looking for special crimp-stud-thing

unk fired this volley in news:mfmmak$fgh$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

ONE search!

Nicopress maybe.

That'd work, but the bit I saw was a lot shorter, and it had a bit of a flange, about 3/8", between the threaded section and the crimp. The crimp part was only 3/8" or so long.

No good for a big load, obviously. It was holding a pewter flower such that it could flop about (= was art).

unk fired this volley in news:mfob30$m1m$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

Um.... NOW that you know what they're called...

And exactly WHY could you not cut down an aluminum stud? No "special aluminum cutting lathe"? Oh... wait... if you had that...

Lloyd

That stuff is like gold to the mfgrs, and they're damned proud of them. ChaCHING! I priced some Feeney parts once and just about had a heart attack.

I have several lathes, and a hacksaw, and sundry other tools...

...but it's not a one-off, this is an idea for a friend who might use MANY of these bits so eliminating a few steps for a few cents extra makes sense.

unk fired this volley in news:mfp0o4$8od$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

If you have a lathe, and some reasonable measuring tools, 'part duplication' is a fast and easy process. About the only departure from 'normal' would be adding a compliant die adaptor to your tailstock to handle a 1/4-20 die (point threading wouldn't suit for rapid duplication).

I could bore, turn, and thread one of those in about one minute total machining time on a purely manual lathe. And so could you.

They're not 'precision' devices. Re-chucking work won't cost you the sort of runouts that would damage its utility.

So, you chuck up round stock of the correct o.d. You drill the end to match the un-crimped cable diameter, then use a cutoff tool to part the workpiece. Step and repeat for a few hundred. That might take two hours.

Then re-chuck the cutoffs, turn the minor diameter and thread them. The 'compliant' die holder is so you can force a start, then stop the die with the spindle switch before it hits the shoulder. Then you just hand- turn the last two or three threads, and reverse the spindle to get the die back off the end.

Quick, easy, cheap. (but I don't know how much you 'pay' yourself for such mundane work).

LLoyd

Even better -- if you have a bed turret available for your lathe -- is to use something like a Geometric die head. It cuts to the point where your turret stop is for that station (another station does the drilling, and another perhaps a bit of finish turning before threading), and when the stop is hit, the threads already cut pull it a bit deeper, until it releases a clutch which lets the four chasers pop out radially to clear the workpiece so you can withdraw the die head while the workpiece is still spinning. If you set it up right, you can thread right up to a shoulder at fairly high spindle speeds.

But -- if the threads in the aluminum are going to be used for frequent adjustments, you probably want to look into a rolling threader instead. No chips, and the thread material is work hardened for better life.

If his friend is going to be making things in the thousands, it would make sense to find a commercial part which would serve -- or find someone with a screw machine lathe and automate the production. Run it one day and have 10,000 of the parts you need. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

"DoN. Nichols" fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@Katana.d-and-d.com:

Yep, Don, that would be just the trick for a guy who didn't realize he could do these on his "several lathes" in the first place!

(A 'chaser die' is a tool I don't yet own, but hope to.)

Lloyd

That's odd; 1/8" stainless cable is rarely used for such low tension as a 1/4-20 aluminum stud would hold.

Stainless eye ends with a circa 2" engagement and high tech adhesives, I've seen.

What kind of quantity is your friend looking for? I wouldn't mind bidding the job. Then your friend could get exactly what he wanted. Eric Snow, E T Precision Machine