Tee nuts/studs from scratch

[Hopper]

Or there is the quick and dirty way - always the preferred method in my shop! - and use coach bolts with the heads ground down on the bench grinder to suit. Not sure about Myford sizes but 5/16" coach bolts, the ones with round domed heads and a square section between head and shank, are a pretty good fit on my Drummond. You may have to go a size smaller on the Myford. The square is a good fit in the narrow part of the T slot, some may need the slightest touch on the bench grinder to move back and forth freely.

The coach bolt can be set in the three jaw and the top of the domed head machined down flat until it is just less than the depth of the wide section of the T slot. Finally the round domed head has two flats ground on it on the bench grinder until that part of the head is a free sliding fit in the wide section of the T slot.

I've been using this " temporary" measure for years while I wait to get around to making proper T nuts. Never any problems.

I have also found that standard Metric sized T nuts available cheap cheap on the interwebs fit Drummond and Myford sized T slots with a very minimal lick on the bench grinder on the bottom face and the two sides that fit inside the wide part of the T.

Myford today does not seem to sell Imperial sized T bolts and nuts, except a couple of the longer sizes that would be leftover old stock. They sell instead Metric replacements. M6 threads instead of 1/4". Sign of the times I guess.

 

[JCSteam]

Thanks Hopper that's exactly my kind of tempory idea too using the coach bolts but thought I'd be fround upon for even suggesting an idea like that. Coach bolts are cheap enough and would suffice for now. Most even come with a handy square nut too lol

 

[JCSteam]

Sorry, I missed or forgot the lathe-only part of the request. However, there is a point in the video where tapping the T-nut to prevent running the bolt or stud in too deep is discussed.

I do want to learn what JCsteam does, as I like to see people move forward at all skill levels. (And Norm, I am patiently waiting for you to get your shed and your MySieg up and running.)

Regards to all,

--ShopShoe

No worries, if you missed my introduction, I found myself out of work, and had this crazy idea that with a lathe I'd be able to make stuff to sell. However spent that long looking for a job never got sorted with the lathe. I've only recently moved and repaired the old shed. And now I'm trying to assess what I'd need to be able to make something useful, when I figure out what useful is. I have a faceplate with clamps but no bolts to secure anything to it. I also want to get a angle plate so I can mill in the machine again I'd need some form of tee nut or bots to secure the angle plate. Hence the start of the thread. I saw the bit about the tapered hole to avoid the bolts going through to you cross slide.

 

[fcheslop]

Tee nuts and bolts could be simply turned from stock and the flats done with that rather old and often forgotten tool a FILE
As most of my generation we were taught to file to within a thou or so and if you failed it was a thick ear along with some words I still use to this day when things go wrong
If you got it wrong again it was punishment duties in my case hand sawing clock frames for teh gaffers contraband jobs
If you buy any books the one Norm mentions should be top of the list it has been a very good source of info over the years
cheers

 

[Wizard69]

Everyone has provided information already, but MrPete also has a video on this subject:

--ShopShoe

This is the method I've used many times for T-Nuts at work.

By the way MrPete does a good job with his videos, I try to watch one or more a week. I like that he stresses that T-Nuts don't have to be precision pieces but then goes to hit tolerance right on the money. The point is many a T-Nut has been made with lathe and file or simply adjusted to fit with a file. Many a home shop is pretty thin on machinery so not every tool component needs to be held to tenths of an inch to be usable.

 

[goldstar31]

Of course this is all part of a hobby and some diversions from the real world are to be expected.

On my workdesk I have 4 1" long proper Myford tee nuts and the cost was either a lot or not a lot but I paid less than £6 for them inclusive of postage, packing and V-ery A-wful T-ax for mine from RDG Tools who is Myford's successor

a retired accountant--- ooops- sorry!

Norm

 

[JCSteam]

Of course this is all part of a hobby and some diversions from the real world are to be expected.

On my workdesk I have 4 1" long proper Myford tee nuts and the cost was either a lot or not a lot but I paid less than £6 for them inclusive of postage, packing and V-ery A-wful T-ax for mine from RDG Tools who is Myford's successor

a retired accountant--- ooops- sorry!

Norm

Norman I always thought of it as V-ague A-dditions to T-otal.

Thanks for all your help everyone, at least I know I could practice making these. If I don't hit precision first time it will not be a loss.

 

[Wizard69]

Norman I always thought of it as V-ague A-dditions to T-otal.



Thanks for all your help everyone, at least I know I could practice making these. If I don't hit precision first time it will not be a loss.

The key here is that you only really need precision in one place. That would be the shoulders that bear on the underside of the T-slot. It should be rather easy to keep these surfaces in the same plane on lathe cut T nuts or bolts. What you want here is that the nut or bolt bear evenly on both the left and right sides of the slots.

On T-nuts the tolerance can be a bit looser than on a T-bolt as slop in the threads allow some tilt of the nut. In any event don't get stressed out on precision, forged T-bolts are often left as forged with only the critical surfaces cleaned up. As noted by suggestions above these don't have to be perfect to get the job done.

The other reality you may run into is that sometimes your buts and bolts are pulling up against as casted surfaces, so again excessive precision does you no good.

 

[goldstar31]

It should be re-iterated that the 'Myford' slots are milled out with a tee slot cutter and whilst there is no problem which arises from an uneven casting, there is precious little 'meat'/ thickness up to the top of the boring table - or even the vertical slide. So it is reasonably safe when part to be held is flat and of a large area, trouble arises when two long bolts hold down things like castings.

As I have experienced, the boring table can either be bowed or snapped. I have a broken circular tee slot spigot on a top slide of a Super7B which was victim of someone not heeding sound guidance. Cleeve who wrote Screwcutting in the Lathe experienced the slot breakage and replaced his broken boring table in Steel( by Myford itself)

I'm repeating myself but the point must be made

Norm

 

[JCSteam]

Thank you wizard and Norm. After talking with Norm the other night, I have an idea how I can block the metal to be machined. And Norm makes a good point on making sure it is all clamped and the load is evenly spaced. It looks like T nuts are the way to go, and try get them as accurate as possible.

This question came about because looking through what was sold with the lathe I had a faceplate and clamps but nothing to secure them. Similarly there was the cross slide which had the tee grooves, so my assumption was that there's no point in making things twice and if possible make fixings compatible with both.

During this thread I have already realised there's going to have to be a steep learning curve, plus a lot of reading and digesting of information.

It does appear that these will be a good starting project. As I'll be using a lot of techniques new to me that most of you take as second nature. For example feeding the crosslide by hand, clamping stock bar to the cross slide securely and evenly spaced, and in line with where I want to cut.

Learnt a lot from this thread alone so thank you to all that's contributed

 

[kwoodhands]

I would buy the clamping set. You can also buy separate sizes of studs and T-nuts if needed. I have made T nuts from aluminum stock for lighter duty applications. I hold a Dial Indicator with a T-nut on the mill instead of a magnetic base which often gets in my way. Another use for the light duty T-nuts is to hold a lever valve on a compressed air line to cool the cutter on the mill.
I imagine you do not have a mill yet. Though it is possible to mill with your lathe it is not practical for inexpensive tooling like t-nuts.
mike

 

[JCSteam]

Thanks Mike, nope no mill, a rough list of tooling I own.
Lathe, faceplate x2, clamps, lathe dog, 4" 4jaw, 3"3 jaw, 3"4jaw hand tightened, various tapered drills, a couple of tapered reamers, lots of taps and a few dies, (some worn some ok), lots of HSS boring bars, cutting tools. Set of rough cut files, small fine cut files, general screwdrivers, and also a 1-13mm drill set. Not a lot for my £300 eh?

If you ain't gathered yet I'm a poor machinist, lacking knowledge and funds. But one thing I always have is enthusiasm, I got loads of that lol.

 

[bmac2]

Hey JC in some ways you’re in luck. Looks like back in the 50’s no one had any money. Just lots of enthusiasm and a willingness to develop a skill (sorry no APP for IOS or Android) A lot of people were turning to books like the ones David Gingery and others wrote to make their own metal working machines. To me DIY or shop made tooling just means lighter cuts and slower feed rates.
In June 1957 Science and Mechanics ran this article for a lathe milling attaching from cold-rolled flat bar. I was very close to starting one before I found a used mini mill cheap.

View attachment Science and Mechanics lathe-milling-attach.pdf

 

[goldstar31]

In June 1957 Science and Mechanics ran this article for a lathe milling attaching from cold-rolled flat bar. I was very close to starting one before I found a used mini mill cheap.

Just to expand the subject. L C Mason was the Tractor bloke and also wrote several books, one of which was Building the Small Lathe. Again, he wrote screeds of stuff on machining in Model Engineer.

Very readable, very accomplished.

I recall reading his bit in ME on how to set a lathe tool to give a fine finish--- without hitting the proper centre height of the tool.

JC MUST read him and many other contributors

N

 

[perko7]

I had to make some T-nuts for a vertical slide. No access to milling machine and unable to buy some the right size. Used some square stock the same width as the base of the slot. Took me not more than about an hour of hacksawing and filing to make 4 nuts. Worth it for the opportunity to improve my filing technique, but now that i've done it i'll be using the vertical slide and some milling cutters in the lathe if i have to do it again.