New Idea!

[Arizona Cattleman]

Just came up with an idea to aid in the filling of Chicago screws to make them grip the leather better.  I had a scrap piece of leather created from two pieces of 1 to 2 oz leather glued together where the one piece was 3/4 inch wide and the other was 1 1/2 inch.  Cut a piece 4" long and punched two holes in the double thickness the sizes of the two parts of the screw set.  Place the pieces you want shortened through the holes, and fold over the single piece, then squeeze each piece and use a grinder to shorten.  Do it slowly to keep the heat down, then use a file to clean up the ends.  Worked great.

AC

[GunClick Rick]

And they say and old dog cain't learn new tricks...

[JD Alan]

Watch who you're callng a dog masked man! I heard the Lone Ranger busted Tonto in the nose; he finally found out what Kemosabe meant!

AC, I agree it's a good idea for your own stuff, but it seems as if it would be time consuming for a guy trying to make money on leatherwork (which doed not include me) 

[Chaa Duu Ba Its Iidan]

that sounds like it would beat having the parts of the screw assembly going airborne into the Bermuda Triangle of Lost Parts that everyone's work area has if the grinder got a handle on them.  It also beats grinding off your fingertip, or marring up the faces of the screw assembly with your vise or vise-grips or other pliers.  Just sounds like a good way all around to reduce the width of the screw assembly if you have to.

Brownells makes a little gadget called a "screw gizzie" that holds regular screws firmly while you grind them down.  They also have a couple pairs of special ($$$) pliers made to hold screws, and maybe one or two other thingies too, but I don't think you could easily adapt any of those tools to hold Chicago screws very well.

[Arizona Cattleman]

Beats doing it by hand with a file and only took five minutes for two sets. Your right about a possible projectile if it slips out of the pliers while grinding.  This way is much safer.

AC

[Ned Buckshot]

I've done the same thing for years except I use a dremell to shave down the length.

[TN Mongo]

I've used a similar jig with a belt sander

[Arizona Cattleman]

Well it was a new idea to me....
Thanks for all the input.
AC

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Sounds like a good idea. It beats the grinder yanking the darn thing out of your fingers.

I've been using pliers, but that leaves marks on the screw heads. I'll try this next time.