What did you do today?

[JRouche]

Covering leads to rust Chinese galvanizing, so-called, is worthless, electrogalvanizing.... aka "zinc flash". Paint works OK if not covered. The benches are out in the weather all year.

I dont Know Jerry. To solve your problem you might get with the times.

And Import everything has been around longer than you or I.

Whatever he Said. JR

[Arcane]

Today I started two weeks of dog setting for friends. One is an approx 1 1/2 year old Black Lab/Border Collie cross (a sweet little girl that I've looked after before) and the other is a 13 week old Bernese Mountain Dog and is he cute! Good times!

[Mark Rand]

the other solution to the garden bench problem is to drill and tap the ends of a larger diameter bar. Aluminium might do the job. Then use bolts or allthread crewed into the ends.

[J Tiers]

the other solution to the garden bench problem is to drill and tap the ends of a larger diameter bar. Aluminium might do the job. Then use bolts or allthread crewed into the ends.

It's actually not a bench problem.... The bench issue is solved, this is unit 2, duplicating the way unit 1 was done.

The recurring need to thread the ends of rod of sizes that are long and inconvenient to do in the lathe is the issue. Maybe there is no slicker way to do that job than by hand with a die, holding the rod in whatever vise seems convenient. And maybe if I did arrange some "better way", the need to do it would vanish for years... been down THAT road before.

An extended die holder and a powerful slow speed drill motor may be the best plan, as suggested earlier by someone. That should make it go quicker, which would be an improvement. That is the "mostest for the leastest", assuming that my big drill motor can handle the job without taking me for a "fun ride". It took some torque to cut the thread.

[Baz]

1/ How about a couple of spanner flats filed on the rod.
2/ Temporary sticking out bit welded on so it holds in the wood vice without turning.
3/ Metal vice on plate with bar underneath for holding in wood vice (I have two thus for use in portable 'workmate' bench).
4/ For speed after solving the rotation with 1 or 2 above use die in lathe chuck to provide the powerful slow drill or even clamp onto saddle and use single point in a boring head in the lathe spindle.

[J Tiers]

.........or even clamp onto saddle and use single point in a boring head in the lathe spindle.

.....
The recurring need to thread the ends of rod of sizes that are long and inconvenient to do in the lathe is the issue. ......

If the parts fit in the lathe, I have many useful options........ threading is a fundamental capability of lathes.... and I have a traveling steady.

Never mind....... I'll come up with a solution, assuming this need continues, and might then even post it here....maybe

I will say that when it comes to ordinary soft "bubble gum" steels, a form cutter like a die is far superior to a single point cutter, and maybe even to a "topping" cutter. Even more so using an adjustable die, cutting first oversize, and then tightening to final size. Whether it is actually a clean-up cut, or a hybrid of a cut and burnishing, the clean-up cut with a die makes very nice looking threads in nasty low carbon steel.

[Willy]

Certainly not elegant in appearance but functional never the less if it is out of sight. Thread a small portion of the rod then use a coupling nut to join a piece of all-thread or a portion of a quality threaded fastener.
Like I said though, this not an elegant solution but it does eliminate fighting the die and the stock for many inches of threading while still retaining most of the solid rod. As long as it is out of sight...or painted real purty.

[PStechPaul]

If the main problem of threading a long rod in the lathe is the piece whipping around where it passes through the spindle, what about securing the die in the chuck, so the bar remains stationary? You can clamp the bar in a tool holder and perhaps even use an appropriate threading gear ratio for automatic feed. The long end of the bar can rest on a roller table or pulley if necessary.

[Bob Engelhardt]

If the main problem of threading a long rod in the lathe is the piece whipping around where it passes through the spindle, ...

Wait a minute ... how fast does one thread, anyhow? Tens of RPM would be plenty fast & there's not going to be much whipping at that speed.

[cameron]

Or weld a length of threaded rod to the bar and avoid threading entirely.

Whoops, meant to quote Willy's post.

[Jim Stewart]

Wait a minute ... how fast does one thread, anyhow? Tens of RPM would be plenty fast & there's not going to be much whipping at that speed.

Unless it's a very coarse thread I usually thread at 150 rpm. Faster, 225 rpm, if it's an imperial thread and I can use the half-nut and not threading to a shoulder.

I think Jerry was threading 3/8-16 - a 3/8 rod at 225 rpm would very likely whip its tail with nasty results.

There's a workbench to the left of my lathe and I've had good results using a temporary steady rest made of wood with a hole the appropriate size clamped to the bench, also using the spider screws that I've drilled/tapped in the left end of my spindle.

-js

[754]

I am not understanding all the fuss if it hangs
Out too far make a stady mount with a bearing and reducer bushing, and get to work.
Or use shorter pieces a couple them.. it's a non problem..

[Dan Dubeau]

Pulled the pontoon boat out of winter storage and got it running and ready to go for the weekend. Wife is working all weekend, so I'm going out fishing with the kids, and taking my buddy and his wife and kids for a fishing and BBQ day on the lake on Saturday. Weather looks great, and it should be a great time.

[Bob Engelhardt]

Unless it's a very coarse thread I usually thread at 150 rpm. Faster, 225 rpm, if it's an imperial thread and I can use the half-nut and not threading to a shoulder. ...

You're talking single-pointing, right? I meant with a die.

[J Tiers]

Wait a minute ... how fast does one thread, anyhow? Tens of RPM would be plenty fast & there's not going to be much whipping at that speed.

Well, there can be, but a fairly simple setup can control it, since there is not much force until it gets fairly far off center.

main issue is that I do not have and cannot really make room at the lathe for several feet of stuff sticking out.

I did come up with the idea of an angle iron or, better, channel iron frame, holding the rod in some sort of POS cheap chuck, since concentricity is not a big issue..... then putting the die in an extended holder driven by the drill motor. Drill motor in a simple carriage that rolls or slides in the channel iron to follow the thread. It only has to be long enough to move the max distance likely to be needed, which is probably no more than 6 inches. So die holder has to swallow that and drill motor has to move that far, but the end of the frame can hold the chuck, rod is not turning (we hope) so no whipping. Can be reasonably compact, and use stuff that is on-hand.

I might even do that, if the drill motor can drive the largest die I need to use. They are biggish dies but probably won't go much over 3/4", if that far. If I have to do a gearbox, it becomes too much like work to make it, not worth the effort. I could stand one pair of gears, no more.