It was going so well...

[Bob La Londe]

Everything has been coming up roses all week. I decided to work on a personal project today finishing up some hand bait injectors. A couple brand new HSS dies had just arrived earlier this (last) week. I went to thread the ends of the piston rods, and for the life of me I couldn't get the stupid dies to start. I undersized the ends. Soaked everything in TapMagic. Everything I could think of. I using one of the brand new HSS dies, one of which was in one of the tail stock die holders. I put two tommy bars in it, and leaned into it, but it just wouldn't start. Thinking maybe they had sent me the wrong size I took a second look. CRUD! Left handed. A found an old Hansen die in my Harbor Freight kit box and finished the job.

Anybody NEED a couple left handed 3/8-16 HSS dies? LOL.

[nickel-city-fab]

I have been burned more than once buying dies that are just thread chasers and not cutters. They are impossible to start on their own even if you go way undersize. I am starting to think that people are not technically literate any more. I might be able to use a left-hander, for the belt tensioner on my lathe.

[old mart]

I made a dummy replica electrical connector for the explosive charge which inflates the floatation spheres on a Westland Wessex helicopter. It was the male part that was needed, and it was about 1/2" 20 tpi. I singlepointed the thread but it wouldn't mate with the cable end. The designer had made it quick fitting by incorporating a twin start thread.

[754]

You have a CNC machine, but no lathe single point thread cutting capablity ?
i can guarantee that will not happen to me , i cant get by without being able to thread..

[Bob La Londe]

You have a CNC machine, but no lathe single point thread cutting capablity ?
i can guarantee that will not happen to me , i cant get by without being able to thread..

I do, but for me its about time spent. I can use the tailstock holder to slap a thread on something much faster than I can make a dozen passes single pointing, and since this may be a part I make more of that's certainly something to consider. Once I am comfortable with the feel of something like this I power thread it. Even faster. The die also has the benefit of not needing to worry about deflection or having to take an extra minute to stick a center in it. If single point was net total hands on time faster I would do it. Now before you go saying YOU are faster at single point threading... I don't care. I assure you I am not. This is a 3/8-16 thread to a shoulder on the end of a half inch aluminum rod. Yes I choke up on it, but aluminum flexes when threading with very little stick out.

FYI: On anything that is hands on like this I make a couple, and then I time myself making each part stand alone so I know what to charge for it if I decided to sell it. Often its not worth my time so I just have them as in house tools.

[Bob La Londe]

I made a dummy replica electrical connector for the explosive charge which inflates the floatation spheres on a Westland Wessex helicopter. It was the male part that was needed, and it was about 1/2" 20 tpi. I singlepointed the thread but it wouldn't mate with the cable end. The designer had made it quick fitting by incorporating a twin start thread.

Ouch. That was not the expected problem. Made me laugh a little.

[I make chips]

I needed a m10x1 die so I ebay'd one. It comes in a reasonable time but the thing can't be more than 3/16" thick. I grumbled but tried it as it weeble wobbled it's way down the rod. Then I tried to stabilize it with the tailstock on the lathe. Better but still crappy. Finally I turned a holder with a deep hollow shank for the tailstock drill chuck with a set screw to totally support it with relatively ok results. Adding insult, the pitch isn't exactly the same as what the tap from the same vendor provided. So with a female part having a 1 inch long thread it'll tighten up after about 3/4 inch of engagement.

That'll teach me to buy crap made of Wuhanium.

[754]

I simply am not interested in waiting for a die , even if its only 2 days... not worth it.. i have a few but rarely use,
even iv you jhst rough it out, the die will turn on easily yo finish.
best part about lathel...if it s 12 inches of thread, not much more time than 2 inch . And threads between 5/8 and 2 inch are not huge effort buying dies wpuld over 5/8 get pricey.. then there is non standard pitches , a bit of a problem , but not for the lathe.
i got perfecttly straight threads ...complained NOBODY EVER.....

[alanganes]

CRUD! Left handed. A found an old Hansen die in my Harbor Freight kit box and finished the job.

Anybody NEED a couple left handed 3/8-16 HSS dies? LOL.

The note you left yourself to make sure to get RH dies was probably on the protective film on your whiteboard that you peeled off.

[Bob La Londe]

the note you left yourself to make sure to get rh dies was probably on the protective film on your whiteboard that you peeled off.

lol - irl

[Bob La Londe]

I've single pointed lots of threads. Some snarky response about not having the ability to single point is just that. Snarky. If you are ONLY cutting one thread it doesn't really matter how long it takes. 2 minutes, 5 minutes, even 10 minutes. In the scope of a whole SOLITARY SINGLE ONE OFF project it just doesn't matter and it produces a good result. Some of my projects really can only be done practically by single point. If you are doing 5 or 10 of that item and you choose single point at a few minutes per thread when you can power on and power off a die in under a minute you are wasting time. It adds up. I make a lot of one off tools, and its often "easier" but not faster to single point it because I am already standing there at the lathe. If I am making the tool with the thought that I might sell it if I can make it efficiently I am just wasting my time not using a satisfactory method that is faster. Neither method is "superior." Sometimes its just about using what you have to get a job done, and sometimes its about doing a good job faster.

In my shop I single form and multi form thread mill interior and exterior threads. I use taps in various sizes by hand, in a tapping head and in tension compression tappers on the CNC mills, and I use them on the lathes and drill presses too. I keep the gearing (only semi quick change) in the 1440 lathe so that I can quickly single point a couple common sizes. One lathe has a complete setup for drilling counter boring and tapping two different sizes all pre-mounted in a tail stock turret. I can guarantee I make a 10-32 or a 1/4-20 inside threaded knob faster than you can single point it. Atleast on a manual machine. (I do have threading tools capable of single pointing inside threads that small.)

I use ALL of those methods as needed and NONE OF THE IS ALWAYS SUPERIOR TO EVERY OTHER METHOD. I pick whichever one is most efficient for the OVERALL task. Sometimes its more efficient to just single point a thread, and sometimes its more efficient to go grab a die out of the drawers I keep full of taps and dies.

Now as to waiting for two days for a die to arrive. Huh? I don't just shut down for two days with my thumb up my bum. At any given time I have 20-50 custom jobs on the custom jobs board and half a dozen to a couple dozen jobs on the stock/repeat cut jobs board. I also have dozens of tools, projects, and ideas I am working on. I am not stopped even the slightest from being productive.

This sort of, "looking for an excuse to criticize somebody is why I DON'T post a lot of what I am accomplishing.

I've mentioned before I was a licensed contractor for 23 years. I never had one single complaint file against me and I did thousands of contracting and service jobs. I often slayed my competition by bidding jobs based on how long I thought it would take a competent technicians to do the job. Then I would sit back and think about efficient ways to do it faster. I am amazed how many times I saw somebody pulling communications wires a one or at most a few at a time when they could have premarked a 20-100 of them and pulled them all at once. Just cut off the excess and threw it away. Sure I could throw away hundreds of dollars of wire... and save thousands of dollars in time. That wasn't "cutting corners" as I am sure somebody is thinking about pounding out at their keyboard. That is working smart. The quality of the job is unaffected. I prided myself in doing the job efficiently, and in doing it right the first time. Very few callbacks and never a complaint filed. Don't believe me look up my old licenses. ROC103044 and ROC103047. I just burned out on the work and retired from it.

So for me for what I was doing for that particular application a die was the tool of choice. I would have had that one part done sooner by single pointing it, but not faster.

[Bented]

When turning short tapers on the ends of parts I normally use a RH boring bar on the back side with the spindle in reverse, invariably at some point during this operation I will start the spindle in the wrong direction from habit. This will quickly end the life of an insert tool.

Also the majority of threading that I do is right handed and habit has caused a right handed thread on a left handed part.

[Bob La Londe]

When turning short tapers on the ends of parts I normally use a RH boring bar on the back side with the spindle in reverse, invariably at some point during this operation I will start the spindle in the wrong direction from habit. This will quickly end the life of an insert tool.

I do this too. It allows me to setup the lathe for the whole job and not have to change anything mid job. It makes parts like this go much quicker. Its really handy when making multiples to not have to change the setup several times.

Also the majority of threading that I do is right handed and habit has caused a right handed thread on a left handed part.

I can see that happening.

[754]

Its really hard to guess what actual intent of a post is.
I read it as you were annoyed that the wrong die arrived, and I read it as this caused you enough grief that you wrote a post about it...not outlining other options at your disposal.. How am I to know ?
I may have just dealt with it and moved on. I would rather finish something than restart it again later if possible.
I did not set out to offend, or make it a contest..
BUT , i should mention my first metal working job was in 72, and I cut thousands of threads, that sumner, for the princely sum of 3 cents each... that included cutting, bevelling material and washing off finished parts..

[Bob La Londe]

Fair enough. I look at most machining projects in two stages. How can I do it? How can I do it more efficiently?