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Thread Rolling Tooling Help

Nerdlinger

Stainless
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Location
Chicago, IL
Hi Everyone!

There is a part I have been single point threading and I am interested in the speed/thread quality that rolling seems to offer. The material is annealed 41L40 and we are making a 7/16-20 thread on the end facing the tooling on a 32mm swiss Tsugami. The thread length is about 2-1/2". (This is kind of a pain in the Tsugami because you can only turn/thread so much length at a time so the turning/threading ops are broken up into 4 or 5 sections.)

As far as I can tell Fette is the only manufacturer in the world anyone has heard of and their axial head, rollers, and 25mm shank adds up to $4,000. Is that about how much it costs to get into thread rolling or are there other manufacturers/options I am just not finding?

Thank you!
 
Well, I was going to suggest thread whirling as an alternative to rolling, while allowing you to do the entire thread in one shot.... But a thread whirling head is going to run you probably 4x that $4K so...
 
We are actually in the same position as you and just purchased two of the Fette axial heads. We haven't tried them out yet though, will probably start testing within the next month.
 
I have used Fette, Landis and RSVP axial thread rolls with some good results. Never on a swiss though. Not sure of your model swiss, but wouldn't you need to be able to turn the minor at the same time as you are thread rolling. You would then have to ensure that you don't drag any chips through and blow up your dies.

Also, if running auto with parts catcher you need to figure out how to reset the head in the machine (usually a lever on the side to close the dies back up).
 
I have used Fette, Landis and RSVP axial thread rolls with some good results. Never on a swiss though. Not sure of your model swiss, but wouldn't you need to be able to turn the minor at the same time as you are thread rolling. You would then have to ensure that you don't drag any chips through and blow up your dies.

Also, if running auto with parts catcher you need to figure out how to reset the head in the machine (usually a lever on the side to close the dies back up).

It's not ideal, but I can work around turning AND THEN thread rolling with my configuration. Can one use a tapping cycle to get around having to manually reset the handle knob thing every cycle?? :scratchchin:
 
I have used Fette, Landis and RSVP axial thread rolls with some good results. Never on a swiss though. Not sure of your model swiss, but wouldn't you need to be able to turn the minor at the same time as you are thread rolling. You would then have to ensure that you don't drag any chips through and blow up your dies.

Also, if running auto with parts catcher you need to figure out how to reset the head in the machine (usually a lever on the side to close the dies back up).


The Landis head I use doesn't need to be reset. Once you set the rolling diameter, it's fixed. So, you just thread on, reverse the spindle, and thread off as if you were tapping. It does not pop open allowing you to rapid retract without reversing the spindle. The releasing type might save you a little time, but I think it also adds a lot of cost and cuts down on reliability.

And yes, you have to make sure you have a reliable process that does not leave any stringers on the part to be threaded. Your dies might survive rolling over some chips, but the part will be junk.
 
Contact Alouette Swiss. We got a die and holder from them for a 20mm machine and it was super affordable. Less than $1k. They respond pretty fast to inquiries.
 
Before you buy the tool look into having it done out side. We used Rolled Threads Unlimited. Another member here described their costs as so low it will make you cry. You will be a lot closer up there. Rolled Threads Unlimited - Home

If you are doing a lot of these on a ongoing basis, I like Vancbiker's idea. Your Swiss machine gets to run faster by not threading and rolling just one thread on a flat die rolling machine would be very cost effective.
 
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