I noticed Saturday night that the tailstock lever on the wood lathe was snapped off. I managed to get the broken piece out using a drill, and temporarily put a long bolt in place so the lathe can still be used. I went ahead and ordered a new lever that I’m pretty sure will work, I think the threads are 3/8-16. This is the handle I bought, I will bring it up and install it this week once it arrives.
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Just outside the woodshop is a thread gauge for english and metric threads. Using it, it is possible to be certain what the thread size is on most bolts/nuts.
I figured we had a thread gauge somewhere, but I couldn’t find it. Is it mounted on the wall somewhere?
It is hanging by a wire from the metal shelving next to where the ryobi cordless tools are. At least that was where it was the last time I noticed it.
They are small metal plugs that contain screw threads and nut threads for testing out. Looks like this
P.S. The machine shop also had the same tool in the red tool box, in the drawer with the other measurement equipment (towards the bottom).
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Walter gets asked this so often, I think we should make a necklace out of it for him…
JAG “Functional Jewelry for Machinists” MAN
P.S. Walter, where do you buy something like this and what is it typically called? Brand name?
What they are called seems to vary with who is selling them to some extent, but typically something like ‘Thread Checker’
Here is one source, I occasionally see these with normal tool suppliers, but can’t find it now:
Amazon
Given that this is from McMaster Carr I am going out on a limb and say that these are the ‘original’ before all of the chinese copies started.
Walter,
What they are called seems to vary with who is selling them to some extent, but typically >something like ‘Thread Checker’
I… LIKE it a LOT!
That demo you did yesterday sold me on these things. I have pretty good eyes, but I have always found matching thread pitch to be a real pain in the ass. (especially if you don’t know if you have a metric or SAE fastener)
BTW, these are the slightly improved set from Amazon (and possibly the originals you hinted at) as they actually hardstamp the measurements into the gauges (instead of the cheap plastic labels that will come off) and they are only $0.40… more… (but missing the ruler - no biggie)
Thanks again - Walter!
JAG “Already Ordered Like An Amazon Prime Pimp” MAN
Cool. When picking from the multitude of options I saw on Amazon, I simply sorted by price (how else do you choose Chinese slave labor products?).
This is one of those tools I don’t actually own (yet) simply because I use the traditional method most of the time and really don’t have that much space left for more tooling. Which is my main reason to be a member, come to think of it…
The one major caveat with these tools is that they don’t cover all (or even most) of the many possibilities so it isn’t that unusual to encounter a thread it will not match.