Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

Pete C. wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?
Yeah, I wondered about that, too. I ended up buying a single-row
thread mill, it can be used for a wide range of thread pitches, but
is slower, as you have to go around the part the number of threads
on it to complete it. I only used it a few times to do oddball threads.
A tap is way faster.

Jon

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Your underlying assumption that sales price is related to production
cost is incorrect. Fortunately many machinists put expensive company
tooling in their pocket and sell on eBay.

Karl

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

Karl Townsend wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Your underlying assumption that sales price is related to production
cost is incorrect. Fortunately many machinists put expensive company
tooling in their pocket and sell on eBay.

Karl

Actually my underlying assumption is/was that the production cost was
about the same for all three and that the selling price of the thread
mills was jacked up because they're new-ish and trendy.

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

"Pete C." wrote in message
...

Karl Townsend wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Your underlying assumption that sales price is related to production
cost is incorrect. Fortunately many machinists put expensive company
tooling in their pocket and sell on eBay.

Karl

Actually my underlying assumption is/was that the production cost was
about the same for all three and that the selling price of the thread
mills was jacked up because they're new-ish and trendy.

It's supply and demand.
They probably sell a million taps for every thread mill, the competition is
plentiful, and most of the R&D was done in the 19th century.
That keeps the price of taps down to not a lot more than the cost of
material, while the price of thread mills is whatever the free market will
bear.

Paul K. Dickman

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:21:26 -0500, Paul K. Dickman wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
...

Karl Townsend wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a
similar tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is
really different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on
the same multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just
because they are newer technology?

Your underlying assumption that sales price is related to production
cost is incorrect. Fortunately many machinists put expensive company
tooling in their pocket and sell on eBay.

Karl

Actually my underlying assumption is/was that the production cost was
about the same for all three and that the selling price of the thread
mills was jacked up because they're new-ish and trendy.

It's supply and demand.
They probably sell a million taps for every thread mill, the competition
is plentiful, and most of the R&D was done in the 19th century. That
keeps the price of taps down to not a lot more than the cost of
material, while the price of thread mills is whatever the free market
will bear.

Which, in turn, means that when the Chinese or Indians figure out how to
make them, the price should go down.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:53:38 -0500, Karl Townsend
wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Your underlying assumption that sales price is related to production
cost is incorrect. Fortunately many machinists put expensive company
tooling in their pocket and sell on eBay.

Karl
LOL!! True indeed!!

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Why can you not get a HSS thread mill, all I want to cut is 6061
aluminum.


Thread mills are used in "aerospace" work, that jacks up the price a
bunch.

Only used them once to cut big threads on a brass part, sold them to
my customer as part of the deal. 11.5 TPI NPS was a bitch to find.

Remove 333 to reply.
Randy

Why are thread mills so expensive anyway?
 

Randy333 wrote:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:59:19 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:


Physically they are a comparable size and material quantity as a similar
tap or similarly sized end mill, only the geometry of them is really
different. Since all these tools are presumably produced on the same
multi axis CNC grinders, why the cost difference? Is it just because
they are newer technology?

Why can you not get a HSS thread mill, all I want to cut is 6061
aluminum.

MSC lists some non-carbide thread mills, cobalt or powdered metallurgy
stuff, but it isn't any cheaper.


Thread mills are used in "aerospace" work, that jacks up the price a
bunch.

That's my theory since I can't see any reason for a difference in
manufacturing cost vs. a comparable size tap. Indeed a tap for the same
thread size will have a bit more material since it has to be the full
dia vs. a thread mill which has to clear all the threads.


Only used them once to cut big threads on a brass part, sold them to
my customer as part of the deal. 11.5 TPI NPS was a bitch to find.

Searching around I see plenty of options out there, but none are cheap.
I'll probably pick up something cheap-ish on fleabay just so I can try
it out to see how it runs on my machine. If you can thread mill, there
isn't much reason to bother trying to upgrade the machine to do rigid
tapping, and thus avoid the work trying to fit a spindle encoder.