Well, I sorted it out for now…
I got a ER25 collet that fitted the lathe, and used the tailstock to hold the die stock in position. After a few goes I got fed up with turning by hand and engaged the motor on the lowest speed.
It worked pretty well, maybe not perfect, but pretty close and much better than trying to thread on my voice. I have some steel rod coming to make a die holder at the weekend.
It worked pretty well, maybe not perfect, but pretty close and much better than trying to thread on my voice. I have some steel rod coming to make a die holder at the weekend.
see below, old bent one and new not bent one.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice.