Hexagon holder for 13/16 dies?

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Apologies for widening the topic even further, but can anyone tell me whether there are standard a.f. measurements for hexagon dies/die nuts?

What I've seen here amazes me; the first three a.f. measurements listed there for coarse metric die nuts appear to be 0.71", 0.82", and 0.92", which are exactly the a.f. size of BSW 3/8", 7/16", and 1/2" respectively.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

One sorce of a hexagon would be a lorry wheel nut ! Noel.

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

Posted by noel shelley on 29/11/2021 18:06:20:

One sorce of a hexagon would be a lorry wheel nut ! Noel.

Yes, but they are bug difficult to get off discreetly..

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Bill, Dormer offer their die nuts in both metric AF and the Whit sizes for the same metric coarse ranges so buyer can choose depending on what spanner they have to hand. See page 266 and 267 of this pdf

I suppose it is much like buying a split or unsplit M6 die with either a 13/16" or 20mm OD, buy what fits your holder.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

The one on the right is a thread repair cutter the two on the left are for cutting threads.

I have a set of the thread repair dies and there are two different nut sizes

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Posted by JasonB on 29/11/2021 17:04:57:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 29/11/2021 16:54:27:

I'm confused! Why would anyone want to hold round dies in a hexagonal holder?

It does not take much

Say you have a damaged thread in an awkward to get to place, maybe a stud you can't get out so you don't have room to use a diestock and you are too tight to buy a hex die nut for a one off but do have a round die. Just put the round die in the hex holder and use it with spanner

Edited By JasonB on 29/11/2021 17:05:06

Hi, I agree with Jason and this was exactly the situation that I had years ago on a breakdown at work and there wasn't a die-nut the right size on site and production couldn't be waiting to obtain one, didn't take long to turn one up and put a grub screw in and there was a socket to fit the nut for turning it onto the studs that needed cleaning up. Made a second one to fit the smaller diameter one, just because I could and may have needed it some other time.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 29/11/2021 19:34:32

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by JasonB on 29/11/2021 18:21:41:

Bill, Dormer offer their die nuts in both metric AF and the Whit sizes for the same metric coarse ranges so buyer can choose depending on what spanner they have to hand. See page 266 and 267 of this pdf

I suppose it is much like buying a split or unsplit M6 die with either a 13/16" or 20mm OD, buy what fits your holder.

Thanks for the clarification, Jason.

So choosing across-the-flats BSW-sized die nuts presupposes you will have at least a few BSW spanners to fit, though I can't imagine many people who choose die nuts (as opposed to round dies) as their first or only metric outside threading tools already having a selection of Whitworth spanners in their armoury. I'd imagine the majority of buyers in this case buy without giving the a.f. sizes of the nuts much thought and, on discovering the "weird" sizing, simply use an adjustable spanner to drive them.

[pgrbffParticipant @pgrbff]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 29/11/2021 16:54:27:

I'm confused! Why would anyone want to hold round dies in a hexagonal holder?

Hex die nuts don't need a holder, they're turned with a spanner. Convenient for tarting up crossed threads and similar accidental mangling. They make sense in workplaces that often need to clean up damaged threads and never cut new ones.

Dave

I'm in Italy so buying BSW tools is not very easy. I purchased a vintage Italian bandsaw but all the fixings turned out to be BSW. I purchased several used British dies to clean up the thread but one of them is split, not hexagonal. I was looking for a used hex holder to fit it into as I don't have a 13/16 die stock handle.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by pgrbff on 30/11/2021 09:06:56:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 29/11/2021 16:54:27:

I'm confused! Why would anyone want to hold round dies in a hexagonal holder?

 

Hex die nuts don't need a holder, they're turned with a spanner.

Dave

 

I'm in Italy so buying BSW tools is not very easy. I purchased a vintage Italian bandsaw but all the fixings turned out to be BSW. I purchased several used British dies to clean up the thread but one of them is split, not hexagonal. I was looking for a used hex holder to fit it into as I don't have a 13/16 die stock handle.

I occasionally clean up damaged threads, or – more often – run ordinary dies along lathe cut threads to finish them to size. It doesn't take a lot of force, and I sometimes get away with twirling them by hand. Otherwise they are held in an ordinary die holder, very often with the handles removed.

I haven't hit the tight-corner problem explained by Jason and Nick – not yet, anyway!

Rather than look for an unusual holder that's extra difficult to source in Italy, I'd look at alternatives. Making a holder from a nut is easy if you have a lathe. Otherwise, hold the die in a mole-wrench, vice, or modify a cheap 13/16" holder. (You might find your die fits a locally sourced 20mm metric holder – 13/16" is 20.6mm.) Cheap holders are usually made of a light alloy which is easily hacksawed and filed. The handles unscrew.

It wouldn't be difficult to hack a light alloy ring back to the ring and put a few flats on it – nothing precision – turn it with an adjustable spanner.

Dave

 

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 30/11/2021 10:52:58

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

I was looking for a used hex holder to fit it into as I don't have a 13/16 die stock handle.

Why not MAKE one. easy enough.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by pgrbff on 29/11/2021 11:18:03:

Posted by JasonB on 29/11/2021 07:29:26:

[…]

Should be easy enough to make one from say 1.5" hex bar or just mill six flats onto some round bar, bore a pocket for the die and add the grubscrew holes.

[…]

Unfortunately I'm a woodworker not a metalworker. In the process of restoring an old bandsaw.

.

Anthony … For info ^^^

MichaelG.

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

Posted by pgrbff on 29/11/2021 11:18:03:

Unfortunately I'm a woodworker not a metalworker. In the process of restoring an old bandsaw.

Must have missed that. Maybe I need to get a grip.

[Author]

Posts