A Little Help...

Cheez Dawg

Flawed Perfectionist
Silver Member
I am looking for a 3/8X12 tap for a repair I am doing.

Anyone have an idea where I can get one for a reasonable price?
 
I'll be honest with you, that tap is just not available. I made my own.
Come to think of it, I've only used it once. Can't remember the cue though.
There's another thread that needs to die a slow death.
What are these people thinking?
 
I'll be honest with you, that tap is just not available. I made my own.
Come to think of it, I've only used it once. Can't remember the cue though.
There's another thread that needs to die a slow death.
What are these people thinking?

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that is the thread that Guido Orlandi uses. I could be wrong though. I know it's an oddball.

Dick
 
It's an Acme thread.
The taps I found for it are close to $100 each.:eek:
I'm not paying that for a tap I will only use once...
 
You didn't say in your initial post that it was an ACME thread. That's a common size for that thread and the taps are readily available. They cost what they cost. Is this for a Kikel cue? Maybe it was a Tad that I did. Don't remember.
 
C.K. cues from tiwan which i think have S.W. style ringwork use 3/8 x 12 and not an ACME i got pins and phonelic inserts from them a few years ago
 
The cue is an older cue this gentleman got from his father quite a few years back. It holds a lot of sentimental value for him, and he wanted a new shaft made for it because the original is badly warped.
The cue itself is not valuable, (the new shaft will probably cost more than the whole cue is worth) but as I said, it is to him as his father passed away a couple of years back.
Anyway, he wants to keep it looking original, and wants the original hardware used.
This is what I need to install in the shaft for the joint...

100_1965.jpg




100_1964.jpg



I know it's a bit beat up, but that's what he wants.
 
OK, there is no ACME thread in any of those pics. Those are all 60* pitch threads. ACME threads are flat on top (& bottom) and are a 29.5* pitch.

What you have there is a joint for an import cue and if you were to measure the diameter of the pin, you'd find it to be 9mm +/- (.354"). It's a combination of metric (9mm) and SAE (12 TPI). You're going to need more than good luck to find that tap. Ain't no such thing.

So now you're back to making a tap. This one will be easier than an ACME so you've got that going for you. It's cake if you've got a metal lathe and some 3/8" dia. O-1 steel rod. If you don't, you can get one made but it's still going to cost you. Nobody works for free today.

The other option is to present the logical argument to the client to let you replace the joint to something more common so he can have the cue serviced at some point in the future without having that CM go through what you're going through now; ie, once you've built the shaft, try to find a maintenance set for it. Now you've got to make those also. There's a reason they're called bastard threads.
 
The cue is an older cue this gentleman got from his father quite a few years back. It holds a lot of sentimental value for him, and he wanted a new shaft made for it because the original is badly warped.
The cue itself is not valuable, (the new shaft will probably cost more than the whole cue is worth) but as I said, it is to him as his father passed away a couple of years back.
Anyway, he wants to keep it looking original, and wants the original hardware used.
This is what I need to install in the shaft for the joint...

100_1965.jpg




100_1964.jpg



I know it's a bit beat up, but that's what he wants.

If you have the old shaft and the only thing wrong with it is that it is warped but the connecting end of the shaft is still good (meaning the deco rings and threads) then the shaft can be made without the need for a tap. Put the butt in a lathe so that it is running true, put on the original shaft so that it is also running true at the joint. Now cut off the old shaft 2 or 2.5" from the joint. Now, while the stub of the shaft is still on the butt, turn this stub down to around .500" from the deco ring out to the end of the stub. Now take a shaft blank and bore out the end to the same dimensions as the stub and now glue the shaft onto the stub at one end hand have the tail stock center holding the other end straight. You now have the original threads and deco-rings on a new, straight shaft.

Dick
 
Instead of investing in a tap, why not invest in some live tooling? It's very easy to cut threads like that if you set up a grinder and a thread cutting tool on your lathe.... then you can cut all kinds of oddball threads.
 
Dick thats one fine idea, probably been doing it for years. Its this sort of thing that keeps me comming back here for the last five years. No matter what you THINK you know you can always pick something up.
 
If you have the old shaft and the only thing wrong with it is that it is warped but the connecting end of the shaft is still good (meaning the deco rings and threads) then the shaft can be made without the need for a tap. Put the butt in a lathe so that it is running true, put on the original shaft so that it is also running true at the joint. Now cut off the old shaft 2 or 2.5" from the joint. Now, while the stub of the shaft is still on the butt, turn this stub down to around .500" from the deco ring out to the end of the stub. Now take a shaft blank and bore out the end to the same dimensions as the stub and now glue the shaft onto the stub at one end hand have the tail stock center holding the other end straight. You now have the original threads and deco-rings on a new, straight shaft.

Dick

Great idea. I just might do that.
Thanks!!
 
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