From: "Ed Huntress" <mike234@bellatlantic.net>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Turning aluminum.  By hand.
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 21:13:51 GMT

And people even turn steel this way.

There are some special tools that you can make for free-hand turning. I
haven't seen a drawing or photo of them for years, but I think Lindsay has
an old reprint on the subject.

BTW, for those people turning extra-fine-pitch threads for optical devices:
They were usually "chased", in the classical meaning of the term. In other
words, they were cut with a multi-point, freehand tool. They didn't make
taps or dies for large-diameter, super-fine-pitch threads.

Chasing a thread is quite an interesting skill, but it's not hard to learn.

Ed Huntress

From: "Ed Huntress" <mike234@bellatlantic.net>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Turning aluminum.  By hand.
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 22:32:58 GMT

>>Yes, threads.  Single-point, hand-held.  Not this kid!  8-)<<

You should try it. You might surprise yourself.

I think the single-point tools were for following-up, after you'd started
the thread with a four-or five-point chasing tool.

Learning to do this was part of the "apprenticeship" my uncle imposed before
turning his SB 10L to me (he could be cruel <g>). He was quite good at it.
In nearby Perth Amboy, NJ there was quite a coven of amateur astronomers,
and he did a lot of their metalwork, including threading barrels of various
types. There were no taps or dies made for those things. You had to learn
how to chase threads.

Anyway, I was as likely to turn straight grooves, or two-start threads, in
the beginning. But I quickly developed the feel. It really isn't that hard.
Now, after 25 years, I'd have to start all over again, but I think it would
come back in a hurry.

Ed Huntress

From: "Ed Huntress" <mike234@bellatlantic.net>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Turning aluminum.  By hand.
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 02:07:42 GMT

>>The previous owner of the lathe used it to cut BIG threads.  He'd mark out
a piece of stock with dividers and cut the threads freehand at low
revolutions.  Oy.<<

Yike. That's a new one on me. The guy must have had a steady hand.

One of the tricks with normal thread chasing, with a handheld, multi-point
tool, is getting the speed right. It has to be done fairly fast for the
first pass, or you get a wobbly thread. The first pass does little more than
mark the work and provide a bit of cut for the chaser to follow.

Ed Huntress

From: "Ed Huntress" <mike234@bellatlantic.net>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Turning aluminum.  By hand.
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 03:30:01 GMT

>>Have you ever tried just using a thread-restoring file as a chaser?<<

Nope. 'You  mean those square things with different pitches on each face?
That may work, but I don't know about having multiple file teeth engage
smoothly and in a straight line. It's worth a try.

Ed Huntress