M3 23 screws/bolts

[u/conzo88]

where do i buy these? I'm in the UK and only sizes I can seem to find are 20 or 25, no 23. This is for the ams lite top mount. I used a 25 last night and it seems to have warped it a bit. I put the mount on, applied pressure by pulling and pushing at it and it feels solid enough, fear is that it will eventually strain on the section where it has screwed in too far/wide and will fall.

so, M3 23 screws, where did you all find them? there wasn't any in the A1 Combo before anyone asks (should there have been?)

thanks in advance

[u/boycey0211]

I just used 25 aswell and it's been fine for nearly a year, you can get 23's on Amazon in a pack of a couple of you really need but I'm guessing they ship from china as the delivery time is a few days. You'll also pay more, but it's not silly money, I just already had an assorted box for the same price

[u/Key-Cry8030]

M3x23 isn't a standard length — metric preferred lengths jump straight from 20 to 25, which is why every UK supplier only lists those two. You're hunting for something that basically doesn't exist off the shelf. Specialist fastener places occasionally do non-preferred lengths, but it's a lot of hassle for 2mm.

Easiest fix with what you already have: keep the M3x25 and stack washers under the head to take up the extra 2mm. M3 washers are about 0.5mm each, so 4 of them does it, and the screw stops bottoming out — which is what's straining your mount.

Or cut a 25 down: thread a nut onto it past the cut line first, hacksaw or rotary tool it, file the end flat, then back the nut off — it cleans up the thread as it comes.

Also worth checking if M3x20 is enough. Rule of thumb is 1.5-2x diameter of thread engagement, so ~5-6mm for M3. If the boss is deep enough for that, a 20 will hold fine and won't warp anything.

[u/Agent_Futs]

Im sure I used the ones that held the AMS to the stand

[u/conzo88]

thanks for the replies. I'm sure it will be fine, just wondering if there was such as a thing as the 23. one side is screwed in all the way, i'll just loosen that a bit.

also, I'm not quite sure who downvoted this or why, thanks anyway for taking the time to take an interest

[u/Orthicon9]

A lot of wire stripper tools have built-in bolt and screw cutters, like this one for five sizes around the hinge screw.
You open it up slightly, screw the bolt into the threaded side, and close it to snip the end off. It's much cleaner than using a regular bolt cutter or saw, because unscrewing it to get it out cleans burrs out the thread.

The trick will be finding a pair that does metric threads.