Screws
Odd sized screws, not to be had from the material dealers, may be readily made by means of the screw plate and rose cutter. The rose cutter is quite a valuable adjunct to the lathe, and is fixed to the spindle in the same manner as the chuck, and will be found exceedingly useful for quickly reducing pieces of wires for screws, etc., to a gauge. For screws, the wire should be of a proper size for the screw heads, and a cutter selected with the hole the size of the finished screw. The point of the wire is rounded to enter the hole of the cutter, against which it is forced by the back center of the lathe, the serrated face of the cutter rapidly cutting the superfluous metal, the part intended for the screw passing into the hole in the cutter. Some care is required in rounding the point of the wire, for if not done equally all around, the screw will not be true to the head.