Howa 1500 barrel threading

[DaveTooley]

Honestly, how come nobody ever says that!!! Well shoot that's easy!!

Just thread as normal just use the same thread dial number, and that's it??? That seems the obvious solution, and I have only heard you have to lock the half nut.

You disengage, withdraw the tool and turn off the lathe. Then reengage the same number, same rotation of the threading dial and then reverse the lathe. You can't let the lathe continue to run. I've always had brakes on the lathes I've had, so a quick disengagement, turn the lathe off, then reverse.
Back in '08 I did 30 barrels for Accuracy International rifles on my Clausing Metosa. I didn't think I was ever going get those barrels done because it took so long to thread them. Now I go to settings and two clicks later I go from imperial to metric.

 

[jackieschmidt]

He is disengaging the half nut and then re engaging it in exactly the same way spot on the dial as he ever reverses the carriage, which in a sense is the same thing as never disengaging the half nut. If you get it confused, it will split the thread.
And of course, it is an advantage if your lathe has an instant stop, or at least a foot brake. At the slow speed he is running and that ultra fine thread, what he is doing is easy.
I find it easier to simply stop the lathe and reverse the carriage with the half nut still engaged. Especially if you are doing a rather course thread at 250+ rpm

 

[msalm]

When threading metric, at the end of the thread, crank out the cross slide and disengage threading lever (half nut) like normal but then shut off lathe. Then reverse lathe and re-engage half nut as your # comes back to alignment. Let the carriage travel to beyond the thread, then stop lathe again and bring your cross slide back to zero and advance compound for the next cut. Adds very little time over standard threading.

This is for the smaller lathes without instant stops and such…. It works great for me.

 

[GenePoole]

Honestly, how come nobody ever says that!!! Well shoot that's easy!!

Just thread as normal just use the same thread dial number, and that's it??? That seems the obvious solution, and I have only heard you have to lock the half nut.

Not just the same number, but the same number at the same point on the lead screw. If you did it like Imperial threading, you'd disengage, crank the carriage back by hand (letting the thread dial go though any number of revolutions) then pick up the number. You must reverse the lathe and let it go back to the disengage point (where the numbers align again) and re-engage letting it return in reverse.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Yahhh... I think I will just stick to imperial threads... haha

The SM manual says to just lock the half nut and it is designed to go forward and just throw it in reverse. It does work fine at slow speeds to just shut it off and reverse. It sounds like that is pretty much as easy as the other methods. But it is a different muscle memory big time.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Not sure how it happened, but I have grown quite fond of the Howa 1500 for hunting rifle builds. I was a bit skeptical at first because of the metric threads but use the metric scale on your calipers and you're good to go. Now the question...........
My lathe manual states that you can cut metric threads and I have set up the gears according to the instructions. The gears I use
are the same as when threading a R700 barrel tenon!, the Howa tenon being a bit smaller. Threading is not a problem. Is it my inch screw that allows me to cut metric threads? as per the instructions, I do not disengage the half nut, just stop the lathe, back out cross-slide, reverse lathe, advance compound, turn in compound the exact amount you backed out and thread. (Rinse and Repeat until you're there.
Second question, will all lathes do this? Doesn't keep me up at nights but does make me wonder. Also, I have found that the Howa action and trigger are outstanding for builds, doing a lot of 6.5 PRC's and 7 SAUM's
Thanks

Are you doing anything to improve the factory 2 stage trigger?

 

[Riesel]

Are you doing anything to improve the factory 2 stage trigger?

I will send you a PM

 

[Sniperhandle]

Honestly, how come nobody ever says that!!! Well shoot that's easy!!

Just thread as normal just use the same thread dial number, and that's it??? That seems the obvious solution, and I have only heard you have to lock the half nut.

Using the same number doesn't work, If you let it go around a full revolution and then re-engage on the same number, You will wipe out the thread. Because you are running both intermediate gears, The 127 and the 120, Or whatever your lathe has, Each time the dial goes around the more out of sync it becomes. Gene Poole's video and method is the same method as OXTool's.

Having a lathe with a foot brake is worth it's weight in Gold for this, But it's not necessary.

 

[ELR LVR]

As you might guess, we have quite a few lathes that cut both metric and imperial threads, all have a simple lever that you flip to go from one to another.

However, you have to keep the half nut engaged on metric threads as all have an imperial lead screw.
The last Kingston we bought, we thought about ordering it with the European configuration, mainly a metric lead screw. But we decided that we simply did not do enough work that evolved metric threads to justify the purpose.
The little Turnmaster I use at my house also has a simple lever position that changes from imperial to metric. But you still have to keep the half nut engaged.

You da man,
Thanks for that reminder
I havent cut metric threads in a looooong time and would have forgotten that if I ever had to again.

 

[ELR LVR]

Honestly, how come nobody ever says that!!! Well shoot that's easy!!

Just thread as normal just use the same thread dial number, and that's it??? That seems the obvious solution, and I have only heard you have to lock the half nut.

I always engage the same number, (even when I don't have to) it prevents any mishaps
Call it the triple checking OCD part of me.
Plus for some odd reason, certain numbers seem to engage by feel easier
my number 4 engages smoothly compared to number 2
so I just always engage #4
There can be a chance of engaging on half a number/between numbers and cross threading otherwise.
To me, by the time its time to thread, 75% of the machining is already done and I don't want to take any chances on scrapping a part or having to cut down a barrel shorter
ESPECIALLY a customers barrel.
So yeah I'll wait the extra 30 seconds or whatever for #4 to come back around

 

[ELR LVR]

Maybe this will help explain the whole metric setup better.
Your lathe..........should have some form of chart/cheat sheet
which details what gear to use for a particular metric thread pitch.
Not just what to set the dials and controls to but an additional simple Algebraic formula
that you cross multiply.
Pic 1 shows in the top row, the number of toothed gear to use for a certain metric thread that corresponds to whatever your dials and controls are set to.
(if anyone struggled at 3rd grade fractions they should not be machining, because you need to be able to do simple algebra also), and prefereably some Trig thrown in for fun.
Calculus will be used later when you start shooting and figuring your Standard Deviation "longhand" and calculating trajectories. (the very reason Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus in the first place.)
anyways, this chart tells you what change gears to change out to
and you must have a set of these to be able to set up the correct feed rate "Ratio"
your gears should also be stamped or marked in some way, if not ....mark them yourself
I simple dremel with a carbide tip makes for an easy and quick, engraver.
--------------
Second pic is the gear to change out, 3rd pic is a set of these different gears

 

[ELR LVR]

Zero the cross feed with the handle on the top. When you get to the end of the cut, hook the handle with your thumb and you get a half a turn in a split second. Pretty easy to develop a technique where you can thread at higher RPM's and get close to the shoulder.

Isn't that called "Kickout" when we whip the crossfeed backward really quick ...at the same time disengaging the halfnut to prevent accidentally nicking the shoulder?

 

[DaveTooley]

Isn't that called "Kickout" when we whip the crossfeed backward really quick ...at the same time disengaging the halfnut to prevent accidentally nicking the shoulder?

I've never called it that but yes that's what it is. I used that at the same time as turning the lathe off when I did metric threads on my manual machines.

 

[AlNyhus]

Back in '08 I did 30 barrels for Accuracy International rifles on my Clausing Metosa I didn't think I was ever going get those barrels done because it took so long to thread them.

Dave, that brings back some good Clausing Metosa memories. About 10 seconds after he took this picture, Stan yelled at me to "Push your f#@&-ing sleeves up, Nyhus!"

 

[GenePoole]

It helps having a VFD with a braking resistor. Nearly instant stop or reverse.

 

[xr650rRider]

It helps having a VFD with a breaking resistor. Nearly instant stop or reverse.

Even better to have an electronic lead screw that has a thread to shoulder feature. Auto reverses to start of thread and supports multi-start threads as well.

 

[urbanrifleman]

That is one thing I love about the SM machines. No changing gears. Even for metric.

 

[LVLAaron]

 

[xr650rRider]

Lucky if you can get thru a thread without an awwwshiiiiiiiitttttttt moment with that much slop in a tool that really needs to be rigid.

 

[LVLAaron]

Lucky if you can get thru a thread without an awwwshiiiiiiiitttttttt moment with that much slop in a tool that really needs to be rigid.

I like building little widgets... that thing is not on my list