Another old tech, threading

Hi all,
lathes busy improvising using coventry die head.Part is 19" long thread one end 1" of M8
I could have let it open but by using the tapping cycle it does not require loading.also a 3jaw
air operated chuck makes life easier for production.(The time delay was me forgetting to auto the sytem when filming)


THREADING video by gerrythewelshman - Photobucket

Very nice. I have one of those lying in the back of a cabinet somewhere, used once in a blue moon, never on the mill yet!

I have two of those same chucks mounted minus the collar (removed it and mounted fittings directly to the chuck body). If you haven't figured it out already, keep them very well greased cos they readily fill up with coolant in the wedge cavity.

Neat set up Gregor,
I never realised the coller can be removed.

Would have been quicker in an old Herbert 2D.Put an internal stop in the diehead so you don`t have to position the job in the Z axis (lathe).With a air chuck we used to do 100 off 20mm long x M10 threads an hour.Got a £1 each for them.Free issue cut to length material.
Ah the good ol days.

nice idea ! just hope HSE dont spot you running it like that with the door open

re.

Hi mark,
I worked on the herberts and wards for yrs.
The full cycle on the cnc machine is 21secs I can fit a roller on/ off
for my chuck which is locked before machining and open before
it is returned.The thread always cleans itself and we could easily make more than 100
an hour and prep the next part or check the thread without stopping.

With herbert machine you would have to load through the turret
Feed the die head your self and
with a stop on the inner of the diebox
it would have to be cleaned regularly

Ryan,the hundred parts an hour I quoted were real and not imaginary.Job ran for years off and on.
My parts were 10" long so no problem loading and no problem with the diehead filling up.
What is your floor to floor time before fitting roller on/off.Also over here we would not be allowed to run with the doors open.
I have loads of dieheads,have a 3DS Ward too with an 1.1/2" diehead on it.Was threading 24mm tiebars 20ft long not that long back.
As soon as I can find a big bore 7DS I`ll have one.There is still loads of jobs that work better on non cnc machines.
I expect the button pushers to disagree with that but would imagine with your background you might agree.

Hi mark,
Like your self,have done it, worn the tee shirt
The job in the vid was real 1000 off, my lathes were tied up.
door open only for vid and slow reaction as I was trying to hit the
start in edit (silly me)
The only manual thing I do now is to pick up a thread
and the newer model cnc(Style)we just looked at can do that.
I still like using old methods on the new cnc's, though.
and agree some jobs would work better on a non cnc
but who today has the skill or perserveriance

Since a certain Norfolk member introduced me to die heads i have been using them a fair bit. Though mostly on a manual lathe running lever operated turret. Running 100 or so a hour is easily doable. Could probably go a bit faster for a short stint, but a 100 hour for a shift is a totally sensible - realistic number.

On a 11" Harrison i run a pair of 5/16" heads, a 1/2" head and a vast 1" head which only just clears the turret. Would not want to try running M24 in it mind you. But have some nice 3/4 UNF to run in nylon when i get to it. Die heads run nylon a treat, just remove one return spring to make it trip easy :-) + make sure it all clean and oiled internally. If it fails to trip, the thread just disappears in nylon, you don't have to worry about chipping chasers :-)

Add in the ease of adjustment and not having to wind the frigging die nut of and the time saveing is massive. Then the fact you can sharpen them easily too makes things even better :-)

"but who today has the skill or perserveriance "

and that is exactly the problem.As you know we used to run multispindles.I remember another small shop owner coming in to the auto shop one day and shaking his head and saying "you need to get rid of these and replace them with cnc`s"
He didn`t mean multispindle cnc`s either.
I showed him a 40mm dia part two of them were running and asked him how many cnc`s I would need to replace them.He didn`t know.
The answer was twenty one twin turret machines.
The two Gridleys betwen them were dropping twelve parts a minute.
As I`ve said here before I am running parts on cnc`s that wouldn`t tax a capstan lathe and I know the capstan will start tomorrow morning when I press the green button and work all day just like it`s always done.

IMHO many old school methods such as die boxes, roller & solid box tools, tapping heads & form tools are so often over looked to the detriment of the job in hand.

I make a series of seals in PTFE (ex tube) between 2 & 3 1/2" dia, (the same profile) volumes <> 200off each size.

Using 2 form tools (cost £90 pair) and a cut off, manual 10" SB clone. 30/hour including set up is comfy.

A guy I know does a similar job on a CNC and struggles to reach 20/hour!

On the subject of die boxes Herberts made a series for rotating spindles.

Last year I threaded some stainless eyebolts for a client - they'd had them made without the thread and the eye wouldn't fit down the spindle!

I put the Coventry diebox in the chuck and clamped the eyebolt in a veeblock in the toolpost, I'm not saying what I got a thread but it was, shall we say - quite acceptable

Oh and the client was ''most impressed'' with the thread fit & finish - I didn't enlighten him