Threading stainless steel rod.

[Ceec]

Is it possible to thread stainless rod by hand? I bought some stainless steel round bar of unknown alloy at the local steel yard. I am making radiatior support rods and trying to thread this 1/2 inch dia rod. I have a very good die set and I want to thread them to 1/2" fine threads. I just can't get the die to start onto the rod. Help!!!!

Cecil

 

[putz]

Did you grind a little chamfer on the end of the rod so the die has something to grab onto? This will probably help and use oil on the die.

 

[Rick]

Is it possible to thread stainless rod by hand? I bought some stainless steel round bar of unknown alloy at the local steel yard. I am making radiatior support rods and trying to thread this 1/2 inch dia rod. I have a very good die set and I want to thread them to 1/2" fine threads. I just can't get the die to start onto the rod. Help!!!!

Cecil

Grind about a 45 degree angle on the end below the root of the thread.To have a straight thread you need a lathe other wise the thread will come out crooked most times.You also need LOTS of coolant like tap majic or some other tapping compound.Turn the die about a 1/2 turn then back off a half turn to break the chips or it will gall the threads.

 

[Ted Brown]

I think 1/2" is a bit BIG for rad, support rods, 3/8 would be plenty, yes? :biggrin: stainless is a b!tch to work with...

 

[Brucer]

you might try vegetable oil on that stainless stuff.. also if you grind a chamfer on it, dont get it hot, cause stainless can workharden very quickly..

 

[Wild Mango]

Tap Magic, ButterCut, or good old Neatsfoot Oil. Machine Grade taps and die sets. Grind a start chamfer. The 300 series stainless like 316 are OK to machine, in general the 400's are a real b$%tch. They all work harden at the drop of a hat because of the chromium.
Like Ted, 1/2" is a meaty support stay!!

 

[oldtman]

If you can get a split die you can open it up to do the first cut then tignten the die to get the final class fit . I have and old set with 2 piece cutters and a split set. I haven't done stainless but on cold rolled I open it up first. When tapping or threading I usually make the length extra and turn down the outside to the root dia to hold the die straight then trim and rethread. When doing hairpins draglinks tubing I use extra lenght, then drill about an inch to the major (outside ) dia of the tap to have the tap go in straight. first tap, cut off the extra. redrill and retap the final length.

 

[Youngster]

i have just recently tried the proceedure oldtman discribed....works like a charm.

Ron

 

[Ceec]

Old T Man, What a great tech class!! Thanks to all of you guys. I am making progress but now I can't keep them from turning in my vice.

Cecil

 

[oldtman]

on tubing you can weld a chunk of metal to that extra inch and clamp it in the vise... I have one vise fastened to a 1 ft sq steel plate that I can clamp to a steel work table... I make a steady rest out of wood with a groove cut in them to clamp the end you are working on to the work bench or the the lathe bed. I have a small lathe but it will not take 7/8 thru the driver the jaws will hold the tubing better than a vise. we used to make tooling out of hardwood for small production runs instead of steel or aluminum.

 

["The Bat" out of hell]

Start strait[EZer said then done],360* of turn is not the way to cut,run around only about 1/4 turn or less,back off,do it again,back off gain only about 1/4turn or less each time,every full turn pull out and clean and reoil tap or die.
This stops it from galling from build up and make clean cuts.

 

[Keeper]

*newb question*

I thought the worry about working with SS was heat. As in if it gets really hot it hardens pretty quick. So if you are hand tapping SS how hot could it get? Well unless you are trying to use a drill or something.

What am I missing here?