Cutting all thread to protect the thread
Danno
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I cannot make the title of this discussion add the “s” to threads–I guess you all will understand.
ing computer.
How do you cut threaded rod to preserve the threads so&
#160;I can screw the long bolt (coupler) to it after I cut it? I know, “very carefully”–but beyond that? Will screwing the nut on first and cutting beyond the nut with a sawsall work and then unscrew the nut to clean up the threads. I think this had been discussed before, but couldn’t think of how to search for it.
Replies
Will screwing the nut on first and cutting beyond the nut with a sawsall work and then unscrew the nut to clean up the threads.
Yes.
"I always say they should make killing people legal. Of course, if they did, I would probably be the first one killed."- Barry Bonds
run several nuts down, cut above the nuts, then grind a slight taper at the end of the rod. then chase the threads clean with the nuts. also, you can clean up the threads at the end with a triangle file.
Thanks to you and Dustin--sorry too if the question printed twice, my computer is acting very strange today. (It's a poor carpenter who blames his tools.)
Cutting all thread is pretty much second nature to us in commercial land.
1/4"-3/8"-1/2"-5/8"-& 3/4" are the most popular to us do some 7/8" now & then.
We predominantly use a portaband & just cut away.
Avg about 85 to 95% no problems.
That other 5 to 15% if a nut won't start we usually use a pair of channel locks & bend that lil part that is hanging out or a file & put a slight taper on the end.
If you have a grinder handy then that taper is a piece of cake
Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW
If i'm cutting a bunch of 'em, I'll cut them all at once on the chop saw. Then, I'll flip a grinder upsidedown and lock it on, holding it in place with my foot. set the rod down on the grinder about 30 degrees from vertical and spin it around. do them all that way, and the ends will look nice, have no sharp edges, and nuts will go right on.
zak
zak (& plumbill) Thanks. I only have a couple to cut. Threading it up through the center of a sculpture made of several wooden blocks. Used my router to cut keyholes in hollow PT blocks--never again, should have followed first instint to use jigsaw to cut slot between 3/4" hole and 1/2 " hole. Router tore the living crap out of the half inch hole and made it closer to an inch and a quarter!
If you have a chopsaw to cut it, spin the threaded rod as you cut it. Works every time.
Sawzall or a porta band also work.
The trick with the Sawzall is to clamp the rod down and hold the saw tight to the rod so it doesn't vibrate. Those Ridgid tri-stands work real good for that.
Nothing wrong with a plain old hacksaw and a sharp blade, either.
Out of desperation, a little trick I discoveredwhen I needed a nut about 2' form the end, insteadof spinning the nut with my hand, I chuckedthe threaded rod into my cordless drill and had someonehold the nut after it was started on the rod and just drilled to whereI needed the nut. Worked great and was very fast as I needed quitea few like that.
That's a good idea with chucking the rod in the drill--I had to spin four nuts on about two feet this morning--gets tiresome. This project was fun, but getting less so. I guess once it's further along I'll enjoy it again.
Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful responses. I'll let you know if I win the competition. Installation is not till June first and I don't know when they announce the winner, but the auction to sell them (so it has to me movable) is Sept. 7. If I can remember how to post photos, I'll post one when I'm finished. Am using Zendo's idea for painting it--should look dynamite!
To spin a nut a long way down a bolt - I hold the bolt in one arm, and run the nut down my forearm. The friction spins the nut to where I want it.
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Thanks for the idea--I read your tag line to my wife (who marches out of the room every time I turn on TV (usually something gorey like CSI)) and she loved it! She said to tell you that whoever said it first was a genius! (You have a wife who is an ardent admirer--maybe not your own wife, but, hey!....)
That's how I do it.
Occasionally have to clean with a triangular file a touch.
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Excellence is its own reward!
dano... since 1975 i keep a 1/2" die and a die wrench in my goodie box, we're always dressing foundation bolts and all-thread..
for instance.. if we run out of thread bolting down a sill, we put the die on it and extend the thread to whatever we need
the die makes quick work of it
another trick is to run two nuts.. one on each side of your cut off.. then use the nuts as a guide for your metal blade sawzall
Anybody else use a thread file to clean threads? The work pretty slick.
too much time..
rethreader...
wire brush...
grinder...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I grind a taper if I'm cutting a bunch, I guess how much you are cutting figgures in how you treat the job.
exactly...
use a cut off saw instead of a porta-band...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Anybody else use a thread file to clean threads? The work pretty slick.
(MarkH)I was reading through the thread to see if anyone mentioned the thread file. It's a great thing to keep handy as a back up if the thread is still a "rough start".
Okay, I did a google search for a "thread file"That didn't turn up no tool, so what is a thread fileas I have never seen, or for that matter heard of one.
Here ya go. They are available at some auto parts stores under the "Old Forge" name. The Sears catalog probably also has them.
http://buy1.snapon.com
Butch,What's a thread file? Ok, it can't be odd because I bought it right here in town in the midwest. I could get a pic later today and post it for you. It's about a 5/8 x 5/8 inch square, about 8 inches long - and on each end has 4 choices of threads; such as "18", "24", etc. It's not something I use over once a year, but if I lost it I would look all day. I bet McMaster Carr would have it pictured. I haven't learned how to do the cool transfer yet.Fz
Thanks Fonzie and Dan for that link, Now that I got a visualIt seems like that would be kinda awkward to use.
butch,No, actually it's easy to use. The file "tracks" in the good threads and "re-cuts" the distorted one. It is a specialized tool though. Fz
>"The file "tracks" in the good threads and "re-cuts" the distorted one."I just saw this thing in the store, and almost bought it out of curiosity. What changed my mind waqs the diagram on the back showing how to use it, which made it look like you just "saw" at a 45 degree angle across the threads - like a caveman trying to start a fire. Was this a bad drawing, or is it really that simple? Can it restore really smashed threads (or at least get them out of the way) or heavily rusted ones?
It is really very easy to use. You'll figure it out for yourself within a minute.You'll also wonder what you ever did without one.And to answer your questions... Yes.Some people prefer to always use a die. But there are times when using a die results in new "bad" threads. The thread file uses the good threads near the bad ones, as a guide to fix the bad threads.
Nothing can be said so well that it cannot be misunderstood.
saulgood,Directions are a "wide open field" aren't they. I file on the "push stroke only", at right angles to the threads.I don't think it will raise the dead as far as thread cases go. It's specialty is getting that "one little track" that keeps you from getting the nut on - "tracking". I forgot to mention another thing it is good for - identifying threads. Fz
And to add there are at least four sizes of "thread restoring files". I bought mine at -shudder- Sears. In the auto department.
Good idea about two nuts and cutting betwen them. I beleive my dad has some thread cutting dies. I know I have a triangular file somewhere. May get away with leaving most of it long and imbedded in the hollow cavities. I'm not looking forward to moving it--hope the PT gets lighter when it dries--right now I figure if I totally assembled the thing it would weigh about 250 and then the two tiered base would add almost an equal weight.
These sculptures (or ones like them--the city promotes things like decorating pre-cast pigs and so forth, but this is different, we get up to 25 blocks the size of concrete blocks and get to use our own design) are usually vandalized by kids. I can just see some punk pulling down a couple hundred pounds on his head! I'm hoping the all-thread (four 1/2" in diameter by 6 or 7 feet tall) will hold the thing together and to the base--then they'll have to tip the whole thing and it will be bolted to concrete.
I like the double nut idea Mike.
I'd carry a die too if we worked with foundation bolts. Thankfully around here, Simpson straps are good enough.
blue
Yep, put the nut on first. No problems. Worst case, take a file to the threads to clean them up.
In a pinch, drag the cut end on concrete at a 45 as you twirl it -
Forrest
I start the nut then holding the rod vertically tap the nut on something hard like concrete or steel...if the end is not too bad it works almost every time.
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'Wer ist jetzt der Idiot?'
This is your typical odd thread, I guess. Shortening bolts and cutting all-thread is something my dad taught me to do when I was about 10. But we're up to 30 posts already, with no signs of it letting up.
There are of course fancier ways to do it (no one's mentioned a shear yet) but the trick with nuts run up the threads is the old standby. Then dress the threads as needed with a triangle file or by rounding over with a flat file or grinder.
You can use one of these to cut it.http://www.seatekco.com/mm-175.htmAlways an excuse for a new tool.
grinders work well but i cut alot and the belt sander with a 100+ grit works the best. flip it over or lay it sideways, lock it on and away you go. less sparks and heat too.
Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.