tdifan_2003 Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 As it says on Gumbo, the screws as we knew them - M6, stainless steel for 5 mm hex are hard to find. Does anyone know where one can find them. Apparently now, the standard for M6 is 4 mm hex. Which I don't like since this was.... one of the issues with ex-Catek company. Now I have them on my plate and I dread the time when I will have to replace them. I had tried Granger and MacMaster Carr without luck. Shoot suggestions. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluxgame Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 Pretty sure the Bomber screws were custom made. 4mm hex is the standard for oval head M6s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdifan_2003 Posted March 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 17 minutes ago, fluxgame said: Pretty sure the Bomber screws were custom made. 4mm hex is the standard for oval head M6s. Seems like it. Maybe it doesn't have to be oval, as long as the bottom is cone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 They're custom made. Pricing isn't awful when you buy enough, but the factory's idea of 'enough' is a scary number for us regular folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loopback Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 1 hour ago, tdifan_2003 said: Shoot suggestions. 1 hour ago, fluxgame said: Pretty sure the Bomber screws were custom made. 4mm hex is the standard for oval head M6s. I hated and destroyed a ton of Catek 4mm head scews How about a group buy for custom made?? We figure out the min qty.. start a fund and pull the trigger when we hit it. I have no idea where to do this but will check some locals machine shops. I am not a machinist so this could be ridiculous but could the 4mm hex be machined out to a 5mm? We could group by a bunch and get them all machined.... 4 minutes ago, Corey said: They're custom made. Pricing isn't awful when you buy enough, but the factory's idea of 'enough' is a scary number for us regular folks. Do you have a ball park estimate of the unit cost and min qty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 Sorry, no direct experience for these. I just recall chatting with Fin and he said he got them made and ordered a BIG amount that scared him. In my professional life one solution to a problem was custom M22 bolts. There were roughly 2x the price of similar bolts and had something like a 5-month lead time. Minimum order was 1000 or so. Likely more for smaller bolts. This was pre-pandemic though so probably a 24-month lead time now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kneel Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 A better solution to the 4mm hex might be, well...second only to using blue loctite and not over tightening , stainless TORX flat heads. They won't/shouldn't strip out like hex. HOWEVER, you'll then have to carry around a T30 AND 5mm hex for the sole blocks and baseplate. You could also replace the M6's in the sole blocks with torx, however the baseplate is M8 torx and would require a T45. You're still carrying 2. Group buy time! You should probably get M6 20MM and 16MM, unless the 20mm can secure the sole blocks without protruding too far... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimW Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 Just replace them with torx screws and carry the T30. If you have UPZ boots, these also have T30s on them (and come with a T30 key), so it may come in handy anyway. Carrying one additional key is not really an issue, is it? I carry 4 & 5 mm hex, T25 & T30, philips #1 and 2 and flathead bits, and cannot say it ever bothered me. (But then again, I mostly ride with backpack and cannot be bothered to take out shovel and probe for hardpack days.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 Blog on Bomber says bindings will now come with Torx screws. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 2 hours ago, Wolf said: Blog on Bomber says bindings will now come with Torx screws. Yup, came with my recent order of BP 2nd board kit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdifan_2003 Posted March 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 The idea about group buy is entertaining. Though, if Gumbo hasn't figure a way to get such screws, probably this group buy is not going to work too well here. I for one would be in. But then - what lengths are we going to talk about? For TD3 we would need 12 mm and 20 mm (two different lengths). About bringing several tools on the slope - for TD bindings, 5 mm is all it's needed. I wish and bike tool had bigger torx on it, but they come with thee smaller sizes. otherwise, a bike tool has worked very well for me so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toast Posted March 10, 2023 Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 On 3/8/2023 at 4:19 PM, fluxgame said: Pretty sure the Bomber screws were custom made. 4mm hex is the standard for oval head M6s. 4mm hex M6 can be be found at Home Depot. I bought them out last week in Helena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdifan_2003 Posted March 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2023 10 hours ago, Toast said: 4mm hex M6 can be be found at Home Depot. I bought them out last week in Helena. That's not the point :(. The topic here is - 5 mm hex on M6 screw :)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRrider Posted March 14, 2023 Report Share Posted March 14, 2023 I'd be in on a group buy as well (TD3). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluxgame Posted March 14, 2023 Report Share Posted March 14, 2023 Granted I haven't actually tried ordering any, but the Bomber store shows all 3 lengths of the custom screws as in stock: https://www.bomberonline.com/M6-Screws_p_36.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladia Posted March 14, 2023 Report Share Posted March 14, 2023 Solidly Frozen Torx heads. It will be nightmare on slopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRrider Posted March 19, 2023 Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 On 3/14/2023 at 11:03 AM, fluxgame said: Granted I haven't actually tried ordering any, but the Bomber store shows all 3 lengths of the custom screws as in stock: https://www.bomberonline.com/M6-Screws_p_36.html Thanks! This worked for me (well we’ll see what arrives :). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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