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3/8-16 or 1/2-13 clamping kit...

Solar71

Titanium
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Location
Hermosa Beach California
Hey all...

We descided to drill the crap out of our top plate/pallete...

Its about a 1 inch thick slab of steel...

about 24 inches long and about 18 inches wide...
We were going to either drill 3/8-16 or 1/2-13...
This is because when i looked online it seems like the clamping kits are primarily of these 2 sizes... So is it work it, to get the larger size with only 13 tpi or better to get smaller size with 16 tpi ?

We will be using a deviding head and center most of the time... Parts were be from 5 pounds to 30 pounds each... mostly we will be drilling holes and tapping... Ussually 0.375 to about 1.250 with some 1.500 C-bores...

Nothing too major... So do we need the power of 1/2-13 or will 3/8-16 be fine enough for us ?

Thanks for your opinions
 
Solar

You lifted the sub-pallet off didn’t you so you could come up with this 2 deg table top. What was the fastener size holding that down to the tee slot’s in your real table. Why not use the same size as those all ready on the machine.

Nothing worse than having mix and match clamps on the one machine. So if you ever wanted to use the main pallet tee slots, under the sub plate, get what ever fits the machine you have, not some mongrel size that will have you looking for a different sized stud or nut each time you change a set up.

Its about a 1 inch thick slab of steel...
So how deep are we going to drill and tap these new holes? Didn’t you all ready tilt the table top, your going to put that back before you drill and tap the new holes right? – Phil.
 
Hi...

Yes we will make the table flat before drilling and tapping... acctually we took the table off already... and its on the other 6M machine that i was using before... the one that maxes out at 300 rpm...

We were thinking about using the same threads that the main baseplate had... They are 5/8-11
But when i went online to look at the clamping kits, i only saw 3/8-16 and 1/2-13... i did not see anything in 5/8-11 so i figured i would go with something else... one of the standards....

My baseplate, The one at the very bottom, not the top plate that we bolt on... but the plate that is at the lowest base has holes all over it... Every 3 inches length wise and every 3 inches along its width as well... So basicly holes everywhere... And they are all 5/8-11 and i cant find a clamping kit that has that size table studs included...

Also my boss was saying... instead of making holes in the top plate, He said maybe we should make holes and tap them as well... and NOT use the holes on the base plate... Just clamp down right on that top plate we have... I dont know...
We will try different things on monday...
Right now we just want to get a deviding head on there with a nice little center and drill and tap some stuff just to see how the machine works...

Our deviding head needs the studs to be about 9 inches apart... and so we will tap that and then clamp down the Deviding head... then i want to drill a hole and then run an endmill down in to make it nice and smooth... then i want to run that same endmill up from the center at a 2 degree angle... and see if it can handle that pressure...

From the center of a 2 inch deep hole... (1 inch) and comming up at 2 degrees ... there should only be about .035 to cut at the very top... i would think a .468 dia endmill could handle this right ?

PS : we will be drilling and tapping these holes the entire was through the top plate...
Remember that there are 1.125 inch square blocks under this plate, so there is lots of room...
 
Lordy!!!
US shop tool is close to Gardena CA ?
SCHWEET!!!

i looked and looked and looked and could only find 3/8-16 and 1/2-13... This is gonna be WAY SWEET!!!

thank you...

PS : just checked them out...
295$ WOW!!! isny that a little high ?
I have seen some kits that are close to 50-70$
Are those crappy kits ? or are these just overpriced ?

Is it really worth it to pay almost 300$ for a kit like this ? What are the advantaged ?
thanks
 
I have had good luck using 3/8" NPT (pipe thread) for clamping studs. The tapered thread lets them go together quick, and if you need more studs you can just go to the hardware store and get some more pipe pieces.
 
Clamping kits are for the birds. Maybe the clamps themselves are useful but for studs and nuts I always go with ASTM A193 B7 all thread rod, which you can saw up to the lengths you want, some good hard thick washers and 2H heavy pattern nuts, all of which are reasonable thru McMaster Carr.

John
 
The good thing about the cheap clamping kits, is the stand that holds everything :D

I don't have a particular beef with the inexpensive kits, in fact it can be nice to buy a second set, so that you can cut a half inch off all the studs in one set. Then, you can usually match the studs to the job, otherwise it seems as though "they" make these things on purpose, of such lengths so as to force you to use the nut way down in the thread runout zone, with an 3/4 inch of stud sticking up in the way.
 
The cheap Kits are cheap because they are made cheaply. I have a few sets here and they are Okay. My main problem is they studs and nuts are fairly soft and chips get imbedded in the threads and cause problems when taking apart and assembling.

Being cheap means I can just run a die over them, chase the nuts, or toss away and buy more as they are fairly cheap. I use the better sets for fixtures that need to be taken apart often. And the little rack is cute to organize by the machines.
 
Its official...

My boss said, we are taping at 1/2-13...
Our other mills also use the same 1/2-13...
So my boss wants all the machines to have the same threading...

I was hoping for 5/8-11 but he said no... :(
Thanks for the input.
 
gee solar dont be so despondent over the 1/2-13 hole size.
you obviously dont realize that a 1/2-13 stud can pull over a ton of clamping pressure per clamp.
also dont get the 1" wide step blocks but look at northwestern's 1 1/2" wide step blocks...jim
 
Solar71
MATH ?
WHATS THAT ?
from that reply i see, no hand book and no calulator

Have you ever heard of stastic and strengths?

Now maybe you can understand why i thought you
were over payed some time back.
 








 
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