Help all ye Triplanar Gurus

I just checked further on the McMaster Carr site.

To set the record straight, it's one of two sizes - 3-48 or 4-40. Both sizes use a .050 hex key.

Look at this site: http://www.mcmaster.com/
Search on part numbers: 97705A226 and 92311A089

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Thanks fellas for responding.Thank God its not the VTA screw. That would have been the mother of all audio disasters, from my narrow perspective. Its the small probably no more than 2mm dia screw sitting atop the cylinder which houses the fluid for the cueing platform. I guess I screwed up literally. A small cautionary note in the instruction manual to be careful could have warned a novice like me.
I live in New Delhi, India and its not practical to send the arm anywhere ,not if I want to see it again.
Using the supplied allen hex head screw driver to work on the broken bit have managed to nudge the cueing platform a wee bit lower so its no longer Mt. Everest I am grappling with but a more user friendly mountain. As the broken screw is flush with the surrounding walls there is not enough grip for the allen key but some movement is possible.
Following the excellent advice of knowledgeable A'goners, Doug and Thom, will take the arm to a watch maker who should have the tools to prise out the broken screw bit. The dealer in Singapore has promised to supply the replacement screws. Have asked for spares coz you never know.
Cheers

Mark,

you are making several assumptions. This thread is not supposed to be locked. It is expected that this adjustment be made for each setup. I would bet that the OP went a bit overboard when snugging this screw back up.

You all should see the tiny, tiny allen set screws that used on a Basis Vector for different adjustments. One can easily strip out the walls of the screw or the tiny allen wrench supplied by Basis.

This is all part of learning to do things yourself. And there is a certain amount of mechanical aptitude that goes along with this.

FYI

Just for extra information on extracting broken screws. They make left handed drill bits (McMaster Carr or MSC Industrial Supply). If you have to drill out a screw for any of the aforementioned procedures, use a left handed (the spiral is opposite from what you normally see) bit turning counterclockwise in a drill motor or hand drill. Most of the time the drill will hang a little on the screw as it starts to penetrate and back the screw right out.

For the little delicate work like your describing, they also make pin vises. A small, hand held chuck for tiny and delicate drill work.

It won't help Sunnyboy because of his location (hard to access US Supply houses), but might come in handy for you guys.

And yes, I worked as a Tool & Die Maker for GE and tools were my life at that time. All kinds of weird and handy little widgets out there.

Jim S.

Hello Dan_ed, Yes, I understand, tiny set screws like this don't stand up to too much abuse. Often, an Allen Wrench has to be coaxed to fully seat into the screw before one applies any pressure.

I'm not sure about the TriPlanar, having never owned one (yet), but these screws may not be Stainless Steel, so even more care must be excersized, being a softer metal.

Wise suggestion about the left hand drill bits, and hopefully, our friend here will find the right person, and that he can carefully extract the bad screw.

Please keep us posted my friend how this all turns out.
I know it's a magnificent arm, and that you're wanting to enjoy it. Mark