Thread Cutter

[Bill Alston]

I’m not sure if this is of interest but I’ve just received a 60° HSS cutter I ordered from Aliexpress. I intend to use this for thread cutting with my Simon Hope jig. I obviously need to make a mandrel for it on my metal work lathe first. I mention it as if you can do the same or know someone that can help, these cutters are quite cheap at under £20 from Aliexpress. It’s 35mm Diameter with a 13mm Bore.



Edit: You can actually buy MT2 Arbors with a 13mm shank for around £25.

 

[William Rogers]

It would not be of interest to me. I bought this cutter with arbor from Amazon for $39.35 (£31.42). I will use it in a collet chuck.

 

[Bill Alston]

I decided to buy an Arbor for it.



It occurred to me earlier that there was a comment on another thread about cutter rotation relative to workpiece rotation.
With a one piece cutter you cannot run the lathe in reverse as the teeth would face the wrong way. With this cutter though you can flip it round the other way on the mandrel if it makes things easier for the job in hand.

At £25 I bought the Arbor rather than making a simple mandrel as I figured it could come in handy for other jobs in the workshop.

Edit: I should perhaps have mentioned that one of the reasons I bought the cutter was so I could use it to make some “Bolts” or Bolt Boxes. The standard cutter that came with my jig is too short to produce a long enough thread for it to be realistic. You can buy cutters with longer shanks but I thought I’d try the Aliexpress cutter.

 

[robo hippy]

If I was cutting box threads with that cutter, and I have several, I would grind about 3/4 of the top part off. For these nuts and bolts you show here, nice job by the way, I wouldn't mess with it. My old Bonnie Klein threading jig has a machined head the cutter is mounted in, and my Baxter jig has a morris taper jig with an all thread rod on it. I do not notice any difference in how they work. One is not really any better than the other. I do think the all thread, with a butterfly wing nut and locking washer is necessary for the morris taper set up. That beats the lock washer and standard nut where you have to dig through the shavings to find the wrench....

robo hippy

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Cutting threads is on my "one of these days" list. I have some hop-hornbeam here that I understand is a great wood for threads.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

There are limitations of the minimum diameter female thread the cutter will do with its 1.377" diameter (35 mm). The thread profile is distorted when you get to a certain minimum diameter. When we buy threading cutters for metal working the cutter will have a minimum diameter specified.

I've been playing around with 90 degree threads rather than 60 degree. 90 degree threads don't tend to tear out as badly as the more fragile 60 degree in softer woods.

 

[Bill Alston]

I bought the cutter for use on external threads. My standard cutter is long enough for internal ones.

I took the picture from Simon Hopes website, it’s not my work. I am hoping to emulate them though!

 

[Richard Coers]

I decided to buy an Arbor for it.

View attachment 70252

It occurred to me earlier that there was a comment on another thread about cutter rotation relative to workpiece rotation.
With a one piece cutter you cannot run the lathe in reverse as the teeth would face the wrong way. With this cutter though you can flip it round the other way on the mandrel if it makes things easier for the job in hand.

At £25 I bought the Arbor rather than making a simple mandrel as I figured it could come in handy for other jobs in the workshop.

Edit: I should perhaps have mentioned that one of the reasons I bought the cutter was so I could use it to make some “Bolts” or Bolt Boxes. The standard cutter that came with my jig is too short to produce a long enough thread for it to be realistic. You can buy cutters with longer shanks but I thought I’d try the Aliexpress cutter.

Your cutter has a key way to lock the cutter to the arbor, your arbor doesn't have a keyway. With that large cutter diameter, you may get some slippage between the two.

 

[Bill Alston]

Your cutter has a key way to lock the cutter to the arbor, your arbor doesn't have a keyway.

Yes it does!

 

[Richard Coers]

Sorry, just looked at the picture.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Cutting threads is on my "one of these days" list. I have some hop-hornbeam here that I understand is a great wood for threads.

Have made several hand screws and used hophornbeam for most of the screws and only had 3 - or-4 failures so yes it is a good wood for threading.
The American HHB does not get very large so to get mostly sapwood I laminated walnut scales on the handle of these 5/8" screws. The wood in my experience does not glue up very well so for boxes you would be better off with maple or hickory but you can thread just about any wood hard or soft.