Taps & Dies.
I’ve just finished reading my Workshop Practice Series: Drills, Taps & Dies, so I’ve got a reasonable grasp on the subject.
I’m assuming the AF rifles are all in UNF, including the bottle.
Question on dies:
I assume a “die-nut” is a fixed-size die without a split, whereas a “split-die” allows the diameter of the cut to be varied slightly so a thread can be cut in stages? I further assume therefore that a special wrench is needed that can compress the split-die in stages to produce different depths of cut (shallow to deep).
The thread in the bottle, that would be UNF 1/2″ x 20 TPI?
I’ve been looking for places to buy taps & dies, I found one that offers good looking sets, but they’re made from “HQS” as opposed to HSS or Carbon-steel. They claim HQS is superior to HSS, but I’m thinking “yeah, right…”. HQS = High Quality Steel? Probably straight out of china.
I know, threads should be cut on the lathe, but my lathe requires changing loads of cogs to get particular threads, plus it’s a metric lathe. And the manual is about as much use as yesterday’s newspaper, so I’m about as inclined to get into thread-cutting with the lathe as I am with using my teeth.
TIA for any advice chaps. 🙂
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No worries. Lang is going to have to ask Blodnob where the on switch is for the lathe. And I don’t think he is going to tell him 😛
LIKE THIS???????//
😛 😛
No, he’s missing an eye-patch.
LIKE THIS???????//
😛 😛
Patooey, I wear my scars with pride.
You can buy the arbor make yourself up those die holders on your lathe.
http://www.majosoft.com/metalworking/html/tailstock_die_holder.html
It would be good practice, but I have money I can’t take with me… 😆
Is it possible to buy a perfectly concentric rod that I can stick in the chuck to test the squareness of my top-slide?
You’ll need the money for even more tooling…. or at the very least some kind of plastic surgery to repair the damage we all know you’ll end up doing !
You can buy the arbor make yourself up those die holders on your lathe.
http://www.majosoft.com/metalworking/html/tailstock_die_holder.html
It would be good practice, but I have money I can’t take with me… 😆
Is it possible to buy a perfectly concentric rod that I can stick in the chuck to test the squareness of my top-slide?
Lang,
You can buy the arbor make yourself up those die holders on your lathe.
http://www.majosoft.com/metalworking/html/tailstock_die_holder.html
Or this one, looks more like yours:
TAILSTOCK DIE HOLDER SET WITH A TWO MORSE TAPER SHANK TO FIT MYFORD ML7, SUPER 7, BOXFORD ETC. SET COMPRISES A TWO MORSE TAPER SHANK AND FOUR SIZES OF DIE HOLDER (13/16″, 1″, 1 5/16″ AND 1 1/2″). HOLDERS ARE HELD ON THE SHANK BY A PIN WHICH LOCATES IN SLOTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE HOLDER ALLOWING ABOUT 1 1/2″ OF TRAVEL (SET INCLUDES A PUNCH FOR REMOVING THE PIN). THIS IS A NICE SET
I got mine from cronos.
Yep, think I’ve found them:
These came as a set. One 3MT and one 2MT. I sleaved the 2 to 3.
I got mine from cronos.
Between them you can do probly from .5mm to about 22mm depending on what dies you haveor need.
These fit in the tailstock ,in my case 3MT, of the lathe.You just set the lathe going on a slow speed and move the die upto the work piece and it will pull itself on.
Usually quite square.
Fackin’ pukka! 😆 My tailstock is MT2 though, do they come in that size?
And what am I looking for (what they’re called), I’ll be ordering tout-suite.
Thanks Sean. 🙂
Each end of the black bits has a diferant size hole to fit diferant OD’s of the dies.
Between them you can do probly from .5mm to about 22mm depending on what dies you haveor need.
These fit in the tailstock ,in my case 3MT, of the lathe.You just set the lathe going on a slow speed and move the die upto the work piece and it will pull itself on.
Usually quite square.
What’s the deal with those Sean? I can see they hold dies, but do they mount into a special jig or a drill-press or something? How do you mean, “4 different die-sizes to work with”? You mean four ranges, as in one can take (for example) die-sizes from 1mm to 6mm, the next 7mm to 12mm etc? And what are they called?
By “backing off” I assume you mean reversing out a bit to clear the chips etc?
TIA. 🙂
Get a set of these.
Only £35ish. and you’ll get 4 diferant die sizes to work with.
Cronos or RDG are good.
Dont forget to “back off” the thread as per hand threading tho.
I use these for all but the most accurate threading, ie muzzels, when i’ll machine cut em.
They pull on nice n square and save effin’ hours.
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That lacked a certain…er…je ne sais quoi. 😐