Hello,
I have wanted to help with tips/machining methods in this forum but so far I have not been able too. This idea is something I have used in the past and just wanted to pass it along.
This is geared more for the person who is just starting out in model making. I hope this is not too basic or has been posted before.
WARRNING
I am not suggesting that anyone machine a nut to this thickness. This specific example is for light usage and I am very careful when I torque a small nut like this. What I hope to help with is if anyone needs a little extra thickness in designing a small nut while trying to keep it looking realistic and not too thick.
When I design an engine and want to keep the parts realistic, I generally struggle with the fasteners. One area is in machining small nuts to a realistic thickness. The pdf shows what I now do when I am faced with this problem.
This is a 0-80 nut shown in the pdf. The .040 thickness is just what I think looks realistic for this scaled down nut. If I machine the nut to this thickness I would have approx 3.2 threads. (I know this would actually be less threads due to the chamfers, but for this example I will just use the mathematical answer.)
I now just machine a flange nut which adds the extra thickness I require. I then grind a HSS toolbit to a sharp point at approx slightly less then 20 degrees for the false chamfer. I angle the toolbit slightly so I can face the false washer while I cut onto the nut.
On the thicker nut I now have 4.08 threads which is not a lot but I have a personal rule of an absolute minimum of 4 full threads for a small nut like these. I do not know what is the actual requirement for number of threads. I have heard everything from one full thread is all that is required to theoretically hold, to produce enough threads that will match the screw diameter.
I hope this helps someone who is designing an engine and trying to get a little more threads into the design.
I do not have any pictures of what I have done in the past so I produced a fast render to show what I mean.
View attachment THIN NUTS.pdf
I have wanted to help with tips/machining methods in this forum but so far I have not been able too. This idea is something I have used in the past and just wanted to pass it along.
This is geared more for the person who is just starting out in model making. I hope this is not too basic or has been posted before.
WARRNING
I am not suggesting that anyone machine a nut to this thickness. This specific example is for light usage and I am very careful when I torque a small nut like this. What I hope to help with is if anyone needs a little extra thickness in designing a small nut while trying to keep it looking realistic and not too thick.
When I design an engine and want to keep the parts realistic, I generally struggle with the fasteners. One area is in machining small nuts to a realistic thickness. The pdf shows what I now do when I am faced with this problem.
This is a 0-80 nut shown in the pdf. The .040 thickness is just what I think looks realistic for this scaled down nut. If I machine the nut to this thickness I would have approx 3.2 threads. (I know this would actually be less threads due to the chamfers, but for this example I will just use the mathematical answer.)
I now just machine a flange nut which adds the extra thickness I require. I then grind a HSS toolbit to a sharp point at approx slightly less then 20 degrees for the false chamfer. I angle the toolbit slightly so I can face the false washer while I cut onto the nut.
On the thicker nut I now have 4.08 threads which is not a lot but I have a personal rule of an absolute minimum of 4 full threads for a small nut like these. I do not know what is the actual requirement for number of threads. I have heard everything from one full thread is all that is required to theoretically hold, to produce enough threads that will match the screw diameter.
I hope this helps someone who is designing an engine and trying to get a little more threads into the design.
I do not have any pictures of what I have done in the past so I produced a fast render to show what I mean.
View attachment THIN NUTS.pdf