1 2 3 blocks

Pete262

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Sep 29, 2017
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Hiya fellow members, trying to make own set of 1 2 3 blocks couple projets coming up, that soft blocks might be better option, have to smash new milling cutting,...So what's the hole layout of these blocks ? Have tried looking but nothing make,s sense....


So...Help please
 
Small suggestion. When I made a set, I made three. so I could support something (anything) on all three, rather than having to have two sets. Also, since I only had 1 by 3 O1 stock mine aren't full size. The hole arrangement is optional.
 
Cheers Tom, did buy enough material to make think six, material is not really right to use with real blocks but for what me going to use them of is close enough,.........Plus needed to correct my start to thread, hate to was what wanted to say...
 
Watch Tom Lipton's video on making Robin Renzetti designed 123 blocks that can actually be bolted together easily in many different ways for different jobs. The commercial ones are horrible in that regard, so do not copy them! Might as well make something useful...
 
Cool, cheer,s have seen link and seen it before, better blocks than me already got,

Guess simple way is to centre find set got to pick points as good place to start with hole placement
 
I have 2 sets and both are different you can do whatever you want bill
 
Come to thinking as looking to make own, it's up to me what size and style make , was really after hole placement so least mine would work with set bought..
 
The problem with the usual store bought 1-2-3 blocks is that they do not assemble well with the fasteners completely below the surfaces, to build real, sturdy angle plates and similar fixtures. They are just removing metal as far as usefulness goes, an extra cost without a lot of utility to the end user, mostly a place for chips, grit, and crud to collect. I really like the ones with no hole or one hole better than the ones with a bunch of holes that are not very useful. Unfortunately, the sellers charge a lot more for making zero or one hole than for making a bunch of holes. Go figure...

The Renzetti design hole pattern works great for assembling tooling, but the truth is that making even one pair of 1-2-3 blocks in a workmanlike manner in a hobby shop environment is a fairly substantial project, and the import ones are at least as accurate as I can make them, for around $10 a pair...

Suburban Tool USA made, high quality 1-2-3 blocks (not their import "value line") cost a LOT more, and still have the relatively useless hole patterns:
https://www.subtool.com/st/b123_precision_tri-blocks.html
 
What Bob says is true. Also the cheap blocks often don't bolt up correctly.
 
Once upon a time I had this idea to make threaded inserts from 3/8-16 set screws that would engage the holes of my offshore 123 blocks. The inserts would be ID tapped say 1/4-20. The idea being you could pass a 1/4-20 bolt through the open hole, engage this insert & clamp them together. I mean, do we really need the holding power of a 3/8" bolt? Coincidentally I keep seeing pics like this on Ebay where it kind of looks like maybe thats a thing? And on the end an external pin type clamp. But I don't see them sold anywhere.

I'd love to know the 'real' story behind these offshore blocks. Somebody suggested they got it wrong from the outset, drilled all 15 (5x3 array) tap holes, threaded the odd ones, forgot about the tap holes & called it good. Nobody complained on the first 100,000 delivered for awesome price so why change the program? Until that nasty know-it-all guy from Suburban spilled the beans on his video :) Who knows. If these fixit accessories sell, maybe it was a master plan of perpetual revenue!

SNAG-12-2-2017 0004.jpg
 
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