Chasing threads on turned items.

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ed-fish

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Hi folks.
Looking for some advice on turning threads for some lidded boxes.

Not got any kit for this yet currently looking at thr sorby chasers and sizing gauge. Not sure about sizes 10, 16 or 20 tpi. see also crown has some chasers too.
Has anyone experience of these tools. Which would you recommend ?
Thanks in advance.
Ed
 
John Berkley, famous for his thread chasing books, DVDs (Screwples) & demonstrations always recommended starting at 16 TPI. In addition a lot of lathes were threaded 16 TPI so it was convenient to have chasers to make mounts & adaptors.
 
Robbo3":2597lkl1 said:
John Berkeley, famous for his thread chasing books, DVDs (Screwples) & demonstrations always recommended starting at 16 TPI. In addition a lot of lathes were threaded 16 TPI so it was convenient to have chasers to make mounts & adaptors.
 
Thanks Robbo. My old cl3 had 16 tpi so having a thread kit to match would have been sensible. New one isnt. But starting in the midrange may give more adaptability i guess. I'll google in john berkeley and see what i get.
 
Ed
I have tried chasing and its a steep learning curve
I bought a threading gadget from a seller on ebay
you mount your chuck or faceplate with box mounted on the gadget which goes in the toolpost
then mount a cutter in the headstock
then start the lathe and wind the gadget onto the cutter
various pitches are available and quick and easy to use

Ian
 
+1 for John Berkeley's book. I can't claim expertise but I did a weekend course with John at West Dean. Hand chasing is a rather Zen process - you need to be in the right frame of mind. It's much easier to start with the finer threads - chasing coarse threads needs perfect coordination at speed. I wouldn't bother with the Sorby sizing tool. I have one and almost never use it - there are better, zero-cost methods in John's book. Choose the wood carefully for practice. Only quite dense and fine grained woods will take good chased threads - box is best but hard to get in decent sizes, Blackwood also takes good threads.
 
+1 on the threading jig option. At the price of the jig compared to the prices of the hand held tools, the jig is much better investment in my opinion. I went the route of buying the hand tools and after destroying several "near finished" projects I tossed the hand tools and purchased a threading jig very similar to the one noted. I have never looked back now! I have made threads in even the poorest of woods, ( soak in CA then cut thread and soak again in CA and do a finish cut, works perfect every time and the learning curve was about two practice pieces. The critical point is the setting the jig traveller parallel to the ways, easy enough once done, I use a long Combination square and sight down the ways, from above easy and accurate enough.
I have even had to remount pieces to recut clearance after a week on the shelf. I paid North American price for my jig but still consider it worth the investment because I won't live long enough to learn the skills and dexterity to do by hand. My hats off to those that can do hand threading but in my case I can't afford to waste the time making a piece only to screw it up at the threading stage. That's just my thoughts, for what it's worth.
Stay safe and have fun.
 
Great tips guys. Many thanks. Hadnt come across the jig before. Will watch the video you mentioned tonight.
:ho2
 
flh801978":rfankk9u said:
Ed
I have tried chasing and its a steep learning curve
I bought a threading gadget from a seller on ebay
you mount your chuck or faceplate with box mounted on the gadget which goes in the toolpost
then mount a cutter in the headstock
then start the lathe and wind the gadget onto the cutter
various pitches are available and quick and easy to use

Ian
Thanks Ian.
 

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