I'm new working with sheet metal and I'm looking for some of either standard/non-standard ways of "easily" adding a threaded insert for tapping. Any help to my lack of knowledge here will be greatly appreciated!
We need an easy way "at assembly" to attach mounting holes to some kind of existing punched/machined pattern.
I suggest you check out this type of fastener. I've used them in the past and had good success.
How about using a Rivnut? We do a lot of sheet metal fastening and use rivnuts quite a bit.
Richard
Try PEM fasteners, Palnut, and Tinnerman. A google search should lead you to their respective home pages.
If you are set up for it, you could also use weld nuts.
Another (farther out) option is Flowdrill.
WT
Not so farout Wayne,
I used it on a project that I had some thin wall (1/8") steel tubing that I needed some threaded holes (1/4-28) and it worked great!!! Very cool, and easy to use once you get the hang of it (one or two holes).
Muggs
Were you able to run them by hand, in a drill press, or did you have to do it with NC to get the speed & feed correct? How touchy was it?
WT
I used a Bridgeport because I cheeped out and didn't buy the heat dispersion thingy, so rather than risk a three jawed chuck in a drill press I opted for an R8 collet. It held it perfectly and I "drilled" it with the quill feed handle, and it worked great. However you would probably get a better "feel" for how its drilling in a drill press. As far as how touchy it was, if you've ever drilled a hole in steel and you can "feel" how much presure to apply, it's about the same thing. You actually have to go a little faster than you would think.
Muggs
I actually designed a custom machine using flowdrill a few years back it was for the mounting holes of a few Mopar hitches. We used pneumatic feed drill heads and cycled tapping heads since it was a dedicated machine. Really cool process. Couldn't tell you exactly how it would feel manually I recall doing a few tests but like I say it has been years. (Don't get the lube they suggest on your clothes though it doesn't come out.) I think the machine had less than 50 second cycle time. I would have to watch the video again to be sure. Put the company that bought it way ahead on cycle times though I think they only need to run it 2 days a week. I was happy that it more than pleased them.
Corey
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