Ditching Albums? Save the Screws!

[Cody K]

As many of us know, tiny, round-head non-Philips wood screws, especially of the vintage sort, can be hard to come by when you need them.

I guess many of us also, from time to time, come across old Victor (and other) albums that are moldy, torn, brittle, and otherwise too far gone to keep. But they still may be worth mining for tiny screws, before discarding them. Here's how:

Tear the covers and pages off the spine. Depending on the age and construction of the album, you may see an arrangement like this:

Unscrew those puppies, and you get a few nice screws suitable for tasks like replacing missing ones from, for example, a pitch control deck plate, where they're nearly identical to the originals. An added bonus is that they're often plated to match well on a machine with gold fittings -- but the plating's easily removed with superfine sandpaper, if your machine has nickel-plated parts. You also get the little plates with two holes that might be useful for god-knows-what.

Some albums are held together with cloth tape, and won't have the screws, but it only takes a moment to find out, and another moment to rescue them, so why not?

[Phonofreak]

Good trick, I've done that, too.
Harvey Kravitz

[Player-Tone]

Good tip! I've stumbled on quite a few decomposed and worthless albums and have always overlooked the screws- though I have rescued the metal pull rings when they are there.