Woodmonkey
Established Member
In his video on my vacuum chuck thread Bob shows his home made face plates with wood threads, he used "hard maple"
Source for 1-1/4" x 8tpi nuts
- Thread starter Woodmonkey
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
:idea: You could soak the threads with wood hardener as sold for decaying wood, then wax. That could give a quite hard thread.
gregmcateer
Established Member
This is getting excitinger and excitinger!
Would you suggest making wooden 'nuts' with the wood in faceplate or spindle orientation?
An should they probably be 'long' - ie when done up, go right to the back of the spindle?
TIA
Greg
Would you suggest making wooden 'nuts' with the wood in faceplate or spindle orientation?
An should they probably be 'long' - ie when done up, go right to the back of the spindle?
TIA
Greg
jpt
Established Member
An easier way is to buy a spindle tap, http://www.toolpost.co.uk/pages/Chucks_ ... SpindleTap
They are no good for heavy work but then neither is the method you were thinking off, best £15 I have ever spent on a lathe tool.
John
They are no good for heavy work but then neither is the method you were thinking off, best £15 I have ever spent on a lathe tool.
John
Woodmonkey
Established Member
Aren't they they same as what JG linked to in earlier post?
bobham
Established Member
I use the Beall spindle tap for most of my vacuum chucks. It works very well and I have found that threads cut in hardwood seem to be quite durable. I usually make a hardwood disk which gets bored and tapped and then mount a disk of melamine coated particle board to the face of it for sticking my gasket material to. I did do a couple of videos on using the spindle tap. This series shows using it in end grain: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... BB9F975C89
This video shows making a small chuck for my outside lathe using the 1" x 8 tpi version of the tap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm5GTFUQsy4
The best threads can be made in the fine grained woods like maple, cherry, birch, etc. Coarse grained woods like oak and ash may not thread as well, although I have done it successfully in a pinch. I actually have one chuck that is made from a pine disk threaded for my spindle.
Take care
Bob
This video shows making a small chuck for my outside lathe using the 1" x 8 tpi version of the tap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm5GTFUQsy4
The best threads can be made in the fine grained woods like maple, cherry, birch, etc. Coarse grained woods like oak and ash may not thread as well, although I have done it successfully in a pinch. I actually have one chuck that is made from a pine disk threaded for my spindle.
Take care
Bob
jpt
Established Member
Woodmonkey":358nigp1 said:
I missed that one sorry
yes same thing different make.john
J-G
Established Member
Pretty much - the difference is that from The Toolpost they are short - only 4 full threads - and cost £24.86 inc VAT & Carriage whereas from RDG they are full length (about 15 full threads) and cost £23.40 delivered.Woodmonkey":2jg05txd said:
Spindle
Established Member
Woodmonkey
Established Member
It's suggested on the site selling the taps that laminating a few layers of hardwood together with alternating grain direction will produce the strongest thread.
bobham
Established Member
The instructions with the Beall spindle tap recommend only tapping face grain. Tapping into end grain will not yield as strong a thread, and depending on the wood may not yield any threads at all. I reinforce my threads with thin CA glue after cutting the treads and then run the tap in one more time to cut away any excess glue. Seasonal wood movement may make the treads quite tight on the spindle as the seasons change but running the tap through them again if they tighten up eases the fit again.
I can't see any reason to make the faceplate using the "top hat" configuration suggested above. I bore and tap a hardwood disk and then glue and screw a plywood, mdf, or melamine disk directly to the face of it after truing it up.
Good Luck!
Bob
I reinforce my threads with thin CA glue after cutting the treads and then run the tap in one more time to cut away any excess glue. Seasonal wood movement may make the treads quite tight on the spindle as the seasons change but running the tap through them again if they tighten up eases the fit again.I can't see any reason to make the faceplate using the "top hat" configuration suggested above. I bore and tap a hardwood disk and then glue and screw a plywood, mdf, or melamine disk directly to the face of it after truing it up.
Good Luck!
Bob
gregmcateer
Established Member
Bob, Mick, J-G et al,
Many thanks for all the time you have taken explaining the niceties of this. I really appreciate your knowledge and generous sharing of it - and I am sure WoodMonkey does too. I was beginning to add up the costs of all the faceplates, etc I was going to have to buy and getting cold feet. Now I know it's possible to self-tap, it's a go-er.
Cheers,
Greg
Many thanks for all the time you have taken explaining the niceties of this. I really appreciate your knowledge and generous sharing of it - and I am sure WoodMonkey does too. I was beginning to add up the costs of all the faceplates, etc I was going to have to buy and getting cold feet. Now I know it's possible to self-tap, it's a go-er.
Cheers,
Greg
gregmcateer
Established Member
Sorry to be a pain again, but should the tapped hardwood be 'long' - ie when done up, go right to the back of the spindle?
TIA
Greg
TIA
Greg
Woodmonkey
Established Member
Just noticed that the tap wrench on jg's site to hold that size tap is over £40! Is there another cheaper way of holding it? Pair of mole grips?
CHJ
Established Member
Make your own, only need to file a square hole in a metal bar or even some good hardwood for that matter.Woodmonkey":1zuoe6aw said:
J-G
Established Member
Ahhh !Woodmonkey":38dwhefm said:
Since I have all the basic engineering hand tools already, it didn't occur to me that you might need a wrench
In all probability you could use a spanner (or two) if you have them - but as CHJ suggests make a wrench from a hardwood off-cut, or probably better still, two 150mm lengths of 10mm square steel bar with two screws (one each side of the tap). The amount of torque needed to cut this thread will be relatively low so the strength of the cast steel body isn't needed.
I would concur that cutting into end-grain is a no-no and the idea of 'layering' three thicknesses is very good. I would definitely make the 'nut' long enough to reach the back of the lathe nose.
JG
Woodmonkey
Established Member
Ok thanks chaps, you are a useful bunch
Sorry, going off thread here slightly.. In case anyone is considering a similar project with a M33 x 3.5mm lathe, it is worth noting that a nut of this size should be relatively easy to source as M33 x 3.5 is a standard Metric Coarse thread. In fact, a similar discussion to this one was on the AWGB forum almost exactly two years ago, but looking for M33 x 3.5mm nuts. (not sure if I'm allowed to post a link).
sterlingbolt.co.uk may well do them, but I can't see their website properly at the moment, so can't be sure.
Duncan
sterlingbolt.co.uk may well do them, but I can't see their website properly at the moment, so can't be sure.
Duncan
gregmcateer
Established Member
Woodmonkey":8hmzssj0 said:
Ditto to that! =D>
bobham
Established Member
Hi:
For tapping the hole you need to have the tap aligned exactly with the hole. The easiest way to do that that I know of is to mount the wood on the lathe, bore the hole using a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock, then switch back to your live center and seat the point of the live center in the dimple in the end of the tap with the cutting end of the tap started in the hole. Lock the headstock spindle of the lathe so the workpiece can't rotate and then use any wrench that will fit the squared section of the tap (a crescent wrench works well) to turn the tap into the hole, cranking in on the tailstock ram at the same time to keep the point engaged in the dimple which keeps the tap aligned with the hole. When I want to back the tap out of the hole I usually just unlock the tailstock so it can be pushed back along the lathe bed as the tap threads out. It is unlikely that the tailstock ram thread is anywhere close to the same as the thread you are cutting, so it would be extremely difficult to co-ordinate backing out the ram and backing out the tap while keeping the center point engaged. In the video I linked to I moved the tailstock away when I was backing the tap out, but that is not really a very good practice since it would be easy to mess up the threads while backing the tap out.
Greg, yes, you want the wood to thread completely on and seat against the shoulder at the base of the spindle thread since that is what squares it up, just like chucks and faceplates. In most cases that means you need to cut a relief at the hole entrance since most spindles won't be threaded all the way to the shoulder. At the same time I am cutting the relief I also square up the face of the threaded piece and take away material from the outer areas of the face that might rub against the front of the headstock, leaving a raised boss around the threaded hole 1/4" to 3/8" wide to seat on the spindle shoulder.
Take care
Bob
For tapping the hole you need to have the tap aligned exactly with the hole. The easiest way to do that that I know of is to mount the wood on the lathe, bore the hole using a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock, then switch back to your live center and seat the point of the live center in the dimple in the end of the tap with the cutting end of the tap started in the hole. Lock the headstock spindle of the lathe so the workpiece can't rotate and then use any wrench that will fit the squared section of the tap (a crescent wrench works well) to turn the tap into the hole, cranking in on the tailstock ram at the same time to keep the point engaged in the dimple which keeps the tap aligned with the hole. When I want to back the tap out of the hole I usually just unlock the tailstock so it can be pushed back along the lathe bed as the tap threads out. It is unlikely that the tailstock ram thread is anywhere close to the same as the thread you are cutting, so it would be extremely difficult to co-ordinate backing out the ram and backing out the tap while keeping the center point engaged. In the video I linked to I moved the tailstock away when I was backing the tap out, but that is not really a very good practice since it would be easy to mess up the threads while backing the tap out.
Greg, yes, you want the wood to thread completely on and seat against the shoulder at the base of the spindle thread since that is what squares it up, just like chucks and faceplates. In most cases that means you need to cut a relief at the hole entrance since most spindles won't be threaded all the way to the shoulder. At the same time I am cutting the relief I also square up the face of the threaded piece and take away material from the outer areas of the face that might rub against the front of the headstock, leaving a raised boss around the threaded hole 1/4" to 3/8" wide to seat on the spindle shoulder.
Take care
Bob
