7/8-14 TPI Rod

[EMC45]

Just got a 3 foot stick of this....Now what? Bought it at Grainger. It is mild steel. It cost a whopping 23 bucks and change. Looking to make some push through dies and maybe a case derimmer for .22s. Any tips team?

[deltaenterprizes]

Mild steel does not machine well. If you have a lathe use high spindle speed with a carbide bit.
Alloy steel allthread is available from MSC.

[jaguarxk120]

If you make a 22rf case derimmer, use a hardened button to do the work. And the all thread for a holder.

Take a look at the Vickerman seating dies, its something you could make up for each caliber.

[Buckshot]

.............As deltaenterprizes said, low carbon steel is tough to get a good finish on as it's kind of gooey acting when machined. However you can bore to a couple thou short of what you need and then polish it to size, as it does polish as well as anything. Since it's low carbon you can only surface or caseharden it, but for a lead boolit sizer, or de-rimming brass RF cases it won't really need to be hardened, so long as your brass is clean and lubed.

..............Buckshot

[JIMinPHX]

I've been using cold roll thread rod for that kind of stuff with good results. If you get your tool tip geometry right & use good lubricants & a rigid setup, you can get pretty good finishes on that stuff. If you have trouble, then do what Buckshot said. That's what most people do with that stuff.

My big piece of advice is to make a threaded collet to hold it with. Take a piece of aluminum round bar that's around 1.25-1.5" in diameter & 1.5-2" long, then single point a 7/8-14 thread on the inside with a semi-snug fit on your thread rod. Then split the side of it & use that to grab the thread rod in your lathe chuck.

My other suggestion would be to leave about the first 1/2"-3/4" of the bore in your push-through sizing dies about .005" over nominal boolit diameter, then taper in to the finished size that you want. That way, the boolits will always start dead straight when you push them through.

[EMC45]

Buckshot and Jim, thanks for the advise on the particulars...I was planning to run it shy of exact diameter then hand polish for final finish.

[scrapcan]

First off let me say I am very green at lathe work, the above guys ahve alot of experience which I do not.

I have found that different cutting fluids help when cutting the cheese like mild steel. I have had ok luck with high spindle feeds light cuts and good old sulpurised cutting oil (pipe threading lubricant).

Since you will have to drill through the lenght to do what you want, make sure you have some means of rigidity and not too long of a length to drill thru, and cutting oil. The intial hole through the all thread is where I have had the biggest issue as the bit walks easily. again make sure the bit geometry is right, it is sharp, and you use cutting oil.

[EMC45]

Thanks guys. Keep it coming!

[calaloo]

This is total hearsay. I have heard that lug bolts for at least some big truck wheels are 7/8 X 14 thread. Probably a pretty good grade of steel. Might check with some businesses that work with that sort of thing.

[dragonrider]

I don't like threaded rod for diemaking, It is always a sloppy fit in a press, so I use 7/8" rod and thread the od to a good fit in my press.

[pdawg_shooter]

Where I work we make u-bolts from pre-threaded 4140 rod. It heat treats well, machines nice, and polishes to a mirror finish. Makes great push through dies.

[oldtoolsniper]

This is how I made my de-rimmer for the common man.


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=89177

[richbug]

I have been using Grade 8 bolts for die making. Only problem is that I had to buy a 50# box in order for the bolt store to give me a decent price on them.

50# of bolts is a lot of bolts. I have only used 4 or 5 so far, but they seem fine for my purposes.

[maddog2020]

wish some one would feel sorry for old broke down feller with no money , make one for 453 bullets for me :)

[jmh54738]

If you want a tougher threaded rod get B-7. All the bolt houses have it or order from McMaster-Carr. It is heat treated 4140. Tensile strength is twice that of the nasty hardware store stuff. Personally, I use a lot of Stressproof (1144). It is high strength and machines like butter.
John