Homemade carbide tool question

[Dave Halter]

I bought some of the inserts from Global Tooling. My question is what screws do you use to hold the inserts to the metal bar? Do they need to be Grade 8 hardened screws or can they be just standard machine screws? Lastly, the ones I've seen at Lowes will go completely through the bar and stick out the bottom. Do you just grind it off or do I need to look elsewhere for shorter screws?

I know - lots of questions, but I'm still trying to figure out some of this metal working.

Thanks,
Dave

[Jim Underwood]

I'd say if you already have it in hand, just grind it off while it's still in the tool. Make sure to grind it lightly once you get down to near to flush though. That way you don't deform it too badly, and it will clean up the threads when you remove the screw. If you deform the threads too badly, it'll mess up the the tool bar threads... When you get it out, you can lightly champfer the end with a file or the grinder so it makes inserting it a little easier.

Once you have it finished, you can always look for the right size for the next time...