[Elecraft] [K3} Help, hex key for split knob

[David Christ]

My experiences are different.  For small knobs you need to use high 
quality wrenches.  Those .050 do work if you have a good one.  It's 
amazing how much twist you can put in a high quality Allen wrench 
while trying to deal with a stubborn screw.  The next thing is to 
make sure that you have them inserted all the way into the set screw. 
That sometimes takes a bit of wiggling and pushing.  Unfortunately, 
there is the possibility of a damaged screw if it wasn't done right 
before.

As an old-timer I dealt with many a slotted set screw.  Nothing but 
headaches.  Good small bladed screwdrivers are much harder to find 
than good small Allen wrenches.  My favorite is the Bristol (splined) 
design.  http://www.bristolwrench.com/  Collins used them a lot. 
Every now and then I think about replacing all my radio setscrews 
with Bristol style but have not yet found a reasonable source for 
them.

David K0LUM


At 1:25 PM -0500 5/11/10, Jack Brabham wrote:
>Tim,
>
>I had a similar experience assembling #4169 a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately
>my stack of assorted allen wrenches didn't include any that small.
>
>My work around was to grind off the "stripped" portion of the cheesy allen
>wrench each time it stripped. 
>
>It only took about two hours and several wrench grindings to mount the two
>split knobs, which was really the only PITA encountered during the assembly.
>The allen wrench was much smaller when I finished.
>
>I suspect that a plain old slotted head screw would be more practical in
>this application due to being able to apply torque over the screw's full
>diameter.
>
>73 Jack KZ5A

-- 
Education should be an accumulation of understanding, not just an 
accumulation of facts.
Dr. David M. Pozar