# Tailstock Die holder



## Driveslayer45 (Feb 12, 2020)

Made from stainless steel. A lot of lathe work, and somenmill work. single point threading, mt3 taper turning. first time turning between centers, used a diy lathe dog made from 1/2 steel plate and 3/8 bolts..

Not actually tried it yet ..

It was fun to make, learned alot.


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## Z2V (Feb 13, 2020)

That’s a great looking holder you made. I could have used that yesterday, I had the die but no holder. I had to single point the thread. I’m adding that to my project list and I’ll likely make one similar to yours.
Good job


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## machPete99 (Feb 13, 2020)

Very nice, I really need to whip up something similar.
I have an old MT3 reamer that I was going to use as a starting point, avoids having to make the taper and has a tang already on it.
Just need a few extra hours in a day...


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## Driveslayer45 (Feb 13, 2020)

Thanks, it was a fun project. I had a hard time turning the taper before i realized i was way overthinking it. 
I'm getting better at single point threading, my small threaded pin was single pointed in the manner of Joe Pie, so i figure i won't use this tool that often. I think i am going to make an insert, or several actually, with a square notch in the back to hold a few common sized taps (3/8, 7/16, 1/2).


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## malmac (Feb 27, 2020)

I have to join the long line of folks, thinking, "I must make one too".
It's not so much the die nuts as I am more than happy much of the time to just cut the threads on the lathe.
However for tapping the small threads I have to resort to using a tap and that is when I need a device like you have made for taps.

Cheers  Mal


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## Tio Loco (Feb 27, 2020)

Just finished mine, not as fancy as Driveslayer45, but my first real lathe project, so I'm semi-pleased with how it turned out.

6061 body accepts round dies in one end, and hex in the other. I just do small hobby stuff, so hopefully it will be sufficient. If not, a good excuse to make a new one down the road.

Shaft is 1144, and my first (possibly last) attempt at a MT2. Handles repurposed from a hand held die wrench. All in all, a great learning experience.


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## Driveslayer45 (Feb 27, 2020)

Tio Loco said:


> Just finished mine, not as fancy as Driveslayer45, but my first real lathe project, so I'm semi-pleased with how it turned out.
> 
> 6061 body accepts round dies in one end, and hex in the other. I just do small hobby stuff, so hopefully it will be sufficient. If not, a good excuse to make a new one down the road.
> 
> ...


That is super nice. Love the hex one side and round the other, brilliant idea..


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## DavidR8 (Feb 27, 2020)

Driveslayer45 said:


> Made from stainless steel. A lot of lathe work, and somenmill work. single point threading, mt3 taper turning. first time turning between centers, used a diy lathe dog made from 1/2 steel plate and 3/8 bolts..
> 
> Not actually tried it yet ..
> 
> It was fun to make, learned alot.



Total newb question here: how does a person make the hexagonal shaped hole for the die?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ttabbal (Feb 27, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> Total newb question here: how does a person make the hexagonal shaped hole for the die?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Use both handwheels simultaneously like an etch a sketch! 

No? 

Umm... I'd probably use a hex collet block.


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## Ik4771 (Feb 27, 2020)

Sinker edm and some graphite comes to mind lol

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


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## darkzero (Feb 27, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> Total newb question here: how does a person make the hexagonal shaped hole for the die?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



One way is to drill or mill holes for clearance for the corners. Then use your flavor for indexing to mill the flats... collet block, rotab, dividing head, super spacer, EBI, etc.


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## Driveslayer45 (Feb 27, 2020)

So .... I bored the pocket to fit a socket, cut the diameter of the socket a little, leaving about .001 interference fit, and secured with loctite bearing retainer ( the green stuff), then cut off the socket and faced flush


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## Tio Loco (Feb 27, 2020)

Hopefully this is not as cringe-worthy as it appears in the photo. 

Bored the hex end of the body to 1" ID, then inserted the MT#2 taper of the shaft into the rotary table (a MT #2 bore) on my mill. This way, all of the lateral force for cutting the hex is born by the shaft.  The hold-downs are just to prevent it from rotating on the shaft. Making conventional cuts, the rotational force was pressing against the hold downs.

Using a 3mm end mill, started with 12mm wide cuts to form flats every 60°, and then another couple of light passes all the way around until I could drop a die into the hex.


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## DavidR8 (Feb 27, 2020)

Those are both genius approaches!
Thanks gents. My mind is regularly blown by the creativity here


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## mmcmdl (Feb 27, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> Total newb question here: how does a person make the hexagonal shaped hole for the die?



With a hexdrill of course !


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## ttabbal (Feb 27, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> With a hexdrill of course !



I suppose one could build a rotary broach. That's close enough to a hex drill, isn't it?


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## machPete99 (Feb 28, 2020)

Usually the round dies are thought to be of higher quality HHS and intended for new thread cutting whereas hex dies are often for re-threading duty, so you might want to ignore their use here. That said a hex socket could possibly be cannibalized for this, brazed to something, etc. Or cannibalize a crappy hex die stock.


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