MadModder
Gallery, Projects and General => Project Logs => Topic started by: Darren on May 16, 2009, 08:06:34 PM
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Seeing all the superb projects on the go around here of late I'm almost embarrassed to post this :ddb:
I'm in need of some T nuts for my mill, I didn't get very far tonight cos I've been doing other more taxing things. So I fancied winding down in the workshop doing something simple......well, that's my excuse.
Nothing much to show, I took a rough bar of unknown steel that Ralph kindly donated and ran the fly cutter over it a few times.
Nothing fancy, but the practice was good.
I started with small cuts and took it easy, as you can see I took a fair bit off the width. 0.05mm with each pass got tedious, even with power feed.
I ended up taking 0.5mm per pass at full wiper setting :)
It seemed pretty fast going to me, but the machine didn't complain at all even if it was a bit noisy.
Made a right mess of the workshop though this fly cutting, must make some sort of screen up.
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2171.jpg)
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2172.jpg)
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Darren,
While you are feeling like doing some, make up a few extras (say 4 or 5) of each size of t-nut you will use in your shop (mill table, topslide, toolpost, RT, faceplate etc), make a few different lengths as well, but don't drill and tap them.
Then if you need to quickly mount up something in the future, it is just a matter of drilling and tapping a blank to get the job fixed down. Sometimes you will find that you need to make the holes off centre, so blanks really come in handy at a time like that.
John
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Darren as John said T nuts are something you can't have enough of,
Don't forget to burr the back of the thread over so the bolt won't pass through or you could damage your T slots in your mill :bang:
:beer:
Stew
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Well done Darren!
T nuts..... Hmmmmm...... ::)
I`ve just received 4 tiny ones for me new r/ table. :thumbup:
At £1 each, I couldn`t stir meself to go into a cold workshop to make some...... Sorry! (Blush)....
David D
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David,
That is what I normally do, buy them in. But sometimes the size you want are just not available and you have to resign yourself, as Darren has done, to make a few yourself.
Over the years, t-nuts seem to have been attracted to me, and I can usually just pick one out of a rummage box, but sometimes you have to go ahead and DIY.
Some people just make lengths of t-nut stock, and cut a bit off as and when required. In fact many years ago, you could buy it like that, but I haven't seen any in a long time.
Just get out in that cold shop and knock up a few thousand t-nuts, that'll soon warm you up.
John
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John, will do :thumbup:
David, I could have bought some, but I wanted to practice fly cutting as I've hardly done any yet and I'm not wasting material just to do that. So some T nuts it is then :)
Stew, I don't know much about these things, but I could weld some studs in at the bottom end? Or am I better off just having a selection of different lengths of studs?
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Just wack the back end of the tapped hole to burr the thread over to stop the stud comming through.
Stew
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Will do, ta :thumbup:
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Her's a pic you can see how I've burred the back up with the one on the right.
(http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq32/sbwhart/000_0005.jpg)
Stew
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Her's a pic you can see how I've burred the back up with the one on the right.
(http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq32/sbwhart/000_0005.jpg)
Stew
I used to think you were crazy...now I see your nuts. :lol:
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Not sure why you are using a flycutter; seems an endmill would be more efficient in sizing the bar.
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Not sure why you are using a flycutter; seems an endmill would be more efficient in sizing the bar.
For the practice I believe he said earlier.
Eric
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Yes I agree, but I've done next to no flycutting and just wanted to practice to get a feel for it.
I will be using a milling cutter for the next bit :thumbup:
I daresay, I could use a flycutter or the shaper, but I'm not going to give myself "that" much of a hard time :lol:
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I used to think you were crazy...now I see your nuts. :lol:
Fruit and Nuts :lol:
Stew
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I've done next to no flycutting and just wanted to practice to get a feel for it.
Way to go Darren :clap:
Practice makes perfect.
Bogs
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Practice makes perfect.
Absolutely. I can make scrap in half the time I used to!
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In the quest to flog a dead horse,
I have 3 machines with similar, but not quite the same size T-slot.
If I made the t-nuts to fit the smallest, they would prob still work in the other machines, albeit a little loose.
Or should I be making them in different sizes to fit each? I dunno....
As long as they don't turn that's all that's required init? :scratch:
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If I made the t-nuts to fit the smallest, they would prob still work in the other machines, albeit a little loose.
Or should I be making them in different sizes to fit each? I dunno....
As long as they don't turn that's all that's required init? :scratch:
Depend on how much grunt you give them, the slacker ones wouldn't take as much, and you may damage the edge of T slots in the machine as the load wouldn't be spread over as much surface.
Stew
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Actually Darren, your t-nuts should be a nice slide fit in the slot, with no wobbling side to side. It is when they are offset slightly that unequal pressures are put onto the slot edges, and then the slots are liable to fail. It is the same if you use hex nuts under the slots.
999 times out of a thousand, it will be OK.
It is totally up to you if you feel lucky or not. Well do you, punk!!!? That was my Dirty Harry text. ::)
Bogs
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For the amount of work required to mill the individual size bars I'd be tempted to make em' a good fit for each machine
again just my 2c worth :med:
CC
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Thanks guys,
Been in the workshop tonight and I just couldn't bring myself to "make do" so I have been making them to fit properly.
I come and read all these good replies and now feel a whole lot better for my efforts :D :D :D
Indecently, seeing that I have four instances of similar sized slots but really not the same at all, how does one go about buying them in the proper sizes :scratch:
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how does one go about buying them in the proper sizes :scratch:
One doesn't ............. that's why God invented the milling machine ::)
CC
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One doesn't ............. that's why God invented the milling machine ::)
David D does :poke:
Lazy git... :lol:
Seriously, I looked at the adverts, 8mm 12mm whatever, but thought, that just isn't enough info to know if they will fit....
That's why I'm making some.... :nrocks:
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Four previously grubby steel bars machined to size
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2175.jpg)
Just two bars later and I'm so glad I've fitted a power drive to my mill :)
I'd have given up by now.....
Look Ralph, no hands, they're holding the camera :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2197.jpg)
Dead good this motor thingymibod doo da..... :nrocks:
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Way to go Darren :thumbup:
Nice finish you're getting
Stew
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One doesn't ............. that's why God invented the milling machine ::)
David D does :poke:
Lazy git... :lol:
That's why I'm making some.... :nrocks:
The best fitting nuts are individually made, to fit....... :wave:
The recently bought nuts need 1mm off the wider section, to make `em fit the r/ table. :thumbup:
The 4 nuts which came with the mill, for the mill table, are much too loose in my opinion.....
AND, I`ve still not finished those oversize nuts I found in my toolboxes....... ::)
I really do not want that sinking feeling, as a piece of machine table breaks away! :bang:
Lazy git....... :poke:
David D
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The recently bought nuts need 1mm off the wider section, to make `em fit the r/ table. :thumbup:
The 4 nuts which came with the mill, for the mill table, are much too loose in my opinion.....
AND, I`ve still not finished those oversize nuts I found in my toolboxes....... ::)
I really do not want that sinking feeling, as a piece of machine table breaks away! :bang:
David D
That was kinda my thoughts as I was looking through the adds for these things...... :scratch:
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Making your own as you did is the way to go. I needed two t-nuts for a rotary table, and decided to mill some material off of some that were in my clamping set. These were hardened and ruined an endmill.
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Making your own as you did is the way to go. I needed two t-nuts for a rotary table, and decided to mill some material off of some that were in my clamping set. These were hardened and ruined an endmill.
This may seem obvious but here's a little tip. If you have material and you don't know if it's hard or not, use a file. If it slides over the metal with out cutting it is usally hard. If the files cuts then it can be considered soft. Then at least you'll know if you need to use a carbide end mill or if that HSS will do.
Bernd
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This morning, I milled off .5mm from each side of the 6mm nuts.
I used a tired 10mm carbide endmill & deburred with a file...... No problem! :thumbup:
David D
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Good on you David, did someone prompt you to do something about them :poke: :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:
I'm quite pleased with the milling finish I'm getting , just done one side here...
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2212cropped.jpg)
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Good on you David, did someone prompt you to do something about them :poke: :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:
Yes, someone did! :wave:
Also, after several days enforced layoff, the weather/ arthritis problems have eased a little today! ::)
I'm quite pleased with the milling finish I'm getting , just done one side here...
Looking really good there Darren! :thumbup:
David D
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I know it's only T-nuts and I could get away with something much less presentable,
I'm just practicing various methods of milling and finishing,
So don't be thinking I'm a very sad and lonely individual...... :lol:
Nearly finished all the blanks I need, just need to take a smigen off the last one.... :ddb:
They take some making these things, I hadn't realised how much time the milling would take..... :bugeye:
So if anyone says they buy theirs, I won't :poke: fun, honest....
Believe that and you'll believe anything :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Darren,
You are now going thru the natural progression stage of machining.
You know you can now make the parts to an acceptable level, so you are refining your techniques to produce a more cosmetically acceptable piece.
Roughing and finishing cuts are very acceptable methods of making a part.
There is only one way to go after that, hand finishing and BLING.
John
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so you are refining your techniques to produce a more cosmetically acceptable piece.
That's the one, change spindle speed, feed rate, depth of cut, listen to the machine, watch it jump around on the table...ooops :lol:
Getting the "feel" I believe it's called... :)
Finishing is easy, belt sander takes care of that, done in a flash.
After that it's polishing, done a fair bit of that in my time.... :ddb:
It's the actual machining that that I'm behind on, getting there, slowly.... :nrocks:
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Your surface finished look very good.
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Someone commented on machines always looking too clean in their pictures,
Mine gets dirty too :)
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2228.jpg)
A couple have also commented on the finish I get. In this pic you can see the milled finish and the "other" smoother finish. There is nothing wrong with the milled results, it's very smooth. I'm just playing as I said before.
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2234.jpg)
And this is what I use to do this. A bench top belt sander, it's fast and as you can see leaves a nice finish. I'm currently using a very coarse grit on these t-nuts 80grit.
120 grit leaves a much better finish but not needed here. I use this machine a lot and the belt lasts a long time. I think this one has been on for over six months and it's still going strong.
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2235.jpg)
I've got a bigger floor mounted belt sander in storage that I've yet to use, be interesting to see how that gets on?
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When you get to the point of blinging up T-nuts, you've got it bad!
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:)
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When you get to the point of blinging up T-nuts, you've got it bad!
Well........ I`ve heard it all now! :lol:
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You might have stunning engines, but I have the best looking T-nuts around here... :)
Drilled and power tapped on the mill....
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2245.jpg)
Cut to size and pinged the end of the threads over
(http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/thebodger/Sealey%20Milller/T%20Nuts/IMG_2246.jpg)
Job done, all my tooling now has proper fitting T-nuts, well ready made strips at least, the others can wait till needed before drilling and taping cos I've had enough for now... :med:
Now to stick em in the mill and ruin em :lol:
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OK .......... shall we make Darren' "T" nuts ......... sticky :scratch:
CC
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OK .......... shall we make Darren' "T" nuts ......... sticky :scratch:
CC
How about it Darren...are your nuts sticky? :lol:
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Erm.... Am I a little late to this thread? :coffee: ::)
Nice work there chief :thumbup: I have that "need to make 'em look nice" thing a lot of the time, sometimes I can do with the "it's functional" but most of the time I have to flash it up!! :ddb:
I'm glad the unknown steel works well :thumbup: It's well seasoned and generally bloody strong :thumbup:
Nice cuttting without hands on and a cramp in your thumb! :clap:
I''ve got 6 new lengths in the van this week :beer: told you there's plenty of it to be had :headbang:
Last time I made T nuts I made them for my RT (small with a M6 thread) Still got a 5" bar left in the right shape. It'll come in useful one day :thumbup:
Oh oh.... The jokes just get worse!! :lol:
Ralph.