The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Screw Cutting Fixture: Full-thread Aluminum

    By and large, when you follow the recipe, you get the expected result:

    Screw cutting fixture - M3x0.5 aluminum - side view
    Screw cutting fixture – M3x0.5 aluminum – side view

    That’s another length of the same aluminum rod, this time with a full-length M3x0.5 thread down the middle, and a screw with a neatly trimmed end.

    Running the lathe spindle in reverse prevents the screw from loosening the jam nuts on the left:

    Screw cutting fixture - M3x0.5 aluminum - in lathe chuck
    Screw cutting fixture – M3x0.5 aluminum – in lathe chuck

    Running the spindle forward does move the screw enough to loosen the nuts. Perhaps I should put wrench flats on the big end of the fixture so I can really torque the nuts.

    That front nut was mostly decorative, rather than tight, because I didn’t expect the first attempt to work nearly as well as it did. A bit of filing to taper the end of the thread and it was all good.

    That was easy…