Making a Brass Bolt because my truck hates me

Machine Shop
#1

Do I put my truck on the lift to see what was making a rattling sound. Lo and behold, a bolt was missing from the skid guard.

I hate getting bolts for my truck. Why? For whatever reason Fastenal and the other usual supplies don’t keep it stocked. The bolt is a M10x1.25mm, and most places don’t seem to stock M10 with less than a 1.5 pitch. So normally, for an accessory I would just order the bolt and wait. Unfortunately, this skid guard uses the bolts for some more sensitive parts involving frame mounts, and missing that bolt is a no-no.

So what to do? I decided I’d get help turning down a bolt on the colchester and re-threading it. The problem? The die set in the machine shop is imperial. The metric die set in the workshop is harbor frieght carbon steel. It wouldn’t thread any decent bolt steel.

So options? I had some more brass round stock, and decided screw it, I’m making a brass bolt on the Sherline lathe and Bridgeport because my truck has started to hate me and I’ve been on a lathe binge recently. I figured the Brass would hold long enough at the least for a new bolt to arrive. In the end, it turned out to be harder after the heating it took and I’m gonna see how many miles / ranch trips it survives.

The short of the process:

  • turn down round stock to length and width of the threads on bolt, leaving the head fat for making the bolthead
  • use the bridgeport for the bolt hex head. This was fun without the DRO since it’s currently non-functional (opening a ticket on that parallel to this)
  • leave some of the round stock to act as an integral washer since I don’t have the original washer either.
  • Realize that I forgot to chamfer the end of the bolt on the lathe so it threads cleanly; proceed to have the lathe throw the part as you go back with a now more difficult to chuck part
  • decide the accidental knurling looks cool anyway, and thread the bolt.
  • install on car and laugh at this stupid thing I made, laughing even more when it’s successfully torqued using the socket set since I bothered to make a proper hex head for it.

People who may or may not have laughed at the misfortune of how the bolt went missing, solution, and/or asked me to post on talk: @TLAR @Kriskat30

Pics or it didn’t happen:

BrassBolt Begins

BrassBolt Begins
BrassBolt Begins.jpg1600×1200 566 KB

so we’re really doing this? godz help us

so we are actually doing this godz help us
so we are actually doing this godz help us.jpg2851×2138 2.75 MB

Oh gods why am I eyeballing this wait for the DRO to work again

Oh gods why am I eyeballing this fix the DRO and autodrive
Oh gods why am I eyeballing this fix the DRO and autodrive.jpg1600×1200 387 KB

huh worked better than expected for an eyeball

so we are actually doing this godz help us
so we are actually doing this godz help us.jpg1200×1600 324 KB

stupid chamfer setting me back and making my otherwise pretty part look bad

stupid chamfer setting me back
stupid chamfer setting me back.jpg1600×1200 439 KB

not bad once you get past the shavings and the surprise knurling

not bad once you get past the shavings
not bad once you get past the shavings.jpg1600×1200 343 KB

holy crap the socket works on it and it torques surprisingly well

holy crap I hit the tolerances for the socket and it torques
holy crap I hit the tolerances for the socket and it torques.jpg1200×1600 305 KB

22 Likes
Training for the baby lathes ($50)
#2

Or get Amazon Prime

Grainger also has an excellent selection with next day pickup.

1 Like
#3

This whole process was outstanding!

2 Likes
#4

1st choice for me is the local hardware store. Then Fastenal. If neither of those have it it’s off to Metric and Multi-standard in Irving. Almost guarantee that they will have it.

For standard(imperial) Crouch sales would have that stuff.

2 Likes
#5

Amazon delivery of Sunday, Grainger doesn’t have next day in this size and would have to ship to store. Neither of these are locally stock the size

I remember the process of installing this and needing the longer bolts when one got damaged; I spent the better part of a week checking places for stock. They all had to order it.
But Metric and Multi-Standard is new for me; I’ll give them a try

1 Like
#6

I wouldn’t ever have thought of using brass for automotive applications over steel. Was there a design choice behind it just because it was cool?

#7

Didn’t have die that would thread steel.

1 Like
#8

ok. that make complete sense.

1 Like
#9

I’m generally not a “reeeeeee NEED METRIC” guy, but hardware is the one thing I wish we could all agree to just do in metric. If more stuff than just PCs and cars used metric hardware in the US, imagine how much easier it would be to get your hands on stuff, rather than having to wait on a McMaster Carr order every time.

#10

@hon1nbo I’m 90% sure I had a couple M10x1.25mm with my last night :slight_smile:

!!! They have so much stuff for sale !!!

#11

I just got a set of the exact metric stainless steel spacers I needed next-dayed from McMaster Carr because of course they had exactly what I needed

#12

I applaud your making but if you’re looking to do this with less hassle in the future eBay is the place to go for weird fasteners on the cheap, especially in applications like this where it doesn’t need to be anything like a grade 8.

Just be prepared to wait for it to ship via economy from Hong Kong or Shen Zhen.

#13

As everything to this point has said, the reason this was done was due to an immediate need. There are far better places than eBay to order a fastener such as this and get it far faster than.

I just wouldn’t drive without this bolt knowing it was gone.

1 Like
#14

But did you know you could buy that thing you made instead of making it?

In all seriousness, it looks like a fun thing to make, and I’d personally be tickled at know I made it.

#15

That by far is the best statement …instead of the many folks that would drive and not care.

Jim, Brass was a much better choice than a 3d printed bolt! (nice work too)

Would it be “reasonable” to have a general fund to support a good / better quality well organized assortment of various hardware - instead of the cluster of misc behind the Bridgeport.

1 Like
#16

This has been done in the past. Either Automotive or Logistics funded a big purchase of machine fasteners in various common sizes.

1 Like
#17

Thanks Erik! I wasn’t sure of the source of the funding but I know that many committees benefit from it

#18

Yes, as I mentioned in the original post I normally buy them and wait to arrive, but the bolt was more critical than an accessory.

#19

I recall some organizer cases of this general flavor that used to live below the Ryobi tools, however that was prior to the reorganization in ~2017 so the whole thing may have been depleted and moved on.

#20

Cleverly done!

FWIW, you could have used the Sherline mill with DRO instead of the Bridgeport. We have a couple different adapters that will hold the Sherline lathe chuck directly on the Sherline mill bed and we also have a rotary table for the Sherline. IMO it would be a little more stable if you made the hex head before you turned the screw shaft.

1 Like