Micro wing nuts

[Dan Rowe]

The old Bell System crimper tools are very useful to forge shapes. There are two tools the System D tool has a single hole and the System B tool has two smaller holes.



I took a 1/8" brass rod and smashed wings on it. I flipped the stock a few times so both wings are the same thickness. If no flip is made the inside wing will be thinner than the outside wing.

Here is a wordless photo showing the process to make 0-80 wing nuts.



Cheers Dan

[crueby]

Great trick! Did you need to anneal the rod?

[Dan Rowe]

No I just smashed it. I think I will anneal the rod the next time before I bend the wings out slightly to take the stress out.

Dan

[Dave Otto]

That is pretty cool, I have a small project on the bench that requires one 0-80 wing nut. I was thinking about modeling it and machining it on the CNC.
I think now I may check out my selection of crimpers!

Dave

[Roger B]

Very neat     

[derekwarner]

That is brilliant Dan.......however you must anneal the 3 or 4 times.......cherry red, then air cool each time....otherwise the potential exists for them to split & shear  at the slightest tension

Derek

[Florian Eberhard]

Thats a clever method!

Why not "forge" it? Heat up the rod and then squeeze it while its hot. That should be even easier to form the brass.

Cheers Florian

[Dan Rowe]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I decided to try hot forging one from 302 SS rod. The rod will not stay red hot long enough to get the jaws of the tool set but it was still hot so easier than cold.

Here is the finished SS 0-80 wingnut.



Cheers Dan

[mklotz]

That is pretty cool, I have a small project on the bench that requires one 0-80 wing nut.

I'm intrigued.  What sort of project requires a 0-80 wing nut?  Inquiring minds want to know...

[Art K]

I'm intrigued.  What sort of project requires a 0-80 wing nut?  Inquiring minds want to know...

I must admit that unlike George who revels in building near microscopic things. I would more likely scale it up to avoid that small of a wingnut. Good to know it can be done if necessary though.
Art

[Dan Rowe]

Art,
I was actually making thin nuts with wings to hold in wood from a section that looked like the first piece in the photo. I saw that with a bit of machine work it could make a micro wing nut so I just had to give it a go.

Cheers Dan