead of your fist, don't punch hard things, and moisturize before work. (Moisturizing helps keep the oils and solvents from soaking in as easily. Skin cancer is no joke, either.)

 

Sorry to get preachy, lads. We're a bit stiff this morning, and the anti-inflammatory hasn't kicked in yet.

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@Big Jon Thanks for the tip. I'm in the States so that works perfectly for me. I like that you mentioned "moisturize" as I do that as well.

Regarding screws, is it necessary to use the self tapping screws Tamiya provides? Do you just use regular hex in place? I quickly looked at McMaster-Carr and didn't see any hex self tapping screw. Thanks.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Mechanic AH said:

@Big Jon Thanks for the tip. I'm in the States so that works perfectly for me. I like that you mentioned "moisturize" as I do that as well.

Regarding screws, is it necessary to use the self tapping screws Tamiya provides? Do you just use regular hex in place? I quickly looked at McMaster-Carr and didn't see any hex self tapping screw. Thanks.

 

 

I imagine it's fine to use normal machine hex screws. I've personally found that they are less likely to back out on their own than the self-tappers, and they are easier for frequent unscrewing/screwing since they tend to glide into their grooves in the plastic and are less likely to strip it. Reinstall a self-tapper without backing out to hear the 'click' first and your plastic screw hole will strip.

Even Tamiya themselves replace self-tappers with machine screws in their titanium upgrade kits; there is a note to that effect on the M06 manual. Something like "when using the titanium hopup screw kit, substitute the self-tapping screws with titanium machine screws of the same length" (paraphrased)

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I just get them from Aliexpress but it seems that isn't an option for your unfortunately.

It's a shame because you can save a lot of money.

I usually get A2/304 or 10.9/12.9 stuff. The quality is perfectly fine for the price.

I get hex head self tappers too so I can at least upgrade the screws on stuff that already has tappers installed without trying to cut machine threads into holes with are already tapped. Anything I buy that has already been assembled ie: old Tamiya/Kyosho etc. Even my Nikko stuff get's an upgrade to hex head now.

I never used to see the big fuss about hex hardware and I still maintain that tamiya screws work ok if you get a decent JIS driver but I have to admit, once I tried hex on a few things I just prefer it slightly. You don't really have to apply any downwards pressure which is nice and the other advantage is when you're trying to get a screw into an awkward place because the screws tend to not fall off the end of the driver even if you accidentally knock them. It's like the advantage of magnetic screws/drivers but it just works with any type of metal.

It might be worth looking on ebay to see if any Chinese sellers will ship to you, most of them are probably the same vendors that are on aliexpress anyway!

 

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21 hours ago, CoolHands said:

@Nicadraus the black ones are all plastic though - nylon (I thought at first they were metal). In the first set.

a steel version here though for a tenner (for uk Tamiyaclub members)

Steel

That's weird because I have ordered three sets already and all are made of steel and not nylon as you said. I've given my friends who want the convert usual Tamiya screws to hex. I've also given more away when I converted a lot of my steel screws to aluminum in majority of my kits.

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2 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

That's weird because I have ordered three sets already and all are made of steel and not nylon as you said. I've given my friends who want the convert usual Tamiya screws to hex. I've also given more away when I converted a lot of my steel screws to aluminum in majority of my kits.

They sell plastic ones and metal ones. Might you have just clicked on the wrong listing on this occasion? Or sometimes they change the listings around but keep the links.

I have no doubt you can get metal ones because I do too.

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9 hours ago, DeadMeat666 said:

So do you buy them in those Tamiya branded bags that contain 5-10 screws or do you mean you keep spares from other kits? Don't most kits have JIS screws? I'm not sure I follow.

Correct most kits have JIS screws.

I own a few TRF and Pro cars, which come with hex. so I started to buy spares hex for those. I’m a little OCD so I have tons of hardware available 😂 
 

They used to only be available under the 7 digit spares numbers. Then about a year ago, Tamiya released them under 5 digit number in the packs that SvenB has listed. 

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18 hours ago, Mechanic AH said:

@Big Jon Thanks for the tip. I'm in the States so that works perfectly for me. I like that you mentioned "moisturize" as I do that as well.

Regarding screws, is it necessary to use the self tapping screws Tamiya provides? Do you just use regular hex in place? I quickly looked at McMaster-Carr and didn't see any hex self tapping screw. Thanks.

 

 

Wood screws are for wood. Machine screws are for machines. There's no need to use self-tapping screws on these things, especially considering that machine screws are better for the application. A tiny dab of grease on each screw helps them to cut the thread during initial assembly, and the machine screws stay tight until you loosen them. Machine screws are the way to go.

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