Thread: Crazy idea ..or not ?

Originally Posted by morrisman

Rick, on the yahoo mill drill forum kindly posted this link:

http://rick.sparber.org/on.pdf

I think it is his own idea ..looks promising .

MIKE


MIKE

Mike, that seems like an awful lot of work just to be able to bolt something between 2 T slots.

Earlier this year I made up 2 clamping strips from 32x12 black bar, drilled for the 3 T slots.
They were to hold in place a small toolmakers' vise I picked up in a garge sale, but it didn't have good clamping options.

Attachment 182017

It wouldn't take much to take this idea a step further and drill and tap a 12mm hole between the 2 T slot holes. Would give you the same facility with a lot less work. The added bonus would be that you can square this strip to the table, in fact one of them lives almost permanently on the table, already squared up, and is used to locate my 6" RT against.
The other benefit would be that you could bolt it in adjacent T slots, would be stronger than the Omega nut I would think.

Originally Posted by Dave J

I saw that reply as well, but it will raise whatever is bolted to it above the table.

Dave

Not necessarily Dave, you could still have your work piece sitting on the the table and the Omega nut next to it.

Still seems like more of an exercise in machining than a practical solution to a problem though.

a round one these would be great for a drill press. lots of threaded holes for clamping the work straight to it. or the vise to the drill. i have seen a face plate for a lathe. Instead of slots it had a lot of tapped holes. probably 30 of 40. they were not in a square pattern like the mill ones in those pictures. But must of been drilled out and tapped in a serious of arks. Using studs and bolts to secure the work

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Or perhaps do something like this

Mill Fixture Plate

it is on my "todo" list.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Not necessarily Dave, you could still have your work piece sitting on the the table and the Omega nut next to it.

Still seems like more of an exercise in machining than a practical solution to a problem though.

Your right there, I was thinking of bolting things to the top of it because the job would be in a position that you couldn't use a standard T slot.

Bridgeport's have 3 T slots, and I haven't heard people complaining. Still I would rather have 5.

Fred's idea of the flat bar would work, as long as you don't want it directly bolted to the table. If it's for a rotary table I think his idea would be great.

Dave

Originally Posted by azzrock

a round one these would be great for a drill press. lots of threaded holes for clamping the work straight to it. or the vise to the drill. i have seen a face plate for a lathe. Instead of slots it had a lot of tapped holes. probably 30 of 40. they were not in a square pattern like the mill ones in those pictures. But must of been drilled out and tapped in a serious of arks. Using studs and bolts to secure the work

That would be great for a drill press, as your job rarely lines up with the standard slots, or the slots fall short.

Dave

I like your pics Fred. You must have a decent camera !

I am now thinking of a aluminium fixing plate . I can buy some 25mm stuff , probably an off cut and then go ahead and mill some t slots in it . Thinking about it, I am really not experienced enough to modify my table. It actually could turn out to be disastrous if it goes wrong . If I stuff up the piece of aluminium plate , then it is no big deal . And the plate can be replaced if it becomes worn and marked after a long period of use.

I notice they sell alum. plate in different temper or hardness grades. The harder stuff would be more useful in my case , I imagine .

Mike

Originally Posted by Dave J

That would be great for a drill press, as your job rarely lines up with the standard slots, or the slots fall short.

Dave

Not only for the drill press, my 6" RT only has 3 T slots (rather than 4) and I am planning on making one of the tooling plates for the RT as well, with a concentric bolt hole pattern as Aaron suggests.

Further to my comments above, I took the trouble of drilling and tapping the extra 12mm holes in my 2 clamping bars, voila almost like having 5 T slots and certainly easier to implement than an Omega nut as well as easier to line up.

Attachment 182022

The thing that worried me about adding Tee slots is you may then end up complaining that there is always a tee slot in the way, for clampoing blocks etc.

I like this idea.
http://rick.sparber.org/on.pdf
But would turn the "feet" inwards.

How long is your table Mike? My mill have 770mm X

Stuart

Originally Posted by morrisman

I like your pics Fred. You must have a decent camera !

I am now thinking of a aluminium fixing plate . I can buy some 25mm stuff , probably an off cut and then go ahead and mill some t slots in it . Thinking about it, I am really not experienced enough to modify my table. It actually could turn out to be disastrous if it goes wrong . If I stuff up the piece of aluminium plate , then it is no big deal . And the plate can be replaced if it becomes worn and marked after a long period of use.

I notice they sell alum. plate in different temper or hardness grades. The harder stuff would be more useful in my case , I imagine .

Mike

My camera is a fairly basic and by now outdated Canon 450D, a digital SLR, lens is the standard 18-55mm kit zoom.

I wouldn't mill T slots in the aluminium tooling plate, just the threaded bolt holes in a suitable pattern.

I have seen tooling plates made of 12mm aluminium, my clamping bars are 12mm thick and there is plenty of thread to engage the studs and/or bolts.

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=to...w=1000&bih=688

Originally Posted by Stustoys

How long is your table Mike? My mill have 770mm X

Stuart

The book says it's 800 mm X 240 mm .... it's the same machine that Fred has .

Originally Posted by Stustoys

The thing that worried me about adding Tee slots is you may then end up complaining that there is always a tee slot in the way, for clampoing blocks etc.

I like this idea.
http://rick.sparber.org/on.pdf
But would turn the "feet" inwards.

How long is your table Mike? My mill have 770mm X

Stuart

Hi Stuart,
770mm travel would do that 800mm table no trouble because the troughs are at each end before the T slots start and there is a bit of table before the trough.
The thing that would worry me is if there is any internal stresses in the table that would make it bow as the T slots are cast into them and only cleaned up if needed on these Chinese mills like mine are.
If that happened it would be a trip to Ray for grinding then a lot of scraping for the new gib.

I agree with Fred about that clamp being over complicated and think his idea is much better. With Fred's it could be milled after being installed and then it would be true to the table.

Dave

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Not only for the drill press, my 6" RT only has 3 T slots (rather than 4) and I am planning on making one of the tooling plates for the RT as well, with a concentric bolt hole pattern as Aaron suggests.

Further to my comments above, I took the trouble of drilling and tapping the extra 12mm holes in my 2 clamping bars, voila almost like having 5 T slots and certainly easier to implement than an Omega nut as well as easier to line up.

Attachment 182022

Hi Fred,
If you haven't already I would close the bottom of the threads over in those holes (like you T nuts in the clamp kit) to stop the bolts/studs marking the table or jacking it up.

Dave

Originally Posted by Dave J

Hi Fred,
If you haven't already I would close the bottom of the threads over in those holes (like you T nuts in the clamp kit) to stop the bolts/studs marking the table or jacking it up.

Dave

Yep, done and dusted, I do that with all the T nuts I make

i had a play with the idea of a drill press table. there is a lot of drilling and taping. A small table around 250mm dia with 4 rings of mounting holes. is 49 holes. I think it looks about the right amount of holes for convenient clamping. the dia of the outer circle ect shouldn't alter the amount of holes.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Not only for the drill press, my 6" RT only has 3 T slots (rather than 4) and I am planning on making one of the tooling plates for the RT as well, with a concentric bolt hole pattern as Aaron suggests.

Further to my comments above, I took the trouble of drilling and tapping the extra 12mm holes in my 2 clamping bars, voila almost like having 5 T slots and certainly easier to implement than an Omega nut as well as easier to line up.

Attachment 182022