After watching your video I went to EBay and the price of those tools just went up. They are not cheap, but what a great device. Thanks for the great video. You always make things look easy to do. I have been trying a hand held tool to make threads and it's scary to do.
Hi mrpete, I've used one of those in a job sometime ago, it's a great time saver and so easy to use, if I get my hands on one for a decent price for my own shop, I'll jump on it... Nice of you to show this, Pierre
Hi mr pete, I've used a geometric head alot over the years. They make production runs go alot faster. Thanks for all the useful information you've shared with us. Jeffrey Miller
Hello Pete - you might? be interested in this. My father was a blacksmith, and as a young boy, one of his jobs in the winter was to make harrows. I'm sure you know what they are. Now each tooth required threading. He had a hand threading machine with a long handle, a laborious job, and hard work. He had a lathe, driven by a flat belt shaft and fitting a die, manged to thread the teeth on this. I enjoyed this job, would be oh 10 or 12 I suppose, a long time ago. But DO remember I had to have my wits about me to stop the lathe at the end of the thread. I did have to turn the lathe backwards by hand, but much easier than the threading machine, which required several passes.
Thanks for showing how the geometric die head works .I just bought a WARNER & SWASEY no 3 turret lathe at a auction ..so that head is a must have for my shop
Thanks, never seen one & only got here because of a Coventry Die Head reference that didn't have nearly as much info as you provide. How/why didn't you cut multiple threads on that aluminum, and got it to start at the same place every time?? Gotta be just dumb luck, can't believe that tailstock slides so smooth & easy that its first thread just engaged & pulled it in sync with the previous cut. Thanks again.
That is slicker than snake snot, I saw one on a FB group, and had no idea what it was, so off to google and there you were! Thanks for the information, I dont think I will ever need one, but now if I see one at auction at least I will know what it is!
I found on eBay one of these for very very reasonable price and it came with a gigantic box of chasers most of which were brand new! I was very fortunate to find this deal I used it on my hardinge 59. The gentleman that had it did not take very good care of it as a matter of fact you took terrible care of it to the point where it was so sticky with old oil that he thought that it did not Auto open . I took it apart carefully cleaned it with kerosene and put some good oil on everything I replaced all the little springs I had to make the springs myself because they were of a size where that I could not find anywhere so I had the tiny piano wire needed for the springs and I just made them and they turned out perfectly. I had to make a couple of bushings inside I made them out of brass and they glided beautiful and by the time I was done that thing worked so good I had great satisfaction out of repairing it. I was sort of forced to sell my hardinge and I let it go with that machine. It was very very stupid of me I could have sold it for quite a price with all those brand new chasers but I wanted the guy to have the ability to use it. When I sell something I always give people really good deals I'm softy for people cuz I can empathize with the prices in this Hobby so I try and give people a lot of extras.
@@mrpete222 ty for that i try to do good in this world but I don't always live up to my own expectations I have to admit. One thing is for certain though, when I don't do my all for my fellows the guilt I feel is never worth the extra money I have as a result
Hello mr pete. I am still in hospital in Germany. excellent explanation. I allways wondered how these were used. In the UK I believe that these are called coventry die heads. I have seen the dies in the past being sold cheaply at car boot sales. I wouldnt mind one of these for my lathe( smart and brown 1024 toolroom machine) actual size 11 inch x 26 inch. weight 2800 lb, similar to monarch 10ee. I hope you are well and keep up the excellent lectures. manny
Awesome video, I use something similar on the screw machines, they open and close using a yoke that is attached to a switch which allows it to go from high speed to low speed, thanks for the video on the die head, very interesting.
Very interesting bit of kit. I wouldn't mind seeing a close up / tear down of the trigger mechanism that makes it release when it hits the stop. Is there some way to set when the trigger fires as there must be quite a lot of variation in the force required to pull a tailstock along?
I ran a threading machine in a job shop for a while, pretty cool machine. Worked quite similar, but the die head was on the spindle and the work was held by a sort of carriage with a vice. Had adjustable feed in with adjustable engagement and adjustable thread length stop. Took a while to set up but it ran well.
Great video, could you please make a video on all the lathe processes Such as facing off and taper turning because high school students such as me need to know all of this for exams and i learn a lot better from watching videos, it would be greatly appreciated and love your channel it helps out a lot :)
I bought the German version of this, brand name Rubometric a few years ago for a turret lathe I purchased for small repetitive parts I make. this little tool saves so much time when making custom screws. May I ask where you got that nifty oil can?
on the die geimetric head you need only maintain the sequence of chasers often on set ups changing position but keeping seqence will give better thread...have about 35 yrs using those on screw machines..
Haha. That was hilarious. "Actually, don't use that last method I just described." That would definitely not be a good situation if that hit the chuck.
As I understand this die head's action, its mechanism is "strong" enough to pull the rather heavy tail stock along the ways. Yet it is "weak" enough that when the tail stock stops moving, by holding it back with your hand, the head will be pulled forward and the mechanism will trip (release). That seems to require some pretty complicated fine tuning to make that work properly as the differential between strong and weak isn't very wide. Can the strong and weak settings be changed in the shop? Or would you even want to?
cemx86 Some die heads can be very stiff, I was using a landis style die head yesterday at work and its quite difficult to pull it enough to snap open by hand, you gotta really yank on that thing.
cemx86 There are NO settings for as you say strong and weak. How it works is that there is a spring loaded plunger that engages in the die head back plate when you operate the closing lever. When the tailstock comes to to hit its stop, the die head continues to thread. It starts to slide along its internal guide until the pin is no longer engaged in the hole ( keeping the die closed ) so the spring action then opens the dies in a snap action. You saw Lyle opening it in his demonstration by him using his fingers to push the die head away from the back plate. Hope this helps with you understanding how it operates. Other makes also work in a similar way, although they may not be so easy to open by just finger pressure.
Hello MMID303, I need know what type and model head geometrical can work fine for build a screw trapezoidal size TR14x3 european ? It must be left hand cutter. Can you help me for choose the right Head size and what chasers use for this work ? I have find on web , but have a too confused for choose... I have a lathe not cnc with standard tailstock..
I wouldn't think this is possible unless you have an absolutely massive lathe and a huge die head. Even then I think you would have to rough the thread first.
hello, yes true, I had leaves this idea too difficult, But now , I need of cut a thread standard 5/16, possible make this size with the head , what type head and model i need to find ? Can you help...
You need a Coventry Die head anywhere between 1/2" and 1 1/4".  Here is an 1" one www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/112080848326?lpid=122&chn=ps&googleloc=9046939&poi=1006656&campaignid=207297426&device=c&adgroupid=13585920426&rlsatarget=pla-75952154106&adtype=pla&crdt=0 but you need to buy the correct size for your lathe.What lathe do you have? What thread are you making?  BSW, BSF, UNC ?
These heads will go one or two threads further before opening. Carefull when threading to a shoulder. You don't want to hit the shoulder. oops.Pete you said LEDLOY haven't heard that in quit a while.
mrpete222 your email address mrpete222@gmail.com? Im in uk to just so you know lyle i have a pretty old tap wrench also its a very unique shape ill send images via email if that address above is correct
I love your channel. Great work you do! Just a heads up with the ebay account. Your ebay user name looks to be mrpete2 instead of what you say(mrpete222). Have a great day man.