Atlas mill model MFC. Looking for a clamp set.

Airpirate said:
Ive been looking around for a clamp set for my MFC atlas mill. i found several on ebay but not sure what size to buy.
They are listed by T slot size, what does this refer to? is it the dimension of the wide part of the slot beneath the table surface where the head would slide, or is the the dimension of the slot in the top of the table? mine has a lower slot size of 5/8 but the sets with a T slot size of 5/8 have half inch studs, my table slots are only .362 wide.
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I appreciate all the helpful comments. I now know I need 3/8 T slot with 5/16 studs.
Found a decent price for a set on Ebay and bought them.
 
You may find that you still need to reduce the height of either or both the narrow and wide portion of the T-nuts. Easiest way to do this is to put one of you smaller studs in a chuck (or better, a collet) on your lathe. Run one of the flanged clamping muts onto the stud, followed by the T-nut. Use a solid carbide cutter to face the flats down until the T-nut will slide into the slot and not have anything standing proud of the table surface. Some T-nuts are case hardened. With those, first grind through the case a few thousands. And then face it. If you don't have a lathe, you can do it on the mill if you have either a 5/16" collet or a Jacobs No. 56 spindle chuck to hold the stud, and a milling vise to hold the lathe cutter. Use your bench grinder to take the resultant sharp edges off after you have enough height reduced.
 
I'd get some grade eight bolts in the 2" - 5" length in 7/16 or 3/8" . I'd mill the sides to fit the top of the table and mill the heads to fit the bottom of the slot . Heck I'd grind a couple to get started . Your studs will be stronger and fit tooling slots better. With coupling nuts your set . It's best to buy the hold down nuts with the flat washers on them. I have the same mill and that's my plan ,, plus I have tons of bolts being a repair and fabricator. Or is that fornacator lol
 
I was thrown by your measurement of 0.362" which is not 3/8" aye? The manual states the size so now you have it sorted. If you do have to shave a bit of the nuts to make fit please make sure that you stake the bottom threads to prevent the studs winding through freely. This is done to prevent jacking the underside of the slot and causing damage,(as in a dirty great hunk broken out), and also that when the stud is seated in the nut the nut is free to slide within the slot. It is an easy thing to overlook but will prevent damage to the most important part of your mill - the table.
 
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