Carriage bolt - Tee nut jig

**bruce.desertrat** · Nov 5, 2017, 08:23 PM

I scored a bunch of assorted bits of 80:20 style aluminum extrusion off of ebay, and am using one piece as the basis of the table saw fence I'm making to replace the horrible plastic thing it came with.

You need some tee-nuts to slide into the grooves to attach stuff to the extrusion, and when my local Ace didn't have any, like a sane person I just ordered some online and waited a few days.

..oh wait a minute, this is me...

So I communed with the connectors aisle for a bit and came up with a bunch of carriage bolts that looked good for a fit, if I ground some of the heads off...

After hand filing one, laboriously, for a proof of concept, and to confirm it fit:

Carriage bolt - Tee nut jig-img_2542.jpg

I marked out a square on a piece of ¾ x 1/8 steel, set in the correct amount for the fit, drilled it out, spent a half-hour looking for the blades for my jewlers saw, then five minutes staring at it on my tool rack swearing "I know it's here somewhere!!", then a bunch of time filing a square hole:

Carriage bolt - Tee nut jig-img_2533.jpg

(note the custom designed filing post (crowbar) bringing the work up to eye level)

Drilled and tapped a hole for a handy screw, and made a top clamp out of another piece of the same bar stock.

Carriage bolt - Tee nut jig-img_2538.jpg

Voila! Clamp in the bolt, put the thing in my vise, and file or grind to the edge of the jig and pretso: tee-bolt.

Carriage bolt - Tee nut jig-img_2537.jpg

Now I can go spend sixteen cents at Ace and five minutes with a file for my tee-bolts.

**ncollar** · Nov 6, 2017, 09:13 PM

Nice touch, thanks for sharing.
Nelson

**bobbyboy** · Nov 7, 2017, 06:52 AM

A great idear for light work and yes I have the same problem looking for tools I used five minutes ago it's called not getting any younger no no no no yes I did'nt say olderrrrrr at my age thats a dirty word (86)

**DIYer** · Nov 7, 2017, 07:10 AM

Thanks bruce.desertrat! We've added your Tee Nut Jig to our Miscellaneous category,
as well as to your builder page: bruce.desertrat's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Tee Nut Jig by bruce.desertrat

tags: jig

**Jon** · Nov 10, 2017, 01:38 PM

Congratulations bruce.desertrat - your Tee Nut Jig is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

Another huge week, and it looks like this coming week is going to be a big one too.

Some nice entries: a Foot-Operated Rotary Welding Stand by brianhw, a Clam Shell Knurler by Shelly142, a Wooden Spokeshave by Mikhandmaker, a Bearing Positioner by Captainleeward, Third Hand Supports by Peter Sanders, a Tailstock Die Holder by Shelly142, a Shop Vac Shovel by Frank S, a PVC Primer/Solvent Can Cutter by rgsparber, an update on a Surface Grinder by carrdo, a Drilling Machine Bench by Peter Sanders, a Round Forming Anvil by Frank S, a Horizontal Drill by rgsparber, and a Motorized Lead Screw by Captainleeward. We also had two vendor trailer builds, including a Vendor Trailer by Downeast Thunder, and Vendor Trailer by Frank S.

bruce.desertrat - we've added your tool entry to our All Homemade Tool of the Week winners post. And, you'll now notice the wrench-on-pedestal award in the awards showcase in your postbit, visible beneath your username:

You'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and gift card choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

Congratulations and well done!

**bruce.desertrat** · Sep 26, 2020, 07:33 PM

Just a long time later follow-up. When I went back to Ace to find more of the bolts, they didn't have themThe ones they did have didn't fit. The ones I had worked for the need at the time so I didn't look harder.

I needed some more this week, and so took a closer look at the old ones I had and I discovered why "Ace didn't carry them any more" They do, it just turned out that the carriage bolts were 6mm-1.0 metric not imperial measurements. I didn't even THINK they carried metric carriage bolts!