Anyone have any suggestions for securely clamping round stock to prevent it
from turning while I'm trying to thread the end of it?

I've got 3/8" mild steel rod that I'm threading with a 3/8-16 die. I'm
clamping it in a smooth faced 6" vice and theading it there, but the rod
turns on occasion marring its finished surface. Any tips on claming it more
securely to prevent it from turning while threading?

Thanks

In article ,
"Upscale" wrote:

Anyone have any suggestions for securely clamping round stock to prevent it
from turning while I'm trying to thread the end of it?

I've got 3/8" mild steel rod that I'm threading with a 3/8-16 die. I'm
clamping it in a smooth faced 6" vice and theading it there, but the rod
turns on occasion marring its finished surface. Any tips on claming it more
securely to prevent it from turning while threading?

Thanks

Take something like a 6 inch length of 2x4 and drill a 3/8" hole down the
length of it. Then slice it in half lengthwise (right down the length of
the hole you just drilled) with a bandsaw. You should end up with two
blocks, each with a 3/8 diameter groove running down one face.

You've just made a poor man's collet. Lay the rod in the groove of one,
lay the other block on top, and clamp the whole thing in your vice.

Using sandpaper with a vise or home made collet sometimes is enough to
prevent turning. Even 320 is effective. Of course some repolishing may be
necessary depending on the use of the rod. Wrap the paper with the grit
side towards the rod.
Dave

On Tue, 3 May 2005 07:58:12 -0400, "Upscale" wrote:

Anyone have any suggestions for securely clamping round stock to prevent it
from turning while I'm trying to thread the end of it?

I've got 3/8" mild steel rod that I'm threading with a 3/8-16 die. I'm
clamping it in a smooth faced 6" vice and theading it there, but the rod
turns on occasion marring its finished surface. Any tips on claming it more
securely to prevent it from turning while threading?

Thanks

several good ideas on holding it are posted...
My impression is that assuming that you have a decent vice and that it's
actually mild steel, you're either turning the die too fast or not backing off
frequently to clear chips??
A good quality die shouldn't be putting enough twist on the rod to overcome a
vice, in my experience..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

You'd be surprised. I do this all the time and it can be a rather
knarly problem. I usually just clamp a pair of visegrips onto the
middle of the rod, and then put a piece of scrapwood between the
handles of the visegrips and the benchtop. On why the rod is turning
in the first place: it is very difficult to hold a smooth rod with
smooth vise jaws, and the die requires quite a bit of force to turn.
Additionally, the oil which is used to lubricate the die inevitably
gets on the rod and the vise. Another solution is to file some flats
on the rod and hold the rod vertically in the vise jaws.

"woodworker88" wrote in message
You'd be surprised. I do this all the time and it can be a rather
knarly problem. I usually just clamp a pair of visegrips onto the
middle of the rod, and then put a piece of scrapwood between the
handles of the visegrips and the benchtop.

It's a small portable vise that I was using which accounts in part for it
not having enough grip on the steel rod. I could have clamped something like
visegrips on it, but then they would have left a mark and those marks would
appear unsightly when they're on printer cart that I'm modifying. I did
solve the problem to my satisfaction though. I wrapped the steel rod in some
120 grit sandpaper and then clamped it in the vise. That was enough to
prevent the rod from turning and marking itself on the vise.

"Upscale" wrote in message
...
Anyone have any suggestions for securely clamping round stock to prevent
it
from turning while I'm trying to thread the end of it?

I've got 3/8" mild steel rod that I'm threading with a 3/8-16 die. I'm
clamping it in a smooth faced 6" vice and theading it there, but the rod
turns on occasion marring its finished surface. Any tips on claming it
more
securely to prevent it from turning while threading?

Thanks



Shouldn't take more than some corrugated paper (box cardboard) wrapped
around and clamped in your vise.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

Upscale wrote:
Anyone have any suggestions for securely clamping round stock to
prevent it
from turning while I'm trying to thread the end of it?

I've got 3/8" mild steel rod that I'm threading with a 3/8-16 die.
I'm
clamping it in a smooth faced 6" vice and theading it there, but the
rod
turns on occasion marring its finished surface. Any tips on claming
it more
securely to prevent it from turning while threading?


Vee blocks.

Rip two 45 cuts part way through a couple of short lengths of
wood to make shallow 90 degree vee grooves, or use a router or
whatever will do the same. Then you can use those to grip the
rod AND hold it at any angle you like in the vice.

For rod that small, you may be able to use two pieces
of softwood to pad your vice jaws and just crush them
around the rod.

A slurry of graphite in alcohol makes a good tap and die
lubricant too.

--

FF

Is there a way to use a rod that is too long? Grind a flat on one
end, thread as much as you need, custom cut to length. It takes a
lot of grip to hang on while threading. It would be really great
if you could use a long enough bolt that you could trap the head
in the vise. You do know about all thread I assume.

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Upscale" wrote in message
...
Anyone have any suggestions for securely clamping round stock to
prevent it
from turning while I'm trying to thread the end of it?

I've got 3/8" mild steel rod that I'm threading with a 3/8-16
die. I'm
clamping it in a smooth faced 6" vice and theading it there, but
the rod
turns on occasion marring its finished surface. Any tips on
claming it more
securely to prevent it from turning while threading?

Thanks