What Did You Buy Today?

Got this off ebay. A few years back, I dropped and broke my Simpson 260. Looking for a replacement started me in collecting multi meters, now I have more then 50, waiting on me to build a shelf to display them on. this collection has interfered with my tool buying. I would join multi meter anonymous, but then I would realize I need to also join tool anonymous, machine tool anonymous, tool box anonymous, small engine anonymous, or maybe just a collecting anonymous. :dunno:

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Last week I put in a lowball bid for this .040” travel .0005” graduation NOS Mitutoyo dial indicator.

Nobody else ever bid so I got this for $25.75 delivered.

I find it very strange that it says Made in USA. I would have expected Japan.

EDIT:
I see that up until recently Mitutoyo would sometimes assemble in the USA with parts made in Japan. They don’t do that anymore.

It looks to me like it has .120” travel.

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gr8legs said:
Continuing the saga of restoring the GMC motorhome I now needed to extend the valve shafts for the sewer and gray water tanks.

They're threaded 1/4-20 I've used the Ace die stock with the 'pseudo guides' many times, and often get the die stock mis-aligned with the round stock I'm threading, thereby cutting a progressively worse alignment as the thread progresses. If it was larger stock I'd single-point it on the lathe but small stuff just shrinks away from the threading tool and I don't have a steady for the lathe to keep it properly in its place. Die threading is faster if ya got the correct die size, too.

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Honestly, I rarely thread small round stock (more tapping than threading, ya know?) so it wasn't a big deal until now.

So, back to the mall of the Internet for a suitable tool.

Found this 'Floating Lathe Tailstock Die Holder' set from an eBay seller in India. Yeah, I'd be a bit nervous about India too - but more later.

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Kinda like the floating tap holders for the mill, but die holders for a lathe. Ordered one to fit my MT4 tailstock and got all the sizes of die holders in case I ever acquired other dies.

So, I popped it onto the lathe, chucked up (yeah, should use a collet for such small stuff - lazy day, you know?) and tried to make a thread.

First off, my lathe's slowest speed was a bit too fast for my taste in threading - so the next project will be wiring up a variable speed to the VFD - but not germane to today's discussion. So for today I used the clutch to keep the speed comfortable.

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Worked like a charm, actually! Good alignment between the die and the workpiece, and after starting the die down the material it produced a very nice and well-aligned thread. Definitely worth the $70 cost of the tool. Workmanship seems very good ~ No complaints. I buggered the starting threads a bit but that was cockpit error on a first try.

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The only modification I made was replacing the die holder setscrew with a cap screw so I could change dies without a tool.

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If you decide to get one of these, shop around. I looked at the same seller's (micromechanics) 'other items' and the exact same tool set varied in price from about $70 to about $140. Very strange I really can't comment on the accuracy or concentricity of the Morse adapter since the business end 'floats' the die on the stock and alignment is meaningless unless it's out by an 1/16th" or so. Cheaper if you buy only the one die diameter you really need, but what's the fun in that? Shipping from India only took 10 days.

Useful tool if you don't already have one.

YMMV and all that, not affiliated with the seller, just a happy buyer.

Stu
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Stu,
I bought one of those Indian dieholders, but I haven’t used it yet. Good to see it’s decent.
Evan
 
Few small items from eBay. Picked up what will likely be a lifetime supply of 12-24 and 12-28 brand new Brubaker taps. Couldn't pass them up for $20 delivered. Think I've done one 12-24 hole ever, so these will likely be NOS during my eventual estate sale. Also picked up some obligatory 12-24 and 12-28 dies. Lastly, some new Morse spiral-flute 10-24 taps. Was making some aluminum fixtures with 10-24 holes and my two spiral-flute taps were turning a little harder than I'd like.

Bruce


12-24 and 12-28 taps
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NCjeeper said:
I have a couple of old ones you maybe interested in. I need to find them and unpack them from the move.
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If you are like me, then you may not find them until the next time you move. I lost count how many times I said it was the last move, only to move again. If you do find them, keep me in mind.
 
Pretty nifty! I've always wanted a QCTP that I can't easily make tool holders for. It would be humbling, no doubt!
 
erikmannie said:
Last week I put in a lowball bid for this .040” travel .0005” graduation NOS Mitutoyo dial indicator.

Nobody else ever bid so I got this for $25.75 delivered.

I find it very strange that it says Made in USA. I would have expected Japan.

EDIT:
I see that up until recently Mitutoyo would sometimes assemble in the USA with parts made in Japan. They don’t do that anymore.

It looks to me like it has .120” travel.
Click to expand...

I was just about to reply to say that it has 0.120" travel when I saw this :) Nice find!
 
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