The instruction sheet from Valley Dynamo for standard rails calls for a rail bolt torque of 65 inch pounds. I had a hard time trying to find a torque wrench that measures inch pounds in that range. If you convert that number to foot pounds, you end up with 65 inch pound = 5.42 foot pounds. The only torque wrench that I have goes from 0 to 100 foot pounds in increments of 5. Do I think it can accurately to a little more than the first measurment mark of 5? No, but it's better than just guessing.
Torque specs for Rail Bolts
- Thread starter whittle
- Start date
No, you'll be much better off getting a smaller torque wrench.
Something like this is perfect:
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Perfect! The right torque range and my rail bolt deep socket it 1/4".No, you'll be much better off getting a smaller torque wrench.
Something like this is perfect:
Husky Torque Wrench 40-200 for sale | eBay
Get the best deals for Husky Torque Wrench 40-200 at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!www.ebay.com
Or, you could simple set the clutch on your drill to slip at approximately 5ft lbs and no tighter by testing it on a bolt that has already been set first. Then you don't need a torque wrench. But that requires using a drill motor, and NOT the impact drill everyone seems to be in favor of using today!!!!
snookered_again
Well-known member
if you want ot assure the rails dont come loose you can use double nuts or nylock nuts.
most will be coarse thread bolts, but if you see fine thread used, remember that the same torque will have greater pulling force and the point of the limit isn't to stop the fastener from stripping , its because a lot of the rails will use embedded nuts, they might look kind of similar to what the legs of your couch might screw into. using locknuts is fine, cup washers or "belville washers" can vary by thickness , thus different torque, to flatten them.
the washers keep tension on the bolts which is desirable. it also helps them not come loose. If there is enough thread you can lock two nuts together rather then looking for nyloc nuts or use locktite just not the red ( permanent) one, the re are less permanent ones ( blue for small fasters is one I use often)
poplar is a cheap wood, it is a hardwood technically, it is a deciduous tree, but isn't actually a "hard wood" Its not too bad for staying straight, not a lot of figure, it's not heavy enough to make high quality pool table rails but it will suffice.
One of the ways to identify poplar, it often has sort of a green tinge to parts of the grain. lots of things like cheap modern furniture which is to be covered by veneer use it. the grain isn't particularly exciting, a lot like our western pine. its not so hard and strong, like maple.
something unusual I found with my very old table , the staples used were very tiny ones, only about 1/8" crown and about 3/16 long.. Glues were never used. if they wereit was hoof glue.
I could see by the stapling that it had been done quite a few times using the same tiny staples.. that indicated it was recovered probably by the same man , Id guess about 10 times.. because most of the staples were still there I could tell that he didn't pull them, he just pulled the felt off and staples stayed in the table..
out of curiosity I searched for staples or a stapler of this size, found nothing. Some furniture tacks were used, some like to use tacks. I used them (vintage style ) for some things like holding the pocket nets to the underside of the table. I bought a bunch for recovering vintage furniture that predates staples.( to retain authenticity) unlike nails , these tacks are tapered and have a very sharp point.
The old school way ( before staples) was to put them in your mouth to dispense them and use a magetic hammer, a long time ago spitting tacks quickly was an upholterer's skill. they are blued, I've heard because people put them in their mouths the bluing helped sterilize them.. the antidote for swallowing tacks is to eat lots of cotton balls. There's a scary thought..
the restorer couln't use both hands to hold nails and work the hammer , he needed a free hand to tension the cloth. Staples turned that into a single handed operation. Previous to that there was the magnetic tack hammer. I have one.. magnets weren't so strong way back when, so I keep a rare earth magnet stuck to it to increase its magnetism. The head is very slender because its often used in tight spaces, near obstacles. I seldom see them in use now. its nice to do that if its a genuine and proper antique restoration an you want to retain the authenticity.
because they are square and tapered the tack will take a lot of side load, they also pull out a lot more easily than a nail because they are tapered.
most will be coarse thread bolts, but if you see fine thread used, remember that the same torque will have greater pulling force and the point of the limit isn't to stop the fastener from stripping , its because a lot of the rails will use embedded nuts, they might look kind of similar to what the legs of your couch might screw into. using locknuts is fine, cup washers or "belville washers" can vary by thickness , thus different torque, to flatten them.
the washers keep tension on the bolts which is desirable. it also helps them not come loose. If there is enough thread you can lock two nuts together rather then looking for nyloc nuts or use locktite just not the red ( permanent) one, the re are less permanent ones ( blue for small fasters is one I use often)
poplar is a cheap wood, it is a hardwood technically, it is a deciduous tree, but isn't actually a "hard wood" Its not too bad for staying straight, not a lot of figure, it's not heavy enough to make high quality pool table rails but it will suffice.
One of the ways to identify poplar, it often has sort of a green tinge to parts of the grain. lots of things like cheap modern furniture which is to be covered by veneer use it. the grain isn't particularly exciting, a lot like our western pine. its not so hard and strong, like maple.
something unusual I found with my very old table , the staples used were very tiny ones, only about 1/8" crown and about 3/16 long.. Glues were never used. if they wereit was hoof glue.
I could see by the stapling that it had been done quite a few times using the same tiny staples.. that indicated it was recovered probably by the same man , Id guess about 10 times.. because most of the staples were still there I could tell that he didn't pull them, he just pulled the felt off and staples stayed in the table..
out of curiosity I searched for staples or a stapler of this size, found nothing. Some furniture tacks were used, some like to use tacks. I used them (vintage style ) for some things like holding the pocket nets to the underside of the table. I bought a bunch for recovering vintage furniture that predates staples.( to retain authenticity) unlike nails , these tacks are tapered and have a very sharp point.
The old school way ( before staples) was to put them in your mouth to dispense them and use a magetic hammer, a long time ago spitting tacks quickly was an upholterer's skill. they are blued, I've heard because people put them in their mouths the bluing helped sterilize them.. the antidote for swallowing tacks is to eat lots of cotton balls. There's a scary thought..
the restorer couln't use both hands to hold nails and work the hammer , he needed a free hand to tension the cloth. Staples turned that into a single handed operation. Previous to that there was the magnetic tack hammer. I have one.. magnets weren't so strong way back when, so I keep a rare earth magnet stuck to it to increase its magnetism. The head is very slender because its often used in tight spaces, near obstacles. I seldom see them in use now. its nice to do that if its a genuine and proper antique restoration an you want to retain the authenticity.
because they are square and tapered the tack will take a lot of side load, they also pull out a lot more easily than a nail because they are tapered.
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snookered_again
Well-known member
most who have mechanical trades won;t strip 1/4" bolts or use a torque wrench, You can but its often just second nature for anyone experienced.. how about use 2 fingers to turn the wrench and you should be ok., that might be enough not to be tempted to "go nuts" nothing wrong with re-checking them after its in use a while. buying a special torque wrench makes sense if you use it , but I dont think its really necessary if it's not used often. the kind youd use for a cylinder head is too big and not really suited to this.
one way to estimate your strength , picture its a 1' wrench and you are pulling at the same pulling force it would take to lift a gallon of milk,, you can do that with 2 fingers, that's 10 foot pounds.. a gallon of milk is roughly 10 lbs.. If you think you need greater accuracy, you can likely just borrow one.
you can get little tools that are callibrated, I am just setting up a thickness planer, it comes with a littel T wrench for the carbide blade screws. That tool is preset, part of the tools for the machine, It's so so I dont break any of the tiny screws off, there are 130 blades in one planer and all are about 3mm.. trying to drill out a broken off 3mm is challenging.. a T handle like that might be ok for a mechanic who would actually use it often. then he's not fussing about trying to read the thing. I have little 1/4" drive snap on one, but they are a bit expensive.
I agree its really easy to grab impact tools and they take all the feel away, and yes they can apply tremendous torque.. ok to use a power tool for getting close so it's a bit faster.. with a drill at least you still have a feeling for how tight it is.. if it's like a typical little 1/4" drill and not a monster sized one. Ill often chuck up a 1/4" drive socket extension in a 1/2" cordless chuck, that works ok..
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The smaller the bolts, the more useful the torque wrench is, much easier to make a mistake or break 1/4-5/16 bolts than 1/2, I have modified motorcycle and snowmobile engines for a long time, I know what I'm talking about.
snookered_again
Well-known member
the guy is worried about tightening the rail bolts of one table, what he needs do is be reasonable tightening them, Its not so much that the bolt will strip but there are limits on the captive nut.
He got hold of a torque wrench that was too big for the job. I wouldn't prompt him to go run out and buy an offshore low quality torque wrench just for the one job of tightening the rails on one table because I also understand being reasonable and the economics of it.
I'd personally not buy one that was inferior quality because I've seen people get into trouble that way.
If one is not thinking about what torque they are applying and instead relying completely on a torque wrench that failed to click or had an issue with the dial, that can cause a situation.
Someone with a bit more experience may realize they are tight enough without going nuts on it and stop even though they didn't see it respond.. Sometimes that's just how people learn.
I'm a red seal millwright with a lot of industrial field experience, ive writen courses on fasteners, thrreading operations and removing broken fasteners, its an area I do have a lot of expertise in. I am not a pool table mechanic but I know exactly how the customer and the tech would feel if he were to damage a rail during an installation.
it would get fixed and things would carry on but this is a situation an experienced pool table mechanic would be very aware of.
He got hold of a torque wrench that was too big for the job. I wouldn't prompt him to go run out and buy an offshore low quality torque wrench just for the one job of tightening the rails on one table because I also understand being reasonable and the economics of it.
I'd personally not buy one that was inferior quality because I've seen people get into trouble that way.
If one is not thinking about what torque they are applying and instead relying completely on a torque wrench that failed to click or had an issue with the dial, that can cause a situation.
Someone with a bit more experience may realize they are tight enough without going nuts on it and stop even though they didn't see it respond.. Sometimes that's just how people learn.
I'm a red seal millwright with a lot of industrial field experience, ive writen courses on fasteners, thrreading operations and removing broken fasteners, its an area I do have a lot of expertise in. I am not a pool table mechanic but I know exactly how the customer and the tech would feel if he were to damage a rail during an installation.
it would get fixed and things would carry on but this is a situation an experienced pool table mechanic would be very aware of.
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When you have some experience working on bar tables, then give some advice.
snookered_again
Well-known member
he never never misses a chance to be rude
I love this thing:
The numbers on the clutch are just below the actual inch-pounds it applies.
I still like using the torque wrench afterwards.
If being rude is to correct your mis information, then so be it. But mis information in my book, is being rude when you have no idea what you're talking about!
I agree, because it has a clutch setting. But most so called table mechanics don't carry that impact driver, and very FEW even own a torque wrench, let alone use one!I love this thing:
The numbers on the clutch are just below the actual inch-pounds it applies.
I still like using the torque wrench afterwards.
The little impact drill without clutch can tight to 120ft/lbs and more and just after 6 or 7 shocks that tight a lot more than a lot of stupid guys can think, the guy who replace the cloth here for the moment use it and he destroy everything with that, all the rails washers are now close to the slate, the slate backing poplar holes are stripped, I made some square 2'' washers to resolve the problem and I have a lot more to do.