Once I stopped fighting the inability to mill a thin piece of aluminum, it was pretty easy. I cut a .5" slice of 4x2 rectangular aluminum tube, drilled two 201" through holes 1.250" center-to-center, went to Tacoma Screw for two stainless steel 10-32 x 3/8" socket head screws and just screwed it in place using an Allen wrench.
It is easy to pick up and hold in position with one hand while using the other hand to tighten the bolts that hold it in the Vixen saddle.
I still have enough rectangular tube to make probably 30 of these. There is very little work involved.
1. Slice a .5" piece on the chop saw using a clamped stop to get consistent slices.
2. Put it in the mill. Run a program that uses a center drill to make the through holes. (On first article, I used a center drill to make a pilot hole, then a .2010 twist drill, but I can use a center drill to make hole in one operation.
3. Sand all external surfaces and cut edges.
4. Use file to break all corners to make sure it will not cut skin.
I could do these assembly line in about 3 minutes each. The rectangular aluminum tube is a sunk cost. The only marginal costs are the 10-32 screws and my labor. If I can find buyers on CloudyNights, I might do a production run.
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