Nothing special, but I got frustrated with yet another crappy offshore cast die holder. The dies don't fit the bore well, the screws are in an orientation that doesn't match any of my dies, the handle is a bit long to clear my lathe bed if I just want to just twist it.. So I made these from scrap on hand. The ID is a nice slip fit on the die OD's, the retention set screws are 90-deg offset either side of center point to match my die detents. I made the handles short & removable so I could use one, or both & just knock then down into a small box. The back face is flat & handle set screws are recessed so I can mate it the tailstock spindle end when starting the thread. I would have done things a bit different geometry wise, but its nice & solid & feels like a tool.
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die holders
- Thread starter PeterT
- Start date
I thought about threading the handle into the die head, but figured cranking on it would concentrate stress on the outboard groove & maybe bend there. So basically the handle (5/16" drill rod) is full diameter in the torque direction & a nice snug fit into reamed hole. The set screw just keeps it positioned. I probably could have given the die head even more meat for the rod by reducing the stock clearance hole on the backside.
An improvement would be make the body longer yet so the backside stock relief hole matched some nominal diameter to slide on a matching guide pin held in the tailstock chuck - just enough to get the first couple threads started. My square it up to the spindle works ok, but you kind of need a 3rd hand. A guided pin would be better, then both hands are free to just turn & thread.
An improvement would be make the body longer yet so the backside stock relief hole matched some nominal diameter to slide on a matching guide pin held in the tailstock chuck - just enough to get the first couple threads started. My square it up to the spindle works ok, but you kind of need a 3rd hand. A guided pin would be better, then both hands are free to just turn & thread.
