Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 8.3. Top hat nuts have a collar to spread the load.
Studs
Studs screw into the tee nuts to clamp down work, angle plates, vices and
so on. You will need a selection of studs of various lengths. A simple way to
obtain studs is to buy some threaded rod called studding or all-thread. This is
often supplied in metre lengths which you can cut down as needed.
A couple of lengths will keep you in studding for quite a while. Cut to length
and chamfer the ends. A quick clean-up with a triangular file will clear the burr
from the end of the thread.
Nuts and washers
You will need nuts and washers to go onto the studding to clamp things down.
Ordinary thin washers will not be much use for this purpose. Get some round
bar and use the lathe to make your own washers. The diameter should be
chosen to suit the size of your vices and angle plates. You want to com-
pletely cover the clamping holes and slots with at least 6mm overlap, prefer-
ably 10mm or more. Make them at least 5mm thick up to about 8mm, so they
are solid enough to take the clamping pressure.
Ordinary nuts will be fine but if you can, get shouldered nuts. These are like
ordinary nuts but have a collar below the nut to spread the load. These nuts
can be purchased from specialist machine tool dealers.
