Sunday, April 15, 2018

tapped a bracket

w00t! I suddenly realised I could complete the azimuth adjuster of the barn door tracker. While looking at web pages for ideas on how to fasten a metal nut to a metal plate and discovering threaded rivets and wondering if I had a J-nut that might fit, it registered: I could make a threaded hole in one of the brass L-brackets, employing my rarely-used tap-and-die set. Right! Decided to tap the outer bracket and lock the bolt in the inner. Grabbed a fresh bracket from the 4-pack, drilled a 13/64" hole, lubricated with lighter fluid, tapped with the ¼-20 tapered tool, and then bolted everything up. And, amazingly, it is fully functional.

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