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Posted by Michael Koblic on April 27, 2008, 11:06 pm
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I have been using a Mastercraft 6-32 die to cut thread on a 1/8 welding rod
to use (a small section of) as a gnomon for a miniature sundial. No
problems. Today I had the bright idea to use a diamond drill bit with the
round head worn out and a 1/8" shank in a similar fashion.
Not only could I not make any impression on the drill bit with the die but
when subsequently I tried the same die on the usual welding rod, it would
not cut at all. To all intents and purposes the die is dead.
The obvious conclusion is that I killed it by trying to cut the drill shank
which is, presumably, hardened steel of some sort. However, I did not try
too hard and the die would not even start the thread on the welding rod
afterwards.
Is this just a case of misapplication of a tool, an inferior quality tool,
all of the above or am I missing something else? Are there dies which are
suitable for cutting HSS or carbon steel?
In practice, I can get around the problem easily enough using other methods
(I need not necessarily have to have a thread in that particular
application) but I am just curious.
--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
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Posted by Martin H. Eastburn on April 27, 2008, 11:39 pm
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I suppose life is a lesson.
Most dies are either carbon steel (lower cost) or one of the HSS's.
So they are at best cutting something lessor to themselves.
Buy a good name brand and be sure you have HSS when you buy.
You are cutting some unusual steel for them to cut as it is.
Why not buy a stick of 1/8" weldable rod at a hardware store.
You might try the die 'backwards' - that is from the other side first.
You didn't bugger up them. Not as easy due to the lead-in.
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
TSRA, Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
http://lufkinced.com/
Michael Koblic wrote:
> I have been using a Mastercraft 6-32 die to cut thread on a 1/8 welding rod
> to use (a small section of) as a gnomon for a miniature sundial. No
> problems. Today I had the bright idea to use a diamond drill bit with the
> round head worn out and a 1/8" shank in a similar fashion.
>
> Not only could I not make any impression on the drill bit with the die but
> when subsequently I tried the same die on the usual welding rod, it would
> not cut at all. To all intents and purposes the die is dead.
>
> The obvious conclusion is that I killed it by trying to cut the drill shank
> which is, presumably, hardened steel of some sort. However, I did not try
> too hard and the die would not even start the thread on the welding rod
> afterwards.
>
> Is this just a case of misapplication of a tool, an inferior quality tool,
> all of the above or am I missing something else? Are there dies which are
> suitable for cutting HSS or carbon steel?
>
> In practice, I can get around the problem easily enough using other methods
> (I need not necessarily have to have a thread in that particular
> application) but I am just curious.
>
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Posted by Don Foreman on April 28, 2008, 2:49 am
Please log in for more thread options On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:06:54 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
>I have been using a Mastercraft 6-32 die to cut thread on a 1/8 welding rod
>to use (a small section of) as a gnomon for a miniature sundial. No
>problems. Today I had the bright idea to use a diamond drill bit with the
>round head worn out and a 1/8" shank in a similar fashion.
>
>Not only could I not make any impression on the drill bit with the die but
>when subsequently I tried the same die on the usual welding rod, it would
>not cut at all. To all intents and purposes the die is dead.
>
>The obvious conclusion is that I killed it by trying to cut the drill shank
>which is, presumably, hardened steel of some sort. However, I did not try
>too hard and the die would not even start the thread on the welding rod
>afterwards.
>
>Is this just a case of misapplication of a tool, an inferior quality tool,
>all of the above or am I missing something else? Are there dies which are
>suitable for cutting HSS or carbon steel?
>
>In practice, I can get around the problem easily enough using other methods
>(I need not necessarily have to have a thread in that particular
>application) but I am just curious.
A die is a tool that cuts metal. A drill is a tool that cuts metal.
Rock and hard spot.
Ya can't saw wood with a saw made of similar wood.
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Posted by Michael Koblic on April 28, 2008, 3:15 pm
Please log in for more thread options I was kind of hoping that the steel was not going to be as hard as all that
and that all the cutting would have been done by the little round diamond
head. I have a set of diamond core drills where the shank is something like
brass! I can bend it with my fingers.
The reason I liked the drill for the purpose was that it looked good in the
application, including the blob at the end.
I do not think it is worth spending enormous amounts of money on this, I
shall go back to the welding rods which cost pennies.
Thanks anyway.
--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
> On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:06:54 -0700, "Michael Koblic"
> A die is a tool that cuts metal. A drill is a tool that cuts metal.
> Rock and hard spot.
>
> Ya can't saw wood with a saw made of similar wood.
>
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Posted by Ed Huntress on April 28, 2008, 3:37 pm
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>I was kind of hoping that the steel was not going to be as hard as all that
>and that all the cutting would have been done by the little round diamond
>head. I have a set of diamond core drills where the shank is something like
>brass! I can bend it with my fingers.
>
> The reason I liked the drill for the purpose was that it looked good in
> the application, including the blob at the end.
>
> I do not think it is worth spending enormous amounts of money on this, I
> shall go back to the welding rods which cost pennies.
>
> Thanks anyway.
>
> --
> Michael Koblic,
> Campbell River, BC
I don't know what the body material is for diamond core drills. Maybe it's
high-speed steel, or maybe not.
Have you tried annealing it? HSS is not easy to anneal, but most other
alloys are. You could try heating it with a propane torch until it's cherry
red and then plunging it into some fine wood ashes to cool slowly (I save
ashes from my charcoal grill for this purpose). Then try cutting it with a
file -- preferably an old one that you don't care about. If it doesn't cut
easily, you've got something difficult to deal with. If it does cut easily,
it shouldn't be much harder at that point than your welding rods.
But if it's any kind of high alloy, including HSS, it may still be harder to
cut than the rods, for a couple of reasons. It may be worth a try, however.
--
Ed Huntress
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> to use (a small section of) as a gnomon for a miniature sundial. No
> problems. Today I had the bright idea to use a diamond drill bit with the
> round head worn out and a 1/8" shank in a similar fashion.
>
> Not only could I not make any impression on the drill bit with the die but
> when subsequently I tried the same die on the usual welding rod, it would
> not cut at all. To all intents and purposes the die is dead.
>
> The obvious conclusion is that I killed it by trying to cut the drill shank
> which is, presumably, hardened steel of some sort. However, I did not try
> too hard and the die would not even start the thread on the welding rod
> afterwards.
>
> Is this just a case of misapplication of a tool, an inferior quality tool,
> all of the above or am I missing something else? Are there dies which are
> suitable for cutting HSS or carbon steel?
>
> In practice, I can get around the problem easily enough using other methods
> (I need not necessarily have to have a thread in that particular
> application) but I am just curious.
>