I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me fits,
When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I missing
here? and what am I doing wrong?

In article , "sweet sawdust" wrote:
I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me fits,
When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I missing
here? and what am I doing wrong?

Dowel too large, perhaps? What species of wood? I've never cut threads on
wood, but I'd imagine the process would work much better on, say, sugar maple
than it would on sugar pine -- perhaps the wood you're using is too brittle?

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. net...
In article , "sweet sawdust"
wrote:
I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me
fits,
When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I
missing
here? and what am I doing wrong?

Dowel too large, perhaps? What species of wood? I've never cut threads on
wood, but I'd imagine the process would work much better on, say, sugar
maple
than it would on sugar pine -- perhaps the wood you're using is too
brittle?

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Standard commercial dowel measured at .751 This dowel "appeared" to be
Maple like, the description said Hard wood.

In article , "sweet sawdust" wrote:

Standard commercial dowel measured at .751 This dowel "appeared" to be
Maple like, the description said Hard wood.

Any more, with a description like that, it could be almost anything. Used to
be that a standard "hardwood dowel" was made in the US or Canada, and was
almost certainly either maple or birch. Now, who knows?

Have you tried a different type of wood? Or inspected the cutters for damage?

[grasping at straws here, obviously...]
Any possibility at all that you're trying to force a left-hand-thread die to
go clockwise? (Do these things even come in LH versions??)



--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 08:21:33 -0500, "sweet sawdust"
wrote:

I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me fits,
When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I missing
here? and what am I doing wrong?


Most likely the nominal size of the dowel is different than the actual
size. Also, most dowels, esp at the size you are using, are oval as a
result of being originally cut wet and now are dry. Take a caliper to
a couple and check.

coupla common problems I've had:

** make sure your dowel is actually round instead of oval. I custom make all
my dowels for threading now....

** double check the ID of the die, and compare it to the OD of the dowel.
Sounds like you've got a mismatch (don't forget that your dowel
probablyisn't really round!)

** Check the throat of the die. Make sure its not clogging.

** the mineral spirits may be making the dowell swell.... I usually give the
outside of the dowel a rub with beeswax, and that seems to lube it pretty
well....

** make sure you're using a good straight grained hardwood. If the grain is
not stragight along the dowel, it will tear out worse (the more out of
alignment it is, the worse the tear-out)

** if you removed the blade to sharpen it (or it was mis-adjusted at the
factory) it is cutting the threads too shallow, which will cause major
binding. try setting the blade to cut a tad deeper, and see if it loosens
up.... (this is if the tightness is after you've cut threads and you're
binding when you try and turn the threaded dowl in the "nut")


**some folks have recomended soaking the dowel in some sort of adhesive or
penetrating finish to strengthen the grain (reduce tearout). I've never
bothered with this, but witgh difficult wood, a good dose of a plasticiser
(the superglue type stuff - CSA I think its called), or a soak and long dry
in your favorite oil finish is supposed to work...

Good luck
--JD

"sweet sawdust" wrote in message
. ..
I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me
fits, When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I
missing here? and what am I doing wrong?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
et...
In article , "sweet sawdust"
wrote:

Standard commercial dowel measured at .751 This dowel "appeared" to be
Maple like, the description said Hard wood.

Any more, with a description like that, it could be almost anything. Used
to
be that a standard "hardwood dowel" was made in the US or Canada, and was
almost certainly either maple or birch. Now, who knows?
Dowels are made in the USA by Cinncinatta dowel , where the wood comes from
I don't know. When I order them I specify that they are made in the USA.
You don't think they would pawn off an off shore product on me do you? I
have purchased off shore made dowels from them in the past and found them
better then the US made ones in sizes below 1/2 inch.

Have you tried a different type of wood? Or inspected the cutters for
damage?
Tried some home made (lathe truned) oak and had same results. Took die
apart and resharpened cutter and found no damage there.

[grasping at straws here, obviously...]
Any possibility at all that you're trying to force a left-hand-thread die
to
go clockwise? (Do these things even come in LH versions??)
I am sure that if they do come in left hand sombody here will have a set,
but I have never seen them.



--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"jev" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Apr 2007 08:21:33 -0500, "sweet sawdust"
wrote:

I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me
fits,
When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I
missing
here? and what am I doing wrong?


Most likely the nominal size of the dowel is different than the actual
size. Also, most dowels, esp at the size you are using, are oval as a
result of being originally cut wet and now are dry. Take a caliper to
a couple and check.

Miked a couple of them and forund that they were close to the 3/4 size.
Mostly a couple thousandths under. They look round and mike close to round
at least on the ends.

"jd" wrote in message
. ..
coupla common problems I've had:

** make sure your dowel is actually round instead of oval. I custom make
all my dowels for threading now....

** double check the ID of the die, and compare it to the OD of the dowel.
Sounds like you've got a mismatch (don't forget that your dowel
probablyisn't really round!)
Done Dowel matches up pertty good

** Check the throat of the die. Make sure its not clogging.
No Clogging,

** the mineral spirits may be making the dowell swell.... I usually give
the outside of the dowel a rub with beeswax, and that seems to lube it
pretty well....

Done
** make sure you're using a good straight grained hardwood. If the grain
is not stragight along the dowel, it will tear out worse (the more out of
alignment it is, the worse the tear-out)
Done, dowel has good striaight grain

** if you removed the blade to sharpen it (or it was mis-adjusted at the
factory) it is cutting the threads too shallow, which will cause major
binding. try setting the blade to cut a tad deeper, and see if it loosens
up.... (this is if the tightness is after you've cut threads and you're
binding when you try and turn the threaded dowl in the "nut")

Done, Cutter blade was way out of adjustment. Re set the blade and cut a
PERFECT thread.

**some folks have recomended soaking the dowel in some sort of adhesive or
penetrating finish to strengthen the grain (reduce tearout). I've never
bothered with this, but witgh difficult wood, a good dose of a
plasticiser (the superglue type stuff - CSA I think its called), or a soak
and long dry in your favorite oil finish is supposed to work...

Good luck
--JD

Thank you!!!!!! for the step by step and the reminder, I followed it step
by step and got the results I wanted in spades. Now the hard part is to
stop cutting the threads when they are long enough.

"sweet sawdust" wrote in message
. ..
I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me
fits, When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the
dowel instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon.
Cutter is sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The
last one I tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I
know these tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What
am I missing here? and what am I doing wrong?

Thanks to every one for thier time and help. I got it working and it just
shows that you sometime need a little help, and you can get it here (at
times).
Thanks again.
"sweet sawdust" wrote in message
. ..
I have a wood threading Kit, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" standard tap and die set
up. Taps work fine in any wood I normally use. The dies are giving me
fits, When I try to thread a rod I get a complete cut/ tearout of the dowel
instead of a thread, almost like I am trying to cut a tennon. Cutter is
sharp, can shave with it, I use mineral spirits for lube. The last one I
tried was so tight that I broke/twisted apart a 3/4" dowel. I know these
tools work since I have cut threads with them in the past. What am I
missing here? and what am I doing wrong?

jd wrote:

** the mineral spirits may be making the dowell swell.... I usually give the
outside of the dowel a rub with**beeswax,*and*that*seems*to*lube*it*pretty
well....

It's been a few years since I used my threading set, but IIRC the instructions
recommended using linseed oil as the lubricant and backing off every couple
of turns to clear the chips.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
jd wrote:

** the mineral spirits may be making the dowell swell.... I usually give
the
outside of the dowel a rub with beeswax, and that seems to lube it pretty
well....

It's been a few years since I used my threading set, but IIRC the
instructions
recommended using linseed oil as the lubricant and backing off every couple
of turns to clear the chips.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

Yes I remember that now.