Where to get M4 10mm square nuts

I just bought a small machine vice which was advertised as fitting my vertical slide. Unfortunately the mounting holes in the vice are too small for the bolts that I have that fit my vertical slide. I suppose I could try to drill out the holes, but I'd rather not do this until I've proved that he vice actually works satisfactorily, so I can return it if it does not. My screws are M5, I think I need M4 to fit the vice. I need M4 square nuts about 10mm square and about 2.5mm think to fit in the T slots in my vertical slide. Does anyone know where I can get these?

Thank you - Rowan

Most likely it would be easiest to make your own t-nuts. I would turn drill and thread from round bar, saw or part off to length. Remount on a threaded mandrel and face of the bottom to thickness. Then mill or file two flats so they will slide into your t-slots. There is no need for extreme accuracy with t-nuts.

They don't need to be fancy; should take a few minutes to cut/file from sheet and drill/tap the hole. No need for any machining.

Andrew

OK. I was trying to avoid the hassle of making them just for a couple of nuts, if I could buy them for a couple of quid, but I have given up trying to find them and will make them as you suggest.

Thank you - Rowan

I don't think you'll get them anywhere to that spec, Rowan. The nearest things are the square nuts DIN 562 and DIN 557, but M4 in these is 1.8mm thick and 3.2mm respectively, and, like standard M4 hex nuts, they are only 7mm across the flats.

Making them yourself should be very easy.

Amazon

Brazil or internet?

.

Well … it’s nuts that are required

MichaelG.

These probably come into the ‘nearly, but not quite’ category: **LINK**

https://ooznest.co.uk/product/drop-in-tee-nuts/

They also do plain ones, pressed from sheet … but only in M3 or M5

MichaelG.

Maybe Spaulding Fasteners might have them, they are very good.

I tried Spalding Fasteners. Their square M4 nuts are only 7mm square, so I'm now onto making them.

Rowan

You could be looking for 10-32 square nuts and bolts

10-32 square nuts are 9.525mm across flats ( 3/8" ) and 3.3mm ( 0.13" ) thick. 10-32 bolts are 3/16″ (4.76 mm) diameter.

Those are the sizes used on my Taig lathe and I think Sherline use the same ones.

Accu carry both bolts and nuts in stainless.

edited to remove emojiis

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 15/04/2023 16:08:55

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 15/04/2023 16:09:56

Thanks for your suggestion. Those would be too thick for the T-slots on my lathe (they need to be no thicker than 2.5mm). I suppose I could have ground them down, but in any case I would prefer a metric thread (to avoid accumulating too many different thread types on my lathe, which already has BSF/Whit and metric), so I think I will carry on making them.

Thank you - Rowan

If you can find 10 mm square nut, but are too thick, mounted on a suiutablke threaded arbor, they can be faced down to the required thickness. If hardened, a carbide tip will be needed.

Howard

Making custom nuts has an advantage, they can fit the slots perfectly and be made from key steel or even chrome moly like en19t or en24t. And possibly be made longer to spread the load better.

If you don't have a mill, they can be made from round bar and the sides cut down to your slot width with a hacksaw.

Edited By old mart on 15/04/2023 21:36:08

Edited By old mart on 15/04/2023 21:39:19

2.5mm thick isn’t going to give much thread engagement? Also a risk that if the bolts bottom out you will be jacking against the slots and potentially break them out! Better idea would be to machine up some ‘bolts’ with a head that fits the slot and then use a decent washer and nut on the vice.

Paul.

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… which is why I offered a link to Tee Nuts

MichaelG.

I do agree with Pauls tee bolts they will be much stronger than tee nuts which always are weakened by the threaded hole. Easy to turn on a lathe making the threaded part first and the head last before parting off. The head can be quite big to spread the load and cutting down the sides to a just sliding fit in the slot is easy. I made some much more sophisticated tee bolts for the compound of the Smart & Brown model A, they were dovetail with a curve to match the round tee slot.