Threading 1.2mm S.S. rod (wire)?

Hi. I am new to this forum, so if I am posting in the wrong place, or if there is an existing topic, please point me in the right direction.

I need to thread a 1.2mm dia stainless steel rod (wire) to make some links. I have obtained a 1.2mm die (11.95mm od) and the stainless wire.

Please could some wise person tell me whether this is possible, and if so how to hold and manipulate the workpiece and die. I believe that my lathe is way too big to be of any help.

Many thanks

Alan K.

If you have a tailstock die holder make a reducer to hold the 12mm OD dia and run it down the rod with the lathe running at it's slowest speed with some thread cutting lub. I've done M1 this way without issue.

Alan

Could I ask where you obtained the 1.2mm diameter rod please ?

I have some M1.2 studs to make myself.

Thanks

Phil

I have used stainless steel TIG welding rods. You just need to find a friendly welder unless you want to buy 1kg.

I used a tailstock holder as per Jason's post, and have threaded about 150mm of 1.2mm stainless with a 12BA die. at slow speed in the lathe with no problems at all.

Phil, I obtained the wire from "look-now-further" on e-bay. Very helpful chap with lots of ME materials, here...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271905835307?var=570742111105&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3f4ed9c92b:g:VusAAOSwjVVVgvyK&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAAA4HWOp524Tcj9qoQ3mtLrGHtpQyz8Nby%2FfLrI4m%2F%2Fyju8birU1CaTGLfaJzwFCZ2CHAqGXAtdVBjtWlNS70ldb6CgIHjTbTBeeDiybErGAld2F4ZLc%2FEd5YFU0QniWxgvmwddzknafp8aYjTZPLEbFT8Zi8bRgfhXkG%2FZX5hNeK62gvFHeActhrh2Ryy7Xm4DbWSmoSBC%2FrTUZ6dAuppmzi%2B58pgHWRngA9xBtCZWHNhKORBCg3BFFEhKmQbeVgvbmYQzECnyXiFO0ePzMI5499Onela606TOMzgnsZ3rSVyM%7Ctkp%3ABFBMiKeMiZNg

Just looked up "look-now-further" and he does seem to stock a lot of potentially useful rod, bar and tube in all sorts of materials. A useful source, thanks for the link..

Rod

And the lathe is?

You don’t say how long the thread is, not that it is really important, if you choose the right way.

Short threads - no problem with a tailstock mounted die. Need collets if the chuck does not close sufficiently - and better for an all-around grip than only on three points.

Whatever length you like, if the carriage is not too heavy to slide - just arrange for the carriage drive to be disconnected, mount the die on the toolpost and keep extending the wire from a suitable collet. Probably not necessary to go to those lengths but just shows what could be possible.

Thanks for the suggestions.

My lathe is an Amadeal AMA250AV.

I am only wanting to cut threads of about 5mm length on each end of the rod (wire) so the tailstock and adapter along with a suitable collet in the chuck will probably be my best choice.

Alan K

I just wasted half an hour looking for "look-now-further" on ebay...🤬

It is actually:

Edited By Chris Kaminski on 15/05/2022 16:15:30

I've just made a batch of 10 fully threaded M1.6 rods about 2" long on the 1.58 mm [1/16"] stainless rod using a HSS die from Tracy tools.

Found it very easy to shear the rod during the process. Probably due to chips getting caught up.

Like Jason I used the lathe running at bottom speed and a tailstock sliding die holder.

My Smart & Brown 1024 takes 5C collets natively in the spindle and my sliding die holder was able to accommodate the die directly so accurately holding both was easy. However the 1024 is not only a far heftier machine than the general run of 10" swing lathes but also lacks a clutch so snapping the rod should anything hang up was, ahem, really easy.

I found the best way was to carefully taper the end of the rod using my linisher, maybe 45° angle, to give a guide to help the die start. With about 1" to 1 1/2" of rod, well anointed with tapping lubricant (Trefolex for me), sticking out of the collet I started the lathe and carefully guided the die onto the rod by hand. Easy to feel when threading started and the die began to self feed.

Once the die had almost reached the collet I stopped the lathe and ran back a 1/4" or so before stopping again so I could loosen the collet. I pulled the tailstock back far enough to expose almost the maximum length of rod my sliding die holder could accommodate, tightened the collet up and anointed the exposed rod with more Trefolex. Starting the lathe again I was easily able to thread the exposed rod with no drama. Reversing the lathe ran the die off the thread so the rod could be removed and cut to length. A bit of hand pull as the die came up to the end helped thing separate cleanly.

After cutting I re-tapered the end on the linisher. The initial hand feed made it easy to feel that the die had picked up on the existing thread.

Some manipulation of the tailstock poppet was needed to ensure there was always nice clear space for the rod as it moved into the die holder. No need to lock the tailstock down. Its plenty heavy enough to ensure it wasn't going anywhere and alignment is dead nuts on whether locked or unlocked. I generously lubricated the ways so it moved easily with good feel.

I tried a number of variations whilst evolving that method. It rapidly became clear that starting the die on near full diameter material or trying to continue a thread with no previous thread to run down was unreliable and likely to shear the rod.

With 20/20 hindsight a longer taper for the first cut would be safer, maybe 30° rather than 45° (ish). A Coventry Die Head would have been a much better tool for the job but £100 ++ for a set of chasers was never going to fly on a one off job. £27 for a die was quite bad enough.

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 16/05/2022 13:31:04

Edited By Clive Foster on 16/05/2022 13:31:19

Edited By Clive Foster on 16/05/2022 13:32:48