Bad 6-32 Dies?

[JPMacG]

I just went through my collection of old threading dies. I found 3 that are 6-32. I ran brass 6-32 screws through each of them to check them out. One barely cut the screw and left a proper thread. The other two reduced the diameter so much that the threads hardly engage the threads in a normal 6-32 nut.

What the heck? Of the bad ones, one is made in USA and one in Japan. They are probably more than 50 years old. Why would someone produce dies that cut an unusable thread? Are they just poor quality, or is there some reason to want a severely undersized 6-32 thread? All three are round - not hexagonal.

 

[JPMacG]

I should add that all three are solid - not split. There is no adjusting screw.

 

[4GSR]

If they are not made by Greenfield or Butterfield of that time, toss them out! Made in Japan 50 years ago, I remember seeing that stuff for sale at the local convenient store for 99 cents!