How to make a hex on a rod end??? (noobie question)

cederholm

cederholm

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Hi all,

My wife is an optometrist with a broken machine I need to fix. It's kinda like a microscope but for reading the prescription of a pair of eyeglasses. Like a microscope it has a pivot and a lock for adjusting the angle of the machine. The lock is busted due to some stripped threads on the brass rod. I will turn a new one out of steel but the I'm unsure of the best way to "hex" the end. To be specific the end that will fit inside the adjustment lever.

I could modify the lever and make everything round with a pin, but I thought this would be a good time to learn something new. Picks below.

Should I;
a) hand file it into a hex
b) set up my 3 in 1 to mill it (not sure of the best way to do that)
c) something different

Thanks all,
Carl

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if you have a collet indexer and a 3in1- easy work!!!
if you don't have a collet indexer, you'll need a vise and a 60* reference tool- protractor, a right triangle template, or other method of attaining 60*.
you'll machine one surface to depth and rotate the flat surface against the 60* reference and take the next cuts to depth.
you then rotate the flat to the 60* reference and take those cuts, etc until done!

good luck!!
mike:))
 
Luckily the hex is not critical. I would use your 3 jaw chuck and its jaws as an angle reference. Chuck the part. Level a jaw with a bubble level. Machine that face. Turn to the next jaw and level it. And the next. You should have 3 faces done. Now put a hex nut (you are using the nut to get the desired angle) on the jaw and a level on top of the nut and level it. Do the last two the same…Good Luck, Dave.
 
cederholm said:
Hi all,

My wife is an optometrist with a broken machine I need to fix. It's kinda like a microscope but for reading the prescription of a pair of eyeglasses. Like a microscope it has a pivot and a lock for adjusting the angle of the machine. The lock is busted due to some stripped threads on the brass rod. I will turn a new one out of steel but the I'm unsure of the best way to "hex" the end. To be specific the end that will fit inside the adjustment lever.

I could modify the lever and make everything round with a pin, but I thought this would be a good time to learn something new. Picks below.

Should I;
a) hand file it into a hex
b) set up my 3 in 1 to mill it (not sure of the best way to do that)
c) something different

Thanks all,
Carl
Click to expand...

Screw a hex nut onto the threads and mill the flats using that for a reference.
 
This job can be done on the mill with some tooling or some creativity. If you have a dividing head (expensive) or a rotary table (less expensive) or a spin indicator (inexpensive) then you would mount the work and index the part. For the creative solution if you can support the rod, say in a v block, you can mill the top flat. Then using a 60* triangle you could turn the work and place the milled side against the triangle to make the subsequent cuts. Make sure you are square or aligned for each cut. Or since you have a threaded section at the end of the part use the v block, jam two nuts together and use them as a reference.

Caster
 
cederholm said:
Karl,

I doubt I'll buy them for this one job, but I am curious. How do you use those

Thanks,
Carl
Click to expand...

You would hold your part in the hex chuck utilizing a 5c collet. Once the part is clamped into the fixture you would just position it in the mill vise and machine the facets for the flats
 
Gotcha! Thanks.

seasicksteve said:
You would hold your part in the hex chuck utilizing a 5c collet. Once the part is clamped into the fixture you would just position it in the mill vise and machine the facets for the flats
Click to expand...
 
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