"0_Qed" wrote in message
...
Readership ,

How do you hand-cut 1/2" NC( 13tpi ) with a plain vanila tap & die set
???

Whats the 'secret' to geting the 'die' started properly ???

cold rolled rnd stock.

Ed

Dies are a bitch to use, plain and simple.

If your die is adjustable, open it up so you take two passes, one to rough
the thread, one to take it to size. Cut or grind a chamfer on the end of
your material, and make sure it's uniform, so it assists in starting the
die, not only square, but concentric with the material. Also, make sure
the material isn't oversized. If you're trying to thread hot rolled stock,
it's often out of round and oversized. While I'm not a fan of reducing
the major diameter of threads, you could cut the material undersized by
..012" and still be in tolerance for a class 2 thread.

Don't permit the die to start crooked with the idea you'll get it to run
straight once started. That works about as well as a pig on stilts.

Best bet is to use a lathe and chase the thread, even if you use a die to
take it to size after roughing it oversized.. By roughing with a lathe
(single point threading), the thread will be at right angles to the
material, so the die will follow and yield a somewhat better thread than if
you used the die alone.

Hope that helps----

Harold