Tee Slot Measuring

[WobblyHand]

Let's start from the beginning. Do you have enough tee-nuts for your vise? If so, you can make the tee-nuts. Or trim the extras. Use a carbide end mill in case they are hardened I was able to machine tee-nuts that were sourced from McMaster that way. My mill table slots are not uniform from slot to slot. One is narrow compared to the others. I milled the tee-nuts so they would fit that slot.

For my RT, I simply made the tee-nuts. Piece of rectangular stock. Milled the profile. Drilled the holes, tapped part way, then sawed off the individual nuts. I then cold blued them. These do not need to be hardened. Fabbed 6 in an afternoon. Blued them later. You can use them unblued.

If for a one of, you can make them out of aluminum. Actually I recommend making a prototype out of aluminum because it helps you practice what to do. You can use the aluminum tee-nuts as long as you don't abuse them by over tightening.

 

[RJSakowski]

There are tables online that outline what T-nut for slide and what the thread and dimensions are. The T-nut from the set - one of the $70 - $90 jobs off the internet in a red or blue tray have 7/17" T-nuts that fit, but I believe are bit too small and don't present enough surface area to the T-slot. I really don't want to blow the slot out.

I don't understand, the nut from the set and the nuts I purchased - both marked as 7/16" w/ 3/8" bolt hole do not match any chart by several thousands.

Unless others disagree, I lean with the suggestion by jmkasunich. The table's T-slots should have no paint and it seems to me the casting should have been machined - remove the paint and the high spots.

J

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I downloaded the Weiss catalog and while I couldn't find your specific model, all their mills have metric dimensioned tee slots on the table. Either 1`2mm, 12mm, or 14mm. A 7/16" tee nut would be a loose fit and a 1/2" tee nut would most likely be tight for a 12mm slot. For a 14mm slot, a 1/2" tee nut would be loose and a 9/16" tee nut would be to large. Travers Tool sells metric tee nuts in 10, 12, 14, and 16mm sizes. My 40 y.o. RF30 clone has 15mm tee slots (the manual says 16mm) and the clamp set that came with it has 1/2" tee nuts. I made my own tee nuts to fit.

Tee slots are intended to provide a means of clamping work and as such can't be assumed to have precision dimensions. It is a bonus if the slot is actually parallel to the other table features. Only the center slot on my Tormach CNC mill is considered a reference surface and then only the front edge of the slot.

 

[Jcheato]

Would appreciate any help. Any tools out there to specifically clean the underside of t-slots? Have some with spots of surface rust.

 

[Red96]

Any tools out there to specifically clean the underside of t-slots? Have some with spots of surface rust.

If you have a belt file, such as the one in the picture below it would work fairly well I'd think, as long as your t-slots are of sufficient width to access. 3M and other companies make different grades of Scotchbrite belts that would do the trick nicely.

 

[Shiseiji]

Remember not to tap the thread all the way through the tee-nut the last thread. Keeps one from accidentally breaking your table. You don't want the screw to touch the base of the table slots.

That's pretty good to just not through tap. If you do by mistake, use the "ball-peen" end of a Machinist's hammer in the bottom and dis-form the last couple of threats using a lead or other soft blow hammer.