solid rod link machining question..

[Voodoobrew]

When I make rods from 1/4 steel I use a drill and a grinder. Put the rod in the drill, then turn on drill. Grind end down with grinder by eye to thread size. Dip rod into marine grease. Drill rod into die. Works pretty good. So far I have messed up one out of 17 by grinding off too much. Use what you have I reckon. They are dewalt cordless tools and I set the clutch as to not break the die.

[Hal]

There are a lot of stainless steels out there that will work at our small diameters. 303,304,400 series (not good machining for noobs), and my favorite 17-4 ph all available at MSC or Mc Master Carr. A good cuttung oil (not lubricating oil) will make a much nicer cut. Slow feed and back off every half turn to break chip and clear hole. You only have to back off a quarter turn or less usually. When turning diameters down higher speed and slow feed rates tend to work best. A bigger and more solid machine will do best. A great source for info on machining is the Machinists Handbook, every machinist I know has one. They have feeds speeds and a lot of info on machining. They also have a lot of the math formulas for figuring out lathe threading and turnkng feeds and rates. The newer ones have a lot more info on CNC machining but if you can get your hands on an older one it will still have a lot of good info. I use mine all the time and its at least 25 years old. Good luck

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by CM9000

I might look into getting a cheap lathe for making my own stuff.

I have a 7x14 Mini-Lathe and you would be amazed how often it gets used for makeing links, bushings, etc. I used it to cut grooves in my beadlock rings. Buy one, you won't regret it!

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch...the-93799.html

A great place to buy accessories for the mini-lathe and mini-mills is LittleMachineShop.

https://littlemachineshop.com/default.php

[CREEPERBOB]

Titanium rod is soooooo much easier to thread .

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

I have a 7x14 Mini-Lathe and you would be amazed how often it gets used for makeing links, bushings, etc. I used it to cut grooves in my beadlock rings. Buy one, you won't regret it!

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch...the-93799.html

A great place to buy accessories for the mini-lathe and mini-mills is LittleMachineShop.

https://littlemachineshop.com/default.php

Nice! Did you have to do a lot of work to that lathe to get it running correctly?

[CM9000]

Originally Posted by CREEPERBOB

Titanium rod is soooooo much easier to thread .

You cant be serious. Lol. Like for real though?

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Nice! Did you have to do a lot of work to that lathe to get it running correctly?

With the help of LittleMachineShop.com which specializes in accesories and upgrades for these mini-lathes and mini-mills I have my 7x14 pretty well dialed in. They are really capable little machines as long as you respect their limitations.