<PAGE>


                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1



                  CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER

         I, Thomas ZurSchmiede, certify that:

         1) I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period
ended September 30, 2003 of Federal Screw Works;

         2) Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3) Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operation and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report.

         4) The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

                a.         Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                           caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                           designed under our supervision, to ensure that
                           material information relating to the registrant is
                           made known to us by others within the registrant,
                           particularly during the period in which this report
                           is being prepared;

                b.         [intentionally omitted];

                c.         Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                           disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
                           this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
                           of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
                           end of the period covered by this report based on
                           such evaluation; and

                d.         Disclosed in this report any change in the
                           registrant's internal control over financial
                           reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
                           recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal
                           quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
                           materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
                           materially effect, the registrant's internal control
                           over financial reporting; and

         5) The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):


<PAGE>





         a.       All significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
                  internal controls over financial reporting which are
                  reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability
                  to record, process, summarize and report financial
                  information; and

         b.       Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the
                  registrant's internal control over financial reporting.




                                        /s/ Thomas ZurSchmiede
                                        ----------------------------------------
                                        Thomas ZurSchmiede, President and Chief
                                        Executive Officer - Principal Executive
                                                            Officer

Date:  November 13, 2003




























                                       2