Surefire 6P McClicky Mod (Newbie Style)

[Tiresius]

UPDATE: My brother's lathe is golden now. One gear's (one) teeth got a little chip on it. The brass pin that held the rod that drives the auto feed broke off so he had to get a spare and fit it snugly. The threading tool was completely destroyed and there was a few chips on the center chuck's body. It's mechanically functionable without any problems. A little lube and it's good.

Here's my crappy rendition of the McClicky mod I made today in just under 1 hour. Please feel free to laugh as I already did at myself. I started out with the clicky's nipple. Then bored the outer part based on how long the threading body part was. I tapped in the clicky as they fit very tight from the nipple to the body. I was slightly off from making this thing completely flush.

Why no threading? The clicky I got was not exactly a perfect circle. At one point, it was 17mm. At other points, it was 16.8mm. At 20TPI, it's big enough to make a difference. Also, I have no more internal threading tool

Enough said, here's a few short photos:

The upper part shows how tight it seats on the nipple area:

Just ever so slightly from making it seat flush:

And lastly, I had to solder the two points together with a little flux and a hot iron. It'll solder together once you have adequate flux :

 

[gadget_lover]

Looking good Matt.

Does it work as expected?


Dan

 

[Tiresius]

It does work as expected, Dan. I'm just wondering how long it'll take until the switch slips out since I did not thread it. It's tapped in with a rubber mallet and a pipe to ensure a super tight fit.

Hey Dan, I was just wondering about the internal threading. I was trying ways to calculate the math for the female part today and came up with this equation derived from the male threaded part.

Here's my math: (OD of the threaded area of the male) - (pitch height/2) = Minor. Of course, I'd have to find the TPI first and determine how deep the cuts are. Do you think it'll work this way??

 

[gadget_lover]

That's almost right.

Minor = Major - ((2* pitch height ) * 5/8)

The Major should be equal to diameter measured over the crests of the male thread.

Please double check that before using it, and bear in mind that I'm dyslexic so I often blow these simple formulas.

Daniel

 

[konig]

http://theoreticalmachinist.com/Threads_UnifiedImperial.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard

 

[gadget_lover]

Because of the pressures involved, there is a good chance that the switch will not come loose from the collar.

The spring will push the switch up against the collar, and you will only occasionally push the other direction. You will probably be fine.


Daniel

 

[Tiresius]

Sounds just about right, Dan. The part had to squeeze the switch between the body and the nipple. Could not push in the switch so I resorted to tapping it in with a little force.