keeping setscrew holes clean of sawdust and crud.

I am taking apart an old tablesaw to clean it up. I have spent a lot of time with a dental pick removing caked in sawdust and oil from allen head screws before trying to remove them. I find if I do not do this thougrhly I risk rounding of fthe socket and having to dril lout the screw. For painting I covered the holes with little round magnets so the sockets stay clean.
After I was done I realized I can leave them in place and next time there will not be much to clean out. Obvioulsy only usable on slow speed stuff not on motor driven pulleys.
Bil lD.

PS: I like Al foil for preventing overspray on weird shaped bits.

Maybe caulk the holes to keep them clean. The caulking should clean up easily.

I wish there were little rubber plugs the fit tightly.

What I do is blast them with compressed air, blows out sawdust, oily sawdust, anything.

JKJ

John, I bet that something like "space balls" that are used to space panels in cabinet doors, etc., might be just the right size for many such hex screw holes. :)

There are several sources for plugs for setscrew holes. Here is one
Attachment 409414

I like the idea of giving them a blast from the compressed air blow gun to clean out the inside of the hex recess in the setscrew. This not only works for wood dust accumulation, but also for some of the setscrews in some of the older cars I have restored. With the cars - I usually spray some WD40 or equivalent first to loosen it up. Then the blast of air to clean it out.
David

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John K Jordan

I wish there were little rubber plugs the fit tightly.

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There are. Check on amazon for "powder coating plugs and caps", lots of good stuff there.

I've spent a lifetime never throwing out any plug or cap I ever come across, and have a big box of them. Very useful habit.

Ditto on the compressed air, as long as the debris is not too oily.

I use compressed air as well, never had one where it didn't clean it out almost immediately.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowell holmes

Maybe caulk the holes to keep them clean. The caulking should clean up easily.

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Though silicone caulk should work if you want something a little easier to clean out when needed, consider using some hot melt glue. It will fill the hole and grip into the threads yet I think it is easier to pull out with a pick when desired. Second idea is just put a 2d allen screw in the hole to keep the hole clear, just Loctite it so it doesn't back out.

Since set screws have a standard thread, why not top off the bore with a Phillips head screw. You may have to take a standard length and shorten it to fit. Darn!1i probably could have gotten a hundred bucks for this idea.

There is also a product called SEAL 'N PEEL used for weatherstripping that might work for temporary plugs.