re-work clam clamp

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One of my good customers, a local machine shop, asked me to design and build a clamping mechanism to secure housing tubes, allowing them to chase inner and outer threads post finish plating. The clamp could not compromise finish coat. Here it is. Attached ImagesMiller TrailBlazer 251Miller HF-250-1Miller MaxStar 150 STLHyperTherm PowerMax 380 plasmaLincoln PowerMig 180Millermatic 252Miller Diversion 180
Reply:Oh Wow...  That is pretty Freakin' Sweet !  What's that on the inside of the clamp ?  Cork ?Cheers,/Jman..
Reply:Originally Posted by jmanOh Wow...  That is pretty Freakin' Sweet !  What's that on the inside of the clamp ?  Cork ?Cheers,/Jman..
Reply:Yeah, that's a nice setup... with a gap in the middle you could use it to clamp and weld for joining two pieces of tube end to end.
Reply:Originally Posted by MetalArchitectYeah, that's a nice setup... with a gap in the middle you could use it to clamp and weld for joining two pieces of tube end to end.
Reply:Good idea, MetalArchitect.  That would be a new project for everyone to think about .....
Reply:awesome work and design...got a question or two though...what happens if they need to use larger diameter tubing for the supports or smaller diameter?...why not use 4" or 5" of 90 degree channel and "v" it with rubber cushions as holders to keep it from rolling and twisting?...the "v" would clamp the tubes and allow different size material to be chased and still allow a great hold for the end user to do the job..could even use pressure clamps to hold the tubes if they don't require that much force if they wanted to do softer materials...just a thought i'd throw out there
Reply:Originally Posted by railin93awesome work and design...got a question or two though...what happens if they need to use larger diameter tubing for the supports or smaller diameter?...why not use 4" or 5" of 90 degree channel and "v" it with rubber cushions as holders to keep it from rolling and twisting?...the "v" would clamp the tubes and allow different size material to be chased and still allow a great hold for the end user to do the job..could even use pressure clamps to hold the tubes if they don't require that much force if they wanted to do softer materials...just a thought i'd throw out there
Reply:Update to re-work clamp. Good News! Yesterday the machine shop I designed the clamp for asked me to stop by. Apparently they were rewarded with a few big contracts recently and are very pressed for time. Having several hundred tubes needing threads chased. They asked if I would be interested in bidding the entire tube re-work process, I did and got it. After seeing there process, I feared I had grossly under bid. But once I got everything to shop, I made some mods to the set up, fabed proper handles for taps and die, it worked out great.   The machine shop had the clamp fixture,  requested design, on a horizontal, and was using a large pipe wrench to turn tap and die. this made it difficult to achieve proper alignment in starting the tap or die.   Here is my set up. Attached ImagesMiller TrailBlazer 251Miller HF-250-1Miller MaxStar 150 STLHyperTherm PowerMax 380 plasmaLincoln PowerMig 180Millermatic 252Miller Diversion 180
Reply:very nice work way to go!
Reply:Long enough to provide adequate friction/clamping power.Stitch welded instead of full welds.  Smart..........  Long welds would destroy the accuracy of the jig because of the heat distortion pulling the metal every which way.  Sometimes less is more  Good lesson to others, ya don't have to run a full length bead on everything you  weld.  Sometimes shorter welds work just fine"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/