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Where can I get a set of mini parallels made ?

Ed325

Plastic
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Location
PA
Hello everyone,
First of all, if I'm not in the right forum for this let me know.
But I would like to purchase a set of parallels.
2.500 inches long
.1000 inches thick
Set of 16 pairs from 1/16 to 1 inch
Ground and square on all sides
Please advise where I can get this done

I just don't have the free time at work to do it myself.

Thanks
 
Hello everyone,
First of all, if I'm not in the right forum for this let me know.
But I would like to purchase a set of parallels.
2.500 inches long
.1000 inches thick
Set of 16 pairs from 1/16 to 1 inch
Ground and square on all sides
Please advise where I can get this done

I just don't have the free time at work to do it myself.

Thanks

Easy. Cut, or HAVE cut, out of stock 6" length ones. De-burr.

Cheaper that way. A lot cheaper.
 
Hello everyone,
First of all, if I'm not in the right forum for this let me know.
But I would like to purchase a set of parallels.
2.500 inches long
.1000 inches thick
Set of 16 pairs from 1/16 to 1 inch
Ground and square on all sides
Please advise where I can get this done

I just don't have the free time at work to do it myself.

Thanks

.
if they dont need to be hardened many just buy precision ground steel in 18" or 24" lengths and cut to length they want. Starrett makes precision ground steel wrapped in paper
 
Hello everyone,
First of all, if I'm not in the right forum for this let me know.
But I would like to purchase a set of parallels.
2.500 inches long
.1000 inches thick
Set of 16 pairs from 1/16 to 1 inch
Ground and square on all sides
Please advise where I can get this done

I just don't have the free time at work to do it myself.

Thanks

Any reason you can't use 1/32" thin parallels? They don't go down to 1/16", but they are 1/16" increments..

I would look at ejector pins for the ones under 1/2" tall. Buy a 6" long pin, chop saw / cutoff wheel in surface grinder, or wire into 2 pieces...
 
MSC will sell you set of smalll parallels. Not the smallest ones you want, but the sizes do cross over with some of you wants.
Or, find a buddy with a surface grinder!
 
So I'm looking at a SendCutSend dot com brochure. They have something ferrous (not sure if cold rolled, HRP&O or ?) that's .104 thick.

Laser them out slightly oversize and grind to finish in pairs clamped to a right angle reference.

A lot of my parallels are just simply tool steel that's "ground flat stock" from here + there but not touched after that except by my saw and a deburring file. They work just fine for most purposes. Typical 1/4" thick.
 
In 99.99999999% of all uses for parallels, there is absolutely no reason for the small ends to be flat and parallel. If you drop that "all six sides" requirement to four sides instead, I suspect they will be a lot easier to find and a lot less expensive.

Again, as others have said, that 0.1" size may also be a problem. In inch sizes, fractional thickness will probably be a lot easier to find. 1/8" would be the easiest, 3/32" (0.0937") would be my next suggestion or perhaps 1/16".

I now have a set of "real" parallels but for many years I purchased flat, ground stock and cut it to the lengths that I needed. Two pairs of sides, the two that you will be actually using, will be parallel and accurate to within one or two tenths or better. The saw cut ends never were any kind of impairment to their use. Parallels do not get a lot of wear so they will keep their accuracy in any but an intense, commercial usage. And if they wear to the point where you can no longer use them, you can just cut another pair from the flat ground stock that you carefully stored for future use.
 
Hey Dian, check the date on my last post. It was from April of last year. So the answer would be once a year. No place for your attitude here
 
Thanks for suggestions, don't have time to cut up long parallels which is cheapest but would pay up to $150 if I get something close to what I'm asking for. I can finish to my liking but looking at having them as close to done as possible. On thickness I would take anything from 1/16 - 3/32 as long as its hardened tool steel.
 
Thanks for suggestions, don't have time to cut up long parallels which is cheapest but would pay up to $150 if I get something close to what I'm asking for. I can finish to my liking but looking at having them as close to done as possible. On thickness I would take anything from 1/16 - 3/32 as long as its hardened tool steel.

"Pay up to $150" is why you have had to keep asking at annual intervals and still "just don't get it".

Whole SET, well-matched pairs by definition, made to non-standard steps and sizing, from non-standard stock?

That might sound like general-purpose shop set-up tooling on the face of it, but once you depart the envelope of what is made and sold by the thousands as standard product, it is no longer such.

You have basically asked for custom fixturing.

Steel is cheap enough. Fully-burdened machine and operator time, QC, product warranty, dealing with the order, shipping and billing.. having a facility, HVAC and power and the skill to DO it?

Not so much.

Just because some of us have been f**d more than once, commercially or otherwise, don't make this a two-dollah a trick online hoorhouse.

At $150?

YOUR time might be the absolute cheapest in the room?

Might want to consider "DIY" in a new light?

Should let yah dodge STD's anyway. Or so we hope and trust.
 
Thanks for suggestions, don't have time to cut up long parallels which is cheapest but would pay up to $150 if I get something close to what I'm asking for. I can finish to my liking but looking at having them as close to done as possible. On thickness I would take anything from 1/16 - 3/32 as long as its hardened tool steel.

Sorry bud, you are way out of line. Heat treat is expensive, grinding them flat, even to within .001-.002" flat/parallel takes alot of time to shim, grind, flip, grind, etc etc...

Apparently you don't 'need' them that bad if you asked about this a year ago. If you need something special, just stay after work and make it.... I did this for a lot of my tools when I started my apprenticeship in '94 or so. Work 10 hours a day, then stay for 2 or 3 more hours working on tools. I still have (but seldom used) my 3/4 x1 1/4 x 12" that I made and ground flat and parallel to about .0002-.0004". It was alot of work, but I learned alot grinding to those tolerances... I also made angle plates, odd parallel sizes, "V" blocks, etc...
 
Sorry bud, you are way out of line. Heat treat is expensive, grinding them flat, even to within .001-.002" flat/parallel takes alot of time to shim, grind, flip, grind, etc etc...

Apparently you don't 'need' them that bad if you asked about this a year ago. If you need something special, just stay after work and make it.... I did this for a lot of my tools when I started my apprenticeship in '94 or so. Work 10 hours a day, then stay for 2 or 3 more hours working on tools. I still have (but seldom used) my 3/4 x1 1/4 x 12" that I made and ground flat and parallel to about .0002-.0004". It was alot of work, but I learned alot grinding to those tolerances... I also made angle plates, odd parallel sizes, "V" blocks, etc...

I know what it takes and costs. Someone may have the equipment and free time and for that I would pay more if I knew it would be done right. Yes the $150 is not much money for what I'm asking for. But I would accept a non finished product. And complete myself. I get it. For the right individual with the proper equipment can be good money. Plus I already started making a set that has been heat treated and sizes roughed in but needs ground. But its dragged on for over a year hence the asking again. Also your talking to a Pennsylvania Journeyman Tool and Die Maker not a home hobby machinist. Been in the business over 25 years so I have stayed after work many times to make things.

Thanks
Ed
 
I know what it takes and costs. Someone may have the equipment and free time and for that I would pay more if I knew it would be done right. Yes the $150 is not much money for what I'm asking for. But I would accept a non finished product. And complete myself. I get it. For the right individual with the proper equipment can be good money. Plus I already started making a set that has been heat treated and sizes roughed in but needs ground. But its dragged on for over a year hence the asking again. Also your talking to a Pennsylvania Journeyman Tool and Die Maker not a home hobby machinist. Been in the business over 25 years so I have stayed after work many times to make things.

Thanks
Ed

So stay over some more and make these. AND, are you kidding on that price?? That is not good money to any professional machine shops. Take most shops are charging from $40-100/hr. At best you are asking someone to make these (completely finished or not) in 3 hours (not including mat'l cost, unless you are supplying) at your price.. get a grip :rolleyes5:
 
grinding them flat, even to within .001-.002" flat/parallel takes alot of time to shim, grind, flip, grind, etc

The FLAT part is the kicker.

If they're hard, they'll be flat for a while, but will end up either broken or bent after a few uses.

I'm not sure you could even get them flat to .001 to begin with. I would probably make a dozen, harden them and then pick the best two candidates to grind.

$150 isn't even close.
 








 
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