Primitive but effective machining .

[plunger]

I am a plumber and often make adaptions to faucets etc. I am limited to my tools because Im normally broke but work around it. I watched this video and am in awe as to how primitive but effective.
If I have to tap a 1/2 inch bsp thread in a new piece of brass I struggle . I cant hold it tight enough in my three jaw chuck.

So what I normally do is just single point turn it. Here they are doing it in a bloody drill press. So I have to ask the question. Maybe all these years Ive been struggling with crap taps and dies.
Can anyone here tell me if they can tap a 1/2 inch bsp thread in a one meter lathe without the brass bar slipping in there three jaw with ease or do you also have issues.The video is very interesting to me.
I know our local faucet manufacturer use calibrated torque screwdriver sets for putting in the handles and they are very expensive. These guys just use a screwdriver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOmKNmdYgNg

[Doc Nickel]

"Effective" in that it gets the job done... but holy cow, at what cost? I'm pretty sure some OSHA guy somewhere watched that and his eyeballs caught fire.

Bare, sandaled feet carrying a ladle of molten brass so hot the zinc is boiling out of it in clouds? Not even so much as a dust mask at the buffing stations, open tanks of copper and chromium solutions...

On the other hand, if those people weren't doing that, they'd be doing something possibly worse, like those guys that break ships.

I mean, it's a "there but for the grace of god go I" sort of thing, but if it puts food on the table and keeps the family fed...

Doc.

[ptjw7uk]

Casting Brass wearing sandals!! Not for me!

[Cenedd]

Can anyone here tell me if they can tap a 1/2 inch bsp thread in a one meter lathe without the brass bar slipping in there three jaw with ease or do you also have issues.[/url]

I can't give you an exact like-for-like answer but my lathe is probably a similar size and I'm familiar with the thread. Don't often use brass though. I find that for threads that size (or smaller to be honest) the tap starts to spin in the chuck after a couple of turns. Gets it started straight and I can then hand turn it. To be fair I'm holding it by the smooth shank in a drill chuck and a keyless one at that - both of which aren't the most appropriate. Could you stand to drill the initial hole a gnat's larger for lower cutting forces? You can go a fair amount larger before it makes a massive difference to the strength of the thread.

[deltap]

Partly dull cutting tools, but I know my lathe won't do it either. Pipe threads take a lot more torque. I start them in the lathe and finish them in a vise with a big tap wrench.

[Mcgyver]

I watched this video and am in awe as to how primitive but effective.

they had me at being able to squat like that.

Remember, brass needs a very sharp cutter. Best to keep separate cutting tools for brass....once a file, tap or end mill etc is used on steel its less effective in brass. Stoning the tap sharp and only used it for brass might work better

[Beazld]

How about interrupted thread pipe taps?

[JoeLee]

They certainly have a good work ethic but with out a doubt are lacking in safety protocols to say the least.
Like the guy walking around in the foundry wearing sandals while pouring molten brass into molds. But what would you expect when the floor is your work bench ? Primitive to say the least.

JL............

[boslab]

There’s 1/2” BSPP or parallel, that’s ok if the hole is the right size, then there’s the BSPT, that’s the one that grabs for me, it can be a pig, and it’s the most common domestic wise over here. Good taps oddly are hard to get, presto, Goliath, Hall are ok, most are old stock, big ones aren’t cheap I used to cur up to 2”
but I don’t seem to be doing much pipe work these days so I’m in the process of cleaning up and selling off pipe dies, they’ve multiplied over the years, I often use a blade out of the pipe die set in the toolpost of the lathe to get round the absence of taper attachment, lots of the Italian and Chinese fittings have some weird threads like a crossover between NPT with odd angles can be very weird,
mark

[Cenedd]

There’s 1/2” BSPP or parallel, that’s ok if the hole is the right size, then there’s the BSPT, that’s the one that grabs for me, it can be a pig, and it’s the most common domestic wise over here.

Grabs a whole load less very shortly after it's stripped the threads out the aluminium you worked so hard on....trust me! Found out afterwards that there are 1:16 taper reamers you're supposed/recommended to use first to cut the taper. Can find them for the 1/2" variant but I need the 1/4" flavour that Presto no longer seem to do.
Found that TWT brand (UK made but unfortunate name) are available and seem quite good. Pictures don't seem to match the item but quality was as pictured and correct item arrived.

[AD5MB]

plumbers tip, and house cleaners: get a 3 foot chunk of 1 1/2" PVC pipe. put it in a Ridgid pipe threading machine. cut a taper on the inside, sharp edged, 2 - 3" deep.

put the sharp edge inside a crusty rusty toilet, bear down, and twist. the crust and rust just pops off. clean the underwater crust and rust in about one minute.

it does not help much with above water line nastiness, but below the waterline, sparkling white in seconds.

it works well enough without the taper and very well with the taper

[sarge41]

I am a plumber and often make adaptions to faucets etc. I am limited to my tools because Im normally broke but work around it. I watched this video and am in awe as to how primitive but effective.
If I have to tap a 1/2 inch bsp thread in a new piece of brass I struggle . I cant hold it tight enough in my three jaw chuck.

So what I normally do is just single point turn it. Here they are doing it in a bloody drill press. So I have to ask the question. Maybe all these years Ive been struggling with crap taps and dies.
Can anyone here tell me if they can tap a 1/2 inch bsp thread in a one meter lathe without the brass bar slipping in there three jaw with ease or do you also have issues.The video is very interesting to me.
I know our local faucet manufacturer use calibrated torque screwdriver sets for putting in the handles and they are very expensive. These guys just use a screwdriver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOmKNmdYgNg

Plunger: Have you tried wrapping the brass stock with a single wrap of strip cloth? Many three jaw chucks will be at least a little worn, (meaning a little splayed in the jaws). The strip cloth (medium or coarse) will make up for the wear and not only give a longer gripping area, but will run straighter. Try it, you will like it. I also usually drill a 1/64th oversize for pipe taps. Good luck.
Sarge41

[plunger]

Plunger: Have you tried wrapping the brass stock with a single wrap of strip cloth? Many three jaw chucks will be at least a little worn, (meaning a little splayed in the jaws). The strip cloth (medium or coarse) will make up for the wear and not only give a longer gripping area, but will run straighter. Try it, you will like it. I also usually drill a 1/64th oversize for pipe taps. Good luck.
Sarge41

Sarge what is stripcloth

[tom_d]

They certainly have a good work ethic but with out a doubt are lacking in safety protocols to say the least.
Like the guy walking around in the foundry wearing sandals while pouring molten brass into molds. But what would you expect when the floor is your work bench ? Primitive to say the least.

JL............

Primitive, and just plain dangerous. Those sandals are probably the only thing they know for footwear. What got my attention is at the 5:10 mark. He's reaching to the wall to make what looks like an adjustment to an electrical hookup. Are those electrically live, bare metal strips running along the wall, anchored and separated by wood blocks?

[wmgeorge]

Sarge what is stripcloth

I am sure he means sandcloth, comes in rolls, good for cleaning copper before you solder or work in the lathe.