[ddmckee54]

The 1/4-20 bolts that go through the bottom die form the outside of the U-bolt legs. I just counter-sunk the end of the slot in the top die and that helps to form the inner radius of the U-bolt legs. I have to cut the threads first, there only a little over 5mm between the legs of the U-bolt. While I have no doubt that there are people out there who can make and harden their own custom M2 dies that would fit in that 5mm slot, I ain't among them.

I ordered some 2mm ID brass tubing to protect the M2 threads while bending the legs, I have no local source for something like that. What did we do before on-line ordering? Don't answer that, I'm old enough to remember what we did back in the the "Old" days.

I re-made the top-die for the U=bolt bending contraption, I milled it out of a piece of 1/4"x3/4" hot rolled flat stock I had laying around. In the process of milling the top die I've discovered how poorly I've got things organized in my shop, and how badly I've neglected my little lathes/mills, I've got a Unimat SL that I purchased in 1973 from my local Sears catalog store. (Hold up your hand if you actually remember what a catalog store was, or even a paper catalog for that matter.) I've been collecting tooling over the years, but not that much experience. About 5-10 years ago I had the chance to purchase a Sherline 4000 and a BUTT-LOAD of tooling from a gentleman who was down-sizing his shop, it's mostly been sitting in a box since then. That has all changed in the last couple of weeks, they are now getting the TLC and attention that they deserve.

Don