Pre-Machined T-nuts for toolpost

Hi Group,

I have one of the older Enco Taiwan made lathes and was looking for a pre-machined T-Nut for my Phase II wedge type toolpost ( 0 to 12" swing ).

My T slot on my carriage measures 2" wide at the bottom of the slot, and 1.2575" at the top of the slot. The overall height is .484" and the height of the bottom section of the slot is .249" The stud in the toolpost is 4.75" long and is a 14mm x 1.5 metric thread, however at this point I would be willing to purchase a new stud and top bolt just to find a T-nut that will fit. The tool post came with a "blank" that you can have machined, but I have not found anyone locally who could do it.

Anyone have any ideas where I can find one pre-made?

Thanks,

Jeff Smith snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAMcox-internet.com feel free to email me direct, remove NOSPAM from the email address.

Reply to
J. Alan
Loading thread data ...

Where's "locally"???

Paul in AJ AZ

Reply to
Pep674

Why not fasten this to your cross slide and cut it with an endmill in the chuck? Even without a milling attachment this is not hard to do. Just block it to the right height, cut it, flip it and cut it again.

Reply to
Ron Thompson

Fasten the Phase II provided "nut" into your mill and cut to fit the slot. You will end up with a long slim "T-nut" that can be trimmed on the ends to position the post to best advantage on the carriage. BTW, the advertising for most QC post manufacturers has the note that the provided T-nut will need machined to fit.

Reply to
Don Thompson

Try McMaster Carr. They have tee nuts.

Reply to
GaryH82012

Rural Area (Closest town is Hardy, population 600 ) of Arkansas :)

Reply to
J. Alan

Anyone with any kind of mill should be able to make what you need out of that blank. Surely someone in that area has a mill. Its not hard to cut and is regular old steel, a real walk in the park as far as machining goes

-- Visit my website:

formatting link
foundry and general metal working and lots of related projects. Regards Roy aka Chipmaker // Foxeye Opinions are strictly those of my wife....I have had no input whatsoever. Remove capital A from chipmAkr for correct email address

Reply to
Roy Hauer

Guess I won't ride my bicycle (;^} Paul in AJ AZ

Reply to
Pep674

Have you found the t-nut you need yet? In case you don't want to mill it as suggested by others I have a fairly simple suggestion that may work. Have you ever looked at Steve Bedair's 9 x 20 lathe site where he describes how to build several projects to enhance his? One of his projects is to build a

4-bolt replacement for the clamp that holds down the compound slide and it made me think of a way you might be able to make your t-nut without too much trouble. First off, look at this image:

formatting link
Since the bottom part of the t-nut is rectangular it won't twist in the slot so it shouldn't hurt if the top part is round. That means you can turn your original blank on your lathe and make the center part the diameter of the width you need and it should work. I think if you read his instructions you'll see what I have in mind. The full project description is at:

formatting link
Turning an interrupted cut might take a bit of patience but it works. You can turn it to the diameter you need and cut it down until the lower part of the plate is the right thickness to fit into your slot.

Since your blank already has a hole greater than 3/8" in it you can't do it exactly the same way that he did (unless you can find a bolt that will fit fairly tight) but it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a solution. Personally I think I would probably start with a new piece of steel and cut it to size so that I still have the original if needed. That way you could drill the 3/8" hole and follow his instructions and then drill it out and tap it to the 14mm you need.

Alternately you could put a nut on the bolt that you have and use it to tighten against the inside of the jaws of the chuck the way he describes for the bolt head.

I hope it helps and wish you luck!

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

Reply to
Keith Marshall

That's a nice approach, but I would comment that one can make the nut without the rectangular portion inside the slot as well - ie. make the entire thing as a round cross-section, in a lathe. You would think that a round nut like that would just spin inside the slot but the undersides of those are pretty rough and they actually lock up pretty well. If one were really worried, a couple of flats could be filed or hacksawed on the sides of the round profile.

Jim

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

Reply to
jim rozen

We learn to do what we can with what we have. :-D

nut without the rectangular portion inside the slot as well - ie. make the entire thing as a round cross-section, in a lathe. You would think that a round nut like that would just spin inside the slot but the undersides of those are pretty rough and they actually lock up pretty well. If one were really worried, a couple of flats could be filed or hacksawed on the sides of the round profile. >so it shouldn't hurt if the top part is round. That means you can turn your

Reply to
Keith Marshall

Probably almost anyone here can machine it for you, there is nothing difficult or dimensionally critical about it.

I will say, however, that this is one of the benefits of ordering your toolpost from us. We will machine the t-nut to fit your lathe, if you give us the dimensions of your t-slot.

Reply to
Scott S. Logan

Lacking a milling machine, I used a bandsaw, drill press and a file to produce a tee-nut for the new toolpost on my Atlas Lathe.

Rob

Reply to
Robert McDonald

Reply to
Grant Erwin

It works fine, the new "turret" style toolpost is more rigid than the original "rocker" style toolpast.

Rob

Reply to
Robert McDonald

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.