My new business venture

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sehast
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Re: My new business venture

Post by sehast »

Instead, when I need to bolt something, I use nylon bolts which are surprisingly strong
I think they would work with the WoodAnchor sliding nuts and nylon washers or wooden hold downs. I put down MDF spoilboards, level them flat and then cut WoodAnchor slots in both X and Y directions. I find it to be the most flexible hold down system I have tried yet. Also use CAM clamps a lot with the sliding nuts for a unobstructed hold down solution.
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Re: My new business venture

Post by roy_okc »

sehast wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 12:17 pm I think they would work with the WoodAnchor sliding nuts and nylon washers or wooden hold downs. I put down MDF spoilboards, level them flat and then cut WoodAnchor slots in both X and Y directions. I find it to be the most flexible hold down system I have tried yet. Also use CAM clamps a lot with the sliding nuts for a unobstructed hold down solution.
I hope to be fine with nylon bolts in the brass inserts.

On my small machine with a 12" X and 13" Y movement, I'll probably only have slots in the X direction. My mid machine isn't in use right now, and don't expect it to be for many months at least, so will have plenty of time to thing that through, but will likely want slots in both X and Y directions.
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BuckeyeDennis
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Re: My new business venture

Post by BuckeyeDennis »

Roy, I have a similiar idea for using nylon screws with the WoodAnchor sliding nuts. I plan to make a fixturing-slotted main table for a vintage DeWalt radial arm saw, so that I can easily mount special fixtures. For normal sawing purposes, I’ll mount a 1/2” MDF sacrificial top to the fixturing slots with the nylon screws and sliding nuts.

I’ve already bought a supply of 1/4”-20 flat-head nylon screws for that application, so I went down to my workshop to check the fit just now.
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What I found was that the nylon screws start easily by hand, but begin to get tight after you get several threads engaged. I presume that’s because of imperfections at the screws’ mold-parting lines. They’re no problem to turn with a screwdriver, but the sharp edges of the flat screw head make it painful to do by hand. If they were socket-head screws, though, I suspect that hand-tightening them would be doable.
roy_okc
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Re: My new business venture

Post by roy_okc »

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 10:10 pm Roy, I have a similiar idea for using nylon screws with the WoodAnchor sliding nuts. I plan to make a fixturing-slotted main table for a vintage DeWalt radial arm saw, so that I can easily mount special fixtures. For normal sawing purposes, I’ll mount a 1/2” MDF sacrificial top to the fixturing slots with the nylon screws and sliding nuts.

I’ve already bought a supply of 1/4”-20 flat-head nylon screws for that application, so I went down to my workshop to check the fit just now.

What I found was that the nylon screws start easily by hand, but begin to get tight after you get several threads engaged. I presume that’s because of imperfections at the screws’ mold-parting lines. They’re no problem to turn with a screwdriver, but the sharp edges of the flat screw head make it painful to do by hand. If they were socket-head screws, though, I suspect that hand-tightening them would be doable.
Dennis,

Thanks for checking, good information. In my experience with nylon bolts, I found that there were differences between two bolts out of the same bag. Some would thread nearly as easy as a steel bolt while most required a nut driver and a few needed a bit more effort. It didn't help that surfacing the bed created a very sharp starting edge to the inserts' threads, very easy to start cross threading the nylon. Like you, I suspect differences in the way they came out of their molds.

On my small bed, I used my CNC to machine the appropriate sized holes, used a tap chucked in a drill to tap the holes, and a put few drops of thin CA glue in each hole to strengthen the threads. This has worked well so far, with limited use.

I've now adopted the blue tape and CA glue hold down method for most of my work (blue painters tape strips on both the bed and material, thin lines of medium CA glue on the tape strips on one side, accelerator on the other, put the material in place and weight down for a bit and voila, amazing hold power; better than double-sided tape since the blue tape comes off both sides quite easily when you're done).

I suspect I'll mostly use your sliding nuts on my CNCs for holding positioning fixtures in place, maybe cam clamps, and occasional hold downs. Of course, I'll use them for non-CNC use as well with various jigs.
Roy

Mark V/510, Mark V/500 with parts for 510 upgrade, bandsaw, jointer, belt sander, DC3300 w/1 micron bag
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BuckeyeDennis
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Re: My new business venture

Post by BuckeyeDennis »

Hey gang, time for another update. It's been a couple of weeks since JPG put ToolQuest over the top on our Kickstarter funding goal, and we've had a fairly steady stream of backers ever since.

Here's the raw stats, as of right now:
  • Number of backers: 121
  • Total pledges: $15,447
  • Funding, % of goal: 154%
  • Starter kits ordered: 112
  • Evaluation kits ordered: 3
  • Individual sliding nuts ordered: 275
  • Clamping kits ordered: 404
I'm very pleased -- that's good solid base hit that ToolQuest can build upon.

The Kickstarter campaign ends tomorrow night at 10:00 PM. If you're interested in the WoodAnchor system, it's the fastest, lowest-cost way to get a starter kit and accessories. Otherwise we expect to be fully stocked with inventory by July, and selling live from toolquest.net.
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JPG
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Re: My new business venture

Post by JPG »

Have you considered a second smaller version of the sliding nuts? Say 10-32 size? I realize that involves a new cutter as well.
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BuckeyeDennis
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Re: My new business venture

Post by BuckeyeDennis »

JPG wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:08 pm Have you considered a second smaller version of the sliding nuts? Say 10-32 size? I realize that involves a new cutter as well.
I can't say that I have. But I can tell you that shoehorning a 1/4-20 insert into the nut, without compromising on the strength requirement, was the biggest technical challenge. What do you see as the advantage(s) of a smaller nut & fastener??
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Re: My new business venture

Post by RFGuy »

JPG wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:08 pm Have you considered a second smaller version of the sliding nuts? Say 10-32 size? I realize that involves a new cutter as well.
Do you mean just the thread size or the size of the sliding nut? I was thinking the latter for possibly thinner plywood holding applications, perhaps?
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JPG
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Re: My new business venture

Post by JPG »

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:13 pm
JPG wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:08 pm Have you considered a second smaller version of the sliding nuts? Say 10-32 size? I realize that involves a new cutter as well.
I can't say that I have. But I can tell you that shoehorning a 1/4-20 insert into the nut, without compromising on the strength requirement, was the biggest technical challenge. What do you see as the advantage(s) of a smaller nut & fastener??

Smaller 'grooves' result in less structural strength loss in the 'base'. Allows 'thinner' base.

Not all uses require so much holding power.

Yes smaller nut and cutter.

Have no idea how useful they would be nor how much demand there would be. Sorta brainstorming. ;)
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╟JPG ╢
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Goldie(Bought New SN 377425)/4" jointer/6" beltsander/12" planer/stripsander/bandsaw/powerstation /Scroll saw/Jig saw /Craftsman 10" ras/Craftsman 6" thicknessplaner/ Dayton10"tablesaw(restoredfromneighborstrashpile)/ Mark VII restoration in 'progress'/ 10
E[/size](SN E3779) restoration in progress, a 510 on the back burner and a growing pile of items to be eventually returned to useful life. - aka Red Grange
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BuckeyeDennis
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Re: My new business venture

Post by BuckeyeDennis »

JPG wrote: Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:19 pm Smaller 'grooves' result in less structural strength loss in the 'base'. Allows 'thinner' base.

Not all uses require so much holding power.

Yes smaller nut and cutter.

Have no idea how useful they would be nor how much demand there would be. Sorta brainstorming. ;)
My objective was for the sliding nuts to be suitable for 3/4” nominal (usually 18mm these days) sheet goods. WIth a 7/16” minimum fixturing-slot depth, that worked out very well for smaller fixtures. The slope of the clamping “wings” on the sliding nut is only 18 degrees, so the surface friction from the clamping forces locks the whole whole nut/fixture assembly together rigidly, rather than wedging the slot open.

For a large fixturing surface such as a worktop, 3/4” material with fixturing slots is going to need some additional structure to achieve good rigidity. But the same holds true if milling grooves for installing aluminum T-track.

The fixturing-slot depth required for the 1/4”-20 threaded inserts turned out to be a perfect match for standard 1/8” screw-length increments. No matter what the thickness of the object you wish to fasten, a standard 1/8” screw-length increment will always provide sufficient thread engagement for full clamping force, without hitting the bottom of the fixturing slot. Now mind you, it’s not necessarily easy to find every 1/8” screw-length increment. That’s why ToolQuest provides all those lengths in a button-head screw assortment, included with every starter kit.

And one other thing that Shopsmith afficionados will appreciate: all WoodAnchor fasteners use 5/32” hex drives. :cool:
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