# Threading Dial



## Hawkeye (Mar 25, 2014)

My Swedish Storebro lathe was set up for metric threading, although it  has a 4 tpi leadscrew and QCGB settings for "English" threads. It never  had a threading dial - no mounting holes or other indications of one.  Since I do more standard threads than metric, I decided to make one.

A week or two ago, I made up the gear to follow the leadscrew out of ABS.


 

I was going to make the body out of cast iron. I cut down a piece of scrap on the bandsaw.


 

Unfortunately, close inspection revealed a crack, so it was rejected.


 

Plan B was an aluminum body, cut down, squared, turned, drilled and  bored. I left it square to match the styling of the Storebro.


 

The dial spindle was turned down from a piece of steel bar. 1" dial,  3/8" shaft, 5/16" x 24 thread to hold the gear. The eight notches were  scored with a marking rig I made a couple of years ago, then the four  quadrants stamped.


 

After assembly, the threading dial was mounted on the carriage. That's  right, on the left side. This lathe has an apron layout that's the  reverse of what most of us are used to. There was no easy way to mount  it over the handwheel hub and oilers, plus, since the half-nut lever is  on the left side, it made sense to have the dial close to that.


 

The down side of having the dial on the left is that it might conflict  with the carriage stop. I designed the body to work around the stop.


 

Shots of the gear engaged ...


 

and disengaged.


 

I should mention that you need to adjust the dial so that it aligns with the reference mark when the half-nuts are closed.


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## Terrywerm (Mar 26, 2014)

Wonderful project, and a job well done. Thanks for sharing it with us!


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## melsdad (Mar 26, 2014)

Another great project! Very well done!


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## RandyM (Mar 26, 2014)




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## fastback (Mar 26, 2014)

Very nice project.

Paul


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## chuckorlando (Mar 26, 2014)

Nice. That first pic is that the cutter you made for the teeth? Did you index it on the lathe and if so, how?


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## Hawkeye (Mar 26, 2014)

Yes, Chuck. That's the cutter. Since a threading dial gear doesn't need to be as accurate as one transmitting power, I just shortened a cutter that came with the lathe. It was mounted in a 1/82" boring bar I made a few years ago, set in a collet in the vertical mill.

I indexed the gear on a dividing head with it tilted back 5[SUP]o[/SUP] to allow for the helix angle.


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## Bill Gruby (Mar 27, 2014)

:man:

 "Billy G"


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## mikegt4 (Mar 29, 2014)

Nice work Hawkeye. This gives me some inspiration to make one for my Weiler Matador. From my information gathering over the years the Matador threading dial is very much like what you made, 4 TPI leadscrew, 16 tooth gear (32mm dia.) and a square housing.
One can be seen in post #7 of this thread:
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...seiki-lathes/threading-weiler-matador-130891/


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