Connecting 123 blocks

[Batmanacw]

I stole this idea from someone on YouTube. Not sure who.

This little project was pretty easy buy I managed to make it hard..... I eyeballed the hole pattern in the 3" side of my Brown & Sharpe 123 blocks at 9/16" with a rule......first mistake. After I made the first bar I found out these 123 blocks have a 14mm hole spacing. Gauge pins to the rescue! I made a second one and it fit perfect.

My second mistake was assuming the hole pattern would be the same on the 2" end.....it was 14.7mm.

Both mistakes were very easily avoided just finding two tight fitting gauge pins, measuring across them and subtracting half of the width of both pins.

I used 8-32 x 1.25" socket head cap screws so the head of the screw fit easily inside the holes in the block. I cut a pocket for the cap screw head to sit flat in the clearance holes of the drilled through bar.

I used 0.3" mystery stainless rod to make the cross bars.

I made it to take a screw in each hole so the clamping is tight with minimal tightening force.

A slot in the end of the rod helps orient the threaded holes.

I really like how they work.






The holes in the blocks are not properly cleaned out. I haven't figured out how to clean out the burrs yet.

 

[ChazzC]

I stole this idea from someone on YouTube. Not sure who.

The holes in the blocks are not properly cleaned out. I haven't figured out how to clean out the burrs yet.

Try a Poor Man's Hone:


Slot the end of a piece of drill rod with your bandsaw (or a hacksaw), wrap a short strip of coarse AO cloth around the rod, chuck in a hand drill and have at it. Size the rod and the strip of abrasive cloth so that you have a lot of clearance in the holes and you'll be able to clean up the rough surface: you don't want to polish it, just debur. You can change to finer grits if you want to, but the original grit will tend to get finer as you work your way through the holes.

 

[Batmanacw]

These are the bars I made. They are in the tumbler right now.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

A novel solution. Since 1-2-3 blocks are hardebed, modification is difficult. I have some Taiwan sourced blocks that are threaded, I think that some Chinese blocks are not. This is a solution. . .

.

 

[Shotgun]

I may be a little dull right before lunch, but what problem is this solving? Don't the blocks have threads already? What does the bars do differently?

 

[brino]

I may be a little dull right before lunch, but what problem is this solving? Don't the blocks have threads already? What does the bars do differently?

The problem is well summed up by Don Bailey at Suburban Tool:

Here is Tom at OxTools doing a version of Robin Renzetti's version:

Also someone here recently (last week?) posted a source for purchasing similar tubuar nuts.....
I'll see if I can find it.

Brian

 

[brino]

........here it is from @silverhawk

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/what-did-you-buy-today.55645/post-973431

Brian

 

[Batmanacw]

I may be a little dull right before lunch, but what problem is this solving? Don't the blocks have threads already? What does the bars do differently?

In a standard block the holes are all the same diameter. Some are threaded but a bolt won't go through its tap drill hole.

 

[Shotgun]

The problem is well summed up by Don Bailey at Suburban Tool:

Here is Tom at OxTools doing a version of Robin Renzetti's version:

Also someone here recently (last week?) posted a source for purchasing similar tubuar nuts.....
I'll see if I can find it.

Brian

Aah! Got it now.

I never tried to connect blocks like that. Now I've got another problem I didn't know I had.
Not to diminish @Batmanacw work, Wouldn't it have been simpler to drop a carbide end-mill through the blocks to open up the holes?

 

[Batmanacw]

Aah! Got it now.

I never tried to connect blocks like that. Now I've got another problem I didn't know I had.
Not to diminish @Batmanacw work, Wouldn't it have been simpler to drop a carbide end-mill through the blocks to open up the holes?

If you look at the hole pattern it doesn't make sense for holding blocks together. Along the 2" side the hole pattern isn't the same as the 3" side. I'm not going to use an endmill to open up a 3" or even 2" deep hole even if the hole pattern matched.