Tap and Die Quality Matters

[ruadh80]

I started making pens a couple months ago and had been really struggling with the male cap/barrel threads. I was using a tailstock mounted floating die holder, I tried making my tenon a little smaller, I tried making my tenon an little bigger, I tried clearing the chips more frequently, I tried not clearing them all, I tried doing it by hand and I tried letting the lathe do it... no matter what I did, it would shear off the top of my threads 80% of the time. I would have to start with an extra inch of material so I could try over and over and still have enough left to make the barrel by the time I got good threads. Even doing that I managed to ruin a lot of material. The only good thing about it is that I got REALLY good at turning down a tenon within 0.05mm of my desired diameter really fast (because I got a LOT of practice).

My suspicion was that my $20 chinesium tap and die weren't quite right. I used this as an excuse to buy a triple lead Tapco tap and die. I figured if I still couldn't get good threads it was obviously something I was doing wrong or maybe my die holder wasn't lining up right.

I got the Tapco tap and die... it makes perfect threads EVERY TIME!

So if you have tried everything under the sun and still can't reliably get good threads... try buying a quality die.

 

[jhiggi83]

Hinze Tenon cutter is well worth the money IMO. Agree on the tap and dies though. $350 for the tripple lead was a tough pill to swallow but worth it. Even on single starts I go to turners warehouse or Mcmaster-Carr. I do find that the preferred sizes for pen making are harder to find off the shelf but not impossible. Maybe i stink at searching too.

 

[NJturner]

Agree on quality for triples - it does matter. Also Agree on the Hinze Tenon cutter - worth every penny (or nickel now that pennies are obsolete...lol).

Also strongly suggest buying the sliding tap and die holder from our member Rick Herrel - it's top of the line.

If you prefer you can buy both Rick's holder and the Hinze Tenon Cuter through Turners Warehouse -

Did someone say custom penturning is a great inexpensive hobby.....lol???

Kevin

 

[rherrell]

"The pain of using a cheap tool lingers long after the joy of saving money has passed"

 

[its_virgil]

Rick's sliding tap and die holder is a game changer. It is by far the best tap and die holder i have owned and used.

The Hinze tenon cutter is also an excellent tool.

 

[jhiggi83]

Rick's sliding tap and die holder is a game changer. It is by far the best tap and die holder i have owned and used.

The Hinze tenon cutter is also an excellent tool.

I probaly should have ordered the sliding tap holder from Rick instead of ordering from Niche tools.Dont know what happened to them, thier website still takes orders,I ordered in september but you never hear back and they dont respond to emails. I hope nothing bad happened to them, their tap and die holder came highly reccomended.I wonder if they went out of business and somehow the website was left up.

 

[Joe Ronzino]

"The pain of using a cheap tool lingers long after the joy of saving money has passed"

I am looking for someone to mentor me on the kitless/custom pens -- your tools specific for them look fantastic. I see how they can make the project go more efficiently.