My thread chase is old and made from pot metal so when I went to use it it broke. I tried to find a new one but the company is no longer in business and I need to get a new one. This was a simple tool that resembled a pipe cutter with a V slot, I used it to clean up male threads and it bailed me out of a lot of jams......... Needless to say I am looking for a new chaser any ideas?
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGHP_enUS476US476&q=thread+file
you could try one of these thread files to clean up threads if you don't have a tap and die set
you could try one of these thread files to clean up threads if you don't have a tap and die set
The thread files are great. I was using a my tap and dye set alot and it was a pain to break out all the time and clean up so I bought this thread chaser set off the matco truck when they were on sale as it came with the files:thumbsup:
saved me alot of time and money both at work and at home. It is actually the same set/brand that all the tool companies sell and then they simply sticker the box, as I looked at nearly the same set on the snap on truck and have even seen them at sears. The files though are Matco stamped. I just used them and a chaser today :thumbsup: The chasers work good, a guy did snap one off at work one day cause he put it in cocked and would not listen to anyone. But we were able to break it out easier than a tap would have been!
saved me alot of time and money both at work and at home. It is actually the same set/brand that all the tool companies sell and then they simply sticker the box, as I looked at nearly the same set on the snap on truck and have even seen them at sears. The files though are Matco stamped. I just used them and a chaser today :thumbsup: The chasers work good, a guy did snap one off at work one day cause he put it in cocked and would not listen to anyone. But we were able to break it out easier than a tap would have been!
If you don't have a tap and die set, I would get one. I am amazed at how much I use mine. If you can weld, and have a good tap and die set, anything can become a good fastener, cheap 3/8 cold roll is endless stock for tie-rods, I use it all the time, very simple, and real life saver. Just the yesterday, I needed some 5/8" bolts, long ones, like 9-10". Instead of driving a 20 mile round trip to Home Depot and paying out the nose, just cut two pieces of stock to length, chamfer on end, weld some flatbar to the other (for a head) throw them in the vice and boom, in 5 minutes I have two custom bolts that would have cost me $10, + $4 in gas and taken me 40 minutes to get, all for a few pennies.
Thread files are handy but not a substitute for a tap and die set.
I have Metric, AN and Wit taps and dies.
This means a lot of searching sometimes lol
You shoudl also have a good set of thread gauges and be sure to use them.
Prime example is the BSF 5/16 ( 22 tpi ) and the ANF 5/16 ( 24 Tpi)
One can easily mistake them.
Infact they are close enough to engage the nuts from one on the other and this is where the fun starts!
Does not take much screwing around with the wronf file, wrong tap and wrong die to create a huge mess!
Now and then you get into some real vintage stuff when you collect antiques.
You will find obscolete thread types or or even classes of thread.
A good example is tank/agricultural equip thread.
These look like ordinary American bolts and nuts but they are loose fitting to allow for dirt and rust in the threads.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are very tight fitting nuts and bolts ( some classes may even still exist for special aplications, but I am not an expert ).
These will gall up and give you grief if they get dirt on them for example or try and engage them on a simmilar AN bolt but of a different class.
SO.....
In closing.
Those thread files are a damb nice thing to have if you just need to touch up something.
For evrything there is a tool and a story that does not go anyplace
I have Metric, AN and Wit taps and dies.
This means a lot of searching sometimes lol
You shoudl also have a good set of thread gauges and be sure to use them.
Prime example is the BSF 5/16 ( 22 tpi ) and the ANF 5/16 ( 24 Tpi)
One can easily mistake them.
Infact they are close enough to engage the nuts from one on the other and this is where the fun starts!
Does not take much screwing around with the wronf file, wrong tap and wrong die to create a huge mess!
Now and then you get into some real vintage stuff when you collect antiques.
You will find obscolete thread types or or even classes of thread.
A good example is tank/agricultural equip thread.
These look like ordinary American bolts and nuts but they are loose fitting to allow for dirt and rust in the threads.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are very tight fitting nuts and bolts ( some classes may even still exist for special aplications, but I am not an expert ).
These will gall up and give you grief if they get dirt on them for example or try and engage them on a simmilar AN bolt but of a different class.
SO.....
In closing.
Those thread files are a damb nice thing to have if you just need to touch up something.
For evrything there is a tool and a story that does not go anyplace
