I have had to relieve the diameter of tap shanks many times in order
to tap deep holes or to cross a bore and the like. This morning I
needed to reduce the shank of a 5/16-18 tap. The job required that all
but about 3/8" of the shank diameter needed to be turned down. This
meant that in order to do the turning in one chucking the end of the
tap needed to be supported. The tap in question was a spiral point
tap. So I used a live center for support. I put a .25 thick piece of
aluminum between the point of the center and the tap. Then, with the
spindle turning, I cranked the tailstock quill forward until the
center and the tap points had both made pretty deep depressions in the
aluminum piece. I used a coated threading insert to turn down the tap.
255 RPM and .004" feed. The material was removed in one pass. I
plunged the tool into the work where the cut would not be an
interrupted cut. Then fed away from the chuck by hand to remove the
incomplete threads. This part of the cutting was an interrupted cut so
I wanted to feel the cutting. After removing the incomplete threads
the cut was reversed so that the tool was feeding towards the chuck.
The operation worked quite well and the threading insert still looks
good. HSS taps are hard but coated carbide is much harder.
Eric

On Saturday, August 25, 2018 at 2:09:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I have had to relieve the diameter of tap shanks many times in order
to tap deep holes or to cross a bore and the like. This morning I
needed to reduce the shank of a 5/16-18 tap. The job required that all
but about 3/8" of the shank diameter needed to be turned down. This
meant that in order to do the turning in one chucking the end of the
tap needed to be supported. The tap in question was a spiral point
tap. So I used a live center for support. I put a .25 thick piece of
aluminum between the point of the center and the tap. Then, with the
spindle turning, I cranked the tailstock quill forward until the
center and the tap points had both made pretty deep depressions in the
aluminum piece. I used a coated threading insert to turn down the tap.
255 RPM and .004" feed. The material was removed in one pass. I
plunged the tool into the work where the cut would not be an
interrupted cut. Then fed away from the chuck by hand to remove the
incomplete threads. This part of the cutting was an interrupted cut so
I wanted to feel the cutting. After removing the incomplete threads
the cut was reversed so that the tool was feeding towards the chuck.
The operation worked quite well and the threading insert still looks
good. HSS taps are hard but coated carbide is much harder.
Eric

Nice turning, Eric. My world is somewhat made of custom modified tools. But were you holding your breath while doing this?

I'm currently in the Sun Valley Idaho area for work, and the smoke from various forest fires is pretty horrible. I've been here a couple of times before and I know there have been days in the pst week when the visibility is way below five miles. Today was pretty good, though, and I got in some good views of mountains and wildlife.

I understand though that up in your neck of the woods, it's really bad. are people doing anything different to cope with it? I was surprised here that there aren't people wearing at least particle masks - my mouth has taste like smoke for a week.

On Mon, 27 Aug 2018 21:01:21 -0700 (PDT), rangerssuck
wrote:

On Saturday, August 25, 2018 at 2:09:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I have had to relieve the diameter of tap shanks many times in order
to tap deep holes or to cross a bore and the like. This morning I
needed to reduce the shank of a 5/16-18 tap. The job required that all
but about 3/8" of the shank diameter needed to be turned down. This
meant that in order to do the turning in one chucking the end of the
tap needed to be supported. The tap in question was a spiral point
tap. So I used a live center for support. I put a .25 thick piece of
aluminum between the point of the center and the tap. Then, with the
spindle turning, I cranked the tailstock quill forward until the
center and the tap points had both made pretty deep depressions in the
aluminum piece. I used a coated threading insert to turn down the tap.
255 RPM and .004" feed. The material was removed in one pass. I
plunged the tool into the work where the cut would not be an
interrupted cut. Then fed away from the chuck by hand to remove the
incomplete threads. This part of the cutting was an interrupted cut so
I wanted to feel the cutting. After removing the incomplete threads
the cut was reversed so that the tool was feeding towards the chuck.
The operation worked quite well and the threading insert still looks
good. HSS taps are hard but coated carbide is much harder.
Eric

Nice turning, Eric. My world is somewhat made of custom modified tools. But were you holding your breath while doing this?

I'm currently in the Sun Valley Idaho area for work, and the smoke from various forest fires is pretty horrible. I've been here a couple of times before and I know there have been days in the pst week when the visibility is way below five miles. Today was pretty good, though, and I got in some good views of mountains and wildlife.

I understand though that up in your neck of the woods, it's really bad. are people doing anything different to cope with it? I was surprised here that there aren't people wearing at least particle masks - my mouth has taste like smoke for a week.
Yeah, the smoke here has been really bad. Lotsa folks suffering
because they already had lung issues, like asthma and the like. Today
is the fisrt on a long time that the air smells OK. Nevertheless when
I look toward the horizon the air is still hazy.
Eric

On Tue, 28 Aug 2018 08:29:22 -0700, wrote:

On Mon, 27 Aug 2018 21:01:21 -0700 (PDT), rangerssuck
wrote:

On Saturday, August 25, 2018 at 2:09:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I have had to relieve the diameter of tap shanks many times in order
to tap deep holes or to cross a bore and the like. This morning I
needed to reduce the shank of a 5/16-18 tap. The job required that all
but about 3/8" of the shank diameter needed to be turned down. This
meant that in order to do the turning in one chucking the end of the
tap needed to be supported. The tap in question was a spiral point
tap. So I used a live center for support. I put a .25 thick piece of
aluminum between the point of the center and the tap. Then, with the
spindle turning, I cranked the tailstock quill forward until the
center and the tap points had both made pretty deep depressions in the
aluminum piece. I used a coated threading insert to turn down the tap.
255 RPM and .004" feed. The material was removed in one pass. I
plunged the tool into the work where the cut would not be an
interrupted cut. Then fed away from the chuck by hand to remove the
incomplete threads. This part of the cutting was an interrupted cut so
I wanted to feel the cutting. After removing the incomplete threads
the cut was reversed so that the tool was feeding towards the chuck.
The operation worked quite well and the threading insert still looks
good. HSS taps are hard but coated carbide is much harder.
Eric

Nice turning, Eric. My world is somewhat made of custom modified tools. But were you holding your breath while doing this?

I'm currently in the Sun Valley Idaho area for work, and the smoke from various forest fires is pretty horrible. I've been here a couple of times before and I know there have been days in the pst week when the visibility is way below five miles. Today was pretty good, though, and I got in some good views of mountains and wildlife.

I understand though that up in your neck of the woods, it's really bad. are people doing anything different to cope with it? I was surprised here that there aren't people wearing at least particle masks - my mouth has taste like smoke for a week.
Yeah, the smoke here has been really bad. Lotsa folks suffering
because they already had lung issues, like asthma and the like. Today
is the fisrt on a long time that the air smells OK. Nevertheless when
I look toward the horizon the air is still hazy.
Eric

My buddy is living in the Twin Falls area and said the air is clean
right now, but the fires are farther off than here. (15-30mi here)

I wear a half-mask respirator with organic vapor canisters and N95
dust filters on it. It takes out 99% of smell and taste of the smoke.
I'm not working around nasty stuff much now, so my OV cans last for
years. I'll get new ones before they see solvents much.

It was bad again today in Grass Pants, too, with PM2.5 in the air at
153. The two fires west of us are Taylor Creek (Acres 52,839, 95%
contained) and Klondike (Acres 98,358, 40% contained.) They expect to
let them burn until the October rains put them out. Thanks, Tree
Huggers, for letting the fuel build up for 50 years...

--
America rose from abnormal origins. The nation didn't grow organ-
ically or gradually from indigenous tribes--like, say, the French
or the Poles--but emerged out of courageous, conscious acts of
will by Pilgrims and Patriots. --Michael Medved, Right Turns

On 8/25/2018 11:10 AM, wrote:
I have had to relieve the diameter of tap shanks many times in order
to tap deep holes or to cross a bore and the like. This morning I
needed to reduce the shank of a 5/16-18 tap. The job required that all
but about 3/8" of the shank diameter needed to be turned down. This
meant that in order to do the turning in one chucking the end of the
tap needed to be supported. The tap in question was a spiral point
tap. So I used a live center for support. I put a .25 thick piece of
aluminum between the point of the center and the tap. Then, with the
spindle turning, I cranked the tailstock quill forward until the
center and the tap points had both made pretty deep depressions in the
aluminum piece. I used a coated threading insert to turn down the tap.
255 RPM and .004" feed. The material was removed in one pass. I
plunged the tool into the work where the cut would not be an
interrupted cut. Then fed away from the chuck by hand to remove the
incomplete threads. This part of the cutting was an interrupted cut so
I wanted to feel the cutting. After removing the incomplete threads
the cut was reversed so that the tool was feeding towards the chuck.
The operation worked quite well and the threading insert still looks
good. HSS taps are hard but coated carbide is much harder.
Eric



I had to turn down the shank on a reamer not to long ago, and wrote
about it here I think. Used a bright shiny solid carbide TNMG insert.
The cut screamed, but the finished looked really good. I thought about
using a similar coated insert, but I didn't have one at the time. A
coated one might not have been "quite" as sharp though so who knows how
it would work out. Now, thanks to your post... I might try a coated one
next time around.

Nice to have some metal working content. Thank you.

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news
...
I had to turn down the shank on a reamer not to long ago, and wrote
about it here I think. Used a bright shiny solid carbide TNMG
insert. The cut screamed, but the finished looked really good. ...

Nice to have some metal working content. Thank you.

One of my second-hand adjustable reamers lacks an adjusting nut so
when I finally needed that size I had to make one. The thread is
9/16-18 but a standard nut was way too loose. I was able to thread the
new nut to a close fit from a 1/2" Grade 8 nut with a hand-ground HSS
internal threading bit that stayed sharp at least long enough to make
the part, twice, the first time 9/16-20.

Grade 8 hardware has worked well for me when I need to make a high
strength or long wearing part using custom HSS forming tools such as
radius cutters.
-jsw

On Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 9:50:30 PM UTC-4, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
news
...
I had to turn down the shank on a reamer not to long ago, and wrote
about it here I think. Used a bright shiny solid carbide TNMG
insert. The cut screamed, but the finished looked really good. ...

Nice to have some metal working content. Thank you.

One of my second-hand adjustable reamers lacks an adjusting nut so
when I finally needed that size I had to make one. The thread is
9/16-18 but a standard nut was way too loose. I was able to thread the
new nut to a close fit from a 1/2" Grade 8 nut with a hand-ground HSS
internal threading bit that stayed sharp at least long enough to make
the part, twice, the first time 9/16-20.

Grade 8 hardware has worked well for me when I need to make a high
strength or long wearing part using custom HSS forming tools such as
radius cutters.
-jsw

Grade 8 bolts are medium-carbon, with a tensile strength around 150 kips and core hardness in the mid-30s Rc. That's within the range for good HSS cutters, although cutting-edge life won't be great.

--
Ed Huntress