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First attempt at making a hydrolift rod


Buickgsman

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So I brought my old hydrolift rod down to a local machine shop who often makes rods for cylinders and talked to them about making one of these.. cost would be 70 bucks. Of course I balked at that but partly because I just bought a lathe. The machinist agreed to sell me a piece of .500 stainless and he said if it was him making it he would cut the threads on the lathe. So to make a long story short I got home and cut my metal down and all was going well until it was time to make threads. I used a die to cut them and they came out a tad crooked BUT i know i can do it once I get the threading down on the lathe! Threads are on my list of things to do over the next week. I used emory cloth to get the OD down to .497. It fit in the end cap of the cylinder very nicely. The next one will be useable!




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I'm enveous...I would love to have a machine lathe. If yours has auto-feed thats the best way to cut threads but more skill than a die. I took two years of Machine Shop classes many yrs ago, and have missed it since...Good Luck
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Cutting threads with a hand held die is almost impossible to do and get a decent job. Those are mostly good for cleaning up existing threads. Threading on the lathe is not hard to learn. Be sure the tool is ground properly (if using a hand ground high speed steel tool) and be sure also that it is set in the lathe properly. Use a center gage if you have one to set the tool. The compound is set to just a bit shy of 30 degrees. Use the compound to feed in the tool on each pass. Check often for size. You will be happy with the results. Good luck! Steve
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Die cut threads will never be straight unless your just following chased or turned threads. Did I read that right that you started at .500" and emory clothed to .497"? I would be checking at diameter in several places around and lengthwise, because there is no way that shaft is round anymore. I don;t know if that matters in your application. Good luck with the threads! Set to 29 1/2 deg. ultra sharp carbide or HSS, ground correctly, and only take a few thousands per cut, with some cleamup cuts mixed in. Plenty of cutting oitl mixed in.
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You can cut aligned threads with a die in a lathe. Look for a die holder that fits into a chuck in the tailstock.
[img]/club2/attach/GregB/holder copy.jpg[/img]
From McMaster web catalog. Just make sure you have enough depth in the holder to get enough threads. Even if you only get a couple of threads started it may be enough to act as a guide and get the rest straight using a hand die holder with the shaft still in the headstock chuck.
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Tom, yeah the diameter of the rod was closer to .499 when I started. I got it to about .4975 all said and done. It went through the rod end of the cylinder no problem so I am assuming its good enough. The o-ring should take up and inconsistincies. Bob
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