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OD thread milling help / Questions

helocat

Aluminum
Joined
May 13, 2010
Location
Newberg, Oregon
I have a steel part 3” OD that we weld a top plate to. We are looking to add threads to the OD of the part the fastest way possible after the welding is done. We only need 1.5” of threads and looking at 12tpi but can go 10tpi. Thinking thread milling would be the fastest as we can mount multiple of these parts on a custom pallet. (We make 600 per run)

I have never done thread milling before do you cut it in multiple passes or just one shot? Am I thinking right this would be about a 30 second or so cut?

DO thread mills hold up past 600 parts? Can they be sharpened?

Can an OD thread mill also cut ID threads? Seams the same to me but the tooling guys all have them listed as OD/ID.

Would be cutting these on a Haas VF2SS.
 
If you have a lathe, it may be quicker to thread the part before welding. Most threadmills can be used on ID and OD, as long as it will fit inside the hole.
 
Tool life will depend on material. Thread mills are expensive. I would opt for turning them, if possible.
 
I'd agree with turning them if you can. If you can't turn them then I'd say to steer clear of solid carbide. They're expensive and there's no way one tool will last you for that entire run. Check out the Vargus MiTM line or something similar for indexable tooling, that way if you need another thread mill somewhere down the line you might be able to get away with at least using the same body and ordering different inserts.

Doubtful you could get it in one pass. Probably one pass and a spring pass would do it though.
 
An inserted thread mill isn't going to cut 1-1/2 of thread in one swipe. You'll have to make passes at least 4-5 different depths.
 
I have a steel part 3” OD that we weld a top plate to. We are looking to add threads to the OD of the part the fastest way possible after the welding is done. We only need 1.5” of threads and looking at 12tpi but can go 10tpi. Thinking thread milling would be the fastest as we can mount multiple of these parts on a custom pallet. (We make 600 per run)

I have never done thread milling before do you cut it in multiple passes or just one shot? Am I thinking right this would be about a 30 second or so cut?

DO thread mills hold up past 600 parts? Can they be sharpened?

Can an OD thread mill also cut ID threads? Seams the same to me but the tooling guys all have them listed as OD/ID.

Would be cutting these on a Haas VF2SS.

I prefer thread milling in just about every instance I can use it, and this is great example. I usually program several passes, it saves on tool life and gives better part quality.
 
I'd agree with turning them if you can. If you can't turn them then I'd say to steer clear of solid carbide. They're expensive and there's no way one tool will last you for that entire run. Check out the Vargus MiTM line or something similar for indexable tooling, that way if you need another thread mill somewhere down the line you might be able to get away with at least using the same body and ordering different inserts.

Doubtful you could get it in one pass. Probably one pass and a spring pass would do it though.

No lathe in my shop at this time. Just the new Haas. I would be worried welding them after machining with concern of heat deforming or weld spatter getting into the threads.
 
I prefer thread milling in just about every instance I can use it, and this is great example. I usually program several passes, it saves on tool life and gives better part quality.


Ah so you can program to do multiple passes to control the stress on the tool. How much of a chip load do you put on these? I am planning to run around the part with an endmill to true up any inconsistencies from the welded part, catch any weld spatter or start stop bulge and possibly any hardened steel near the welded area. Was thinking I might take .065” off the OD of the area to be threaded.

I do only have the mill at this time, but even if we had a lathe, I am thinking I can make a sub plate to hold 20 parts per load. So we only have to load 30 times per production run of 600. We make about 600 every 90-120 days.
 
I have a steel part 3” OD that we weld a top plate to. We are looking to add threads to the OD of the part the fastest way possible after the welding is done. We only need 1.5” of threads and looking at 12tpi but can go 10tpi. Thinking thread milling would be the fastest as we can mount multiple of these parts on a custom pallet. (We make 600 per run)

I have never done thread milling before do you cut it in multiple passes or just one shot? Am I thinking right this would be about a 30 second or so cut?

DO thread mills hold up past 600 parts? Can they be sharpened?

Can an OD thread mill also cut ID threads? Seams the same to me but the tooling guys all have them listed as OD/ID.

Would be cutting these on a Haas VF2SS.

A thread mill is a thread mill. It can do either a hole or an O.D.

The only limitations are the pitch and length of cut.
Can do as many passes as you desire. Typically I try to cut my threads in 1 pass, but depending on the situation I might need a 2nd finishing pass.

If you're wanting both 10 and 12tpi, you should look at the single profile thread mills that have a range of TPI versus being stuck with a single thread mill that only can do 1 tpi.
 
I usually use Carmex. It’s their specialty and seem reasonably priced. Single point, reduced neck, insert, etc. Solid carbide will reduce deflection and thus reduce the number of passes. And on an OD, you can obviously go with a large tool diameter.
 








 
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