I welded my nuts

[armedandsafe]

That title should spur some wise-A remarks.

For those who remember the last post I made on this, I made the jump. I took some samples over to #3idiotson to experiment, and it looked as if it would work. So, while in the big city for a graduation and great-grandsons' birthday celebrations, I stopped by HF and bought the little 90 amp flux-wire welder. $109 before taxes. I bought the plain black auto-dark helmet. $49 before taxes. I got the gloves for about $10 before tax.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=53792

Having never done welding of any type before, it took me 5 tries to get my first pair of welds. I dimpled the edges of the nuts at the center of opposing flats. I learned to make contact with the wire before pulling the trigger. I learned that minimum setting on the welder (70 amps) works just fine. I learned that a wire feed of about 5 (out of 10) works well. I learned that one MUST remember the gloves. I learned that the instinctive jump back when the spark starts is not the right way to handle it.

This weekend, I will be experimenting with welding the washers in place and with using a spacer between the nuts rather than milling the 0.035" x 0.750 grove across the face of one of the nuts.

This procedure will save me MAPP fuel, silver solder, time and appearance. I figure 8 bottles of MAPP, and the silver solder, will pay for the welder and helmet. That is about 3 production runs. As I expect to have to produce 6 to 10 runs this year, it will be worth it. It looks like it will save about 20 minutes per piece in production time. Two pounds of wire costs less than a couple of ounces of silver solder. If the spacer idea works, that will save another 20 minutes per piece.

Thank you all for the help in getting this far along.

Pops

[kd4gij]

Sounds painfull.

[gnm109]

You have my sympathy.

[Jim Shaper]

Out of curiosity, why not machine the nuts? A regular threaded rod butt connector (I don't remember the technical name for them right now) could be shortened easier than welding two nuts together.

You could mill them or turn them down. Rigging up a fixture or collet would make them super fast to bang out as well - much faster than welding.

[armedandsafe]

Out of curiosity, why not machine the nuts? A regular threaded rod butt connector (I don't remember the technical name for them right now) could be shortened easier than welding two nuts together.

You could mill them or turn them down. Rigging up a fixture or collet would make them super fast to bang out as well - much faster than welding.

The join of the two nuts has a hole through it, closed on two sides, 0.050" x 0.750". Each nut has a plate recessed into it, within the joined faces. I've not figured out how to get this hole and the washers into a solid piece.

in the noted link, you will find pictures of what is happening between the nuts. (Yes, the pictures are large, as I wasn't paying attention when I linked to them. )

Pops

[Jim Shaper]

I saw that pic; what I don't see is what you're saying is a vital feature of the part - there's a reason people do multiple angle views on blueprints.

A slitting saw would be how you could get side reliefs into a solid part. Fixture the nut vertically, and come in from the sides. Piece of cake. If there's more to it than that, you'll need to spell it out better, because I've read your description numerous times and I'm still not sure what you're trying to do.

[armedandsafe]

I saw that pic; what I don't see is what you're saying is a vital feature of the part - there's a reason people do multiple angle views on blueprints.

A slitting saw would be how you could get side reliefs into a solid part. Fixture the nut vertically, and come in from the sides. Piece of cake. If there's more to it than that, you'll need to spell it out better, because I've read your description numerous times and I'm still not sure what you're trying to do.

If this were a slit, then a slitting saw would do the job. However, this is a hole. The fact that it is not a round hole is possibly what is confusing you. Nut #1 has a plate relieved into its face, which will later be center drilled and reamed to a particular size. Nut #2 has a groove milled across an opposing pair of points, 0.050" deep and 0.750" wide. This nut is then relieved to accept a similar plate, flush with the BOTTOM of that groove. When the two nuts are then fastened together, the groove forms a hole from one point to the opposing point, with a plate on each side of it.

I'm not trying to install a slit in the sides of the pair, I'm trying to install a rectangular hole through the center, with material on both sides, completely encompassing the hole, except for the entrance and exit. Think of trying to cut a 0.050" x 0.75" hole with a slitting saw that goes all the way through the item you are "holing."

Visualize a piece of metal, 1.4" x 0.7" x 1.4". Secure it with the 0.7" x 1.4" face up. Locate center. Cut a hole into that center which is 0.75" along the 1.4" dimension and 0.050" high along the 0.7" dimension.

Another way to visualize it is to place the two nuts with a 0.050" spacer along two opposing flats to separate the nuts. If you then hold that piece up to the light you will be able to see through the "hole" you have created between the two nuts when you look through the opening at the proper point of the nuts. If you turn the piece 90* either direction, you will not be able to see through the space between pair, because the spacer is blocking light from that direction, just as it would block the insertion of a piece of material to be cut and shaped.

Pops

[rode2rouen]

Visualize a piece of metal, 1.4" x 0.7" x 1.4". Secure it with the 0.7" x 1.4" face up. Locate center. Cut a hole into that center which is 0.75" along the 1.4" dimension and 0.050" high along the 0.7" dimension.

Another way to visualize it is to place the two nuts with a 0.050" spacer along two opposing flats to separate the nuts. If you then hold that piece up to the light you will be able to see through the "hole" you have created between the two nuts when you look through the opening at the proper point of the nuts. If you turn the piece 90* either direction, you will not be able to see through the space between pair, because the spacer is blocking light from that direction, just as it would block the insertion of a piece of material to be cut and shaped.

Pops

After an attempt at visualizing what you are attempting to do (as well as looking at the pic in the linked thread), I have developed a headache.


Rex

[armedandsafe]

Trying to understand why a hole is so hard to visualize gives me a headache. Perhaps it is because this particular hole is not round?

Pops

[gnm109]

Trying to understand why a hole is so hard to visualize gives me a headache. Perhaps it is because this particular hole is not round?

Pops

I can explain. You are attempting to explan a three-dimensional item without using a drawing. A simple diagram would solve the entire issue.

.