Clamps for my new pallet

I admire your skill and talent, but might I ask why you decided to make these particular clamps? Years ago, I looked into making a set for my horizontal mill. I got as far as pricing out the necessary stock and gave up on the project. It was going to cost me nearly 3 times as much just for the stock as it would cost for a commercially made 58 piece set complete with a storage rack, wrench, and slot cleaning tool.

I must admit I have made dozens of odd sized clamps and T-nuts over the years, but that was because there wasn't anything commercially made that was available. Being old and somewhat lazy I generally go the most cost-effective route even though I have the time and tools to make whatever parts I need.

Case and point, last week I needed to repair a drapery rod in the family room. Upon disassembly it was obvious the plastic pulleys had worn out after only 35 years of daily use. The original plan was to purchase some 3/4" OD acetal round stock and make them from scratch on the lathe. When I saw the price of the stock, I was a bit shocked. I went to McMaster and found pulleys of the proper material, in the proper diameter and width. All I needed to do was to bore them to the proper ID and expand the groove slightly. I ordered 8 pulleys for a total of $13.44. That was less than half the price of the round stock. It took less than 20 minutes to bore them and increase the groove. The rod is reassembled and working properly. I only hope the new pulleys will outlast the originals. I don't want to have to repeat the process when I'm 110 years old. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
 
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akjeff said:
Very nice. How did the tapped hole dimensions do after hardening? Did you tap them oversize?( H5 tap )
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Good question. I took some old taps and ran it through on both 10-32 and 1/4x20.
I got some debris out of there but the threads are clear and smooth.
I prefer A2 for this type of project. It seems to be more stable.
The surface grinder proved a little warping on the parts. Not bad though.
 
projectnut said:
I admire your skill and talent, but might I ask why you decided to make these particular clamps? Years ago, I looked into making a set for my horizontal lathe. I got as far as pricing out the necessary stock and gave up on the project. It was going to cost me nearly 3 times as much just for the stock as it would cost for a commercially made 58 piece set complete with a storage rack, wrench, and slot cleaning tool.

I must admit I have made dozens of odd sized clamps and T-nuts over the years, but that was because there wasn't anything commercially made that was available. Being old and somewhat lazy I generally go the most cost-effective route even though I have the time and tools to make whatever parts I need.

Case and point, last week I needed to repair a drapery rod in the family room. Upon disassembly it was obvious the plastic pulleys had worn out after only 35 years of daily use. The original plan was to purchase some 3/4" OD acetal round stock and make them from scratch on the lathe. When I saw the price of the stock, I was a bit shocked. I went to McMaster and found pulleys of the proper material, in the proper diameter and width. All I needed to do was to bore them to the proper ID and expand the groove slightly. I ordered 8 pulleys for a total of $13.44. That was less than half the price of the round stock. It took less than 20 minutes to bore them and increase the groove. The rod is reassembled and working properly. I only hope the new pulleys will outlast the originals. I don't want to have to repeat the process when I'm 110 years old. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
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Yeah, I get it. I chose the 4140 and O1 because they were small pieces in my scrap pile.
My time is free :)
 
Janderso said:
Yeah, I get it. I chose the 4140 and O1 because they were small pieces in my scrap pile.
My time is free :)
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Understood. Your “scrap pile” is a little more diverse than mine. Most of my scrap is unknownium. It only gets used in low stress or disposable applications
 
projectnut said:
Understood. Your “scrap pile” is a little more diverse than mine. Most of my scrap is unknownium. It only gets used in low stress or disposable applications
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There was a time, back when I was working, I would buy stock like A2, 4140ht, O1 and W1 just to learn while I made useful shop tooling.
The ground O1 from McMaster is wonderful to work with but boy is it expensive.
Anyway, what I didn’t use goes into my special bin.
 
We used to buy 1 1/4” x 3” x 36” A1 tool steel bars from McMaster to setup new machines before shipping them to the production facilities. The last ones I bought were around $200.00 each. They’re now a little over $700.00 each
 
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