Dremel nosepiece thread

I need to thread a 1/2" aluminum plate to hold a Dremel tool. The thread is a mystery to me (to be honest, all threads are a mystery to me). One source lists it as M19x2, another as 5/8-12.

I would really appreciate a) a quick answer from someone who has a Dremel and the skills to measure the thread and b) hints on how I can learn to do this on my own and c) if the thread is really nonstandard, some inexpensive approaches to cutting it.

Thanks,

Bill

Reply to
Bill Price
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inexpensive

If you're talking about the plastic threads for the cap on a Dremel Moto-Tool, I just measured mine (20 years old, Model 380-5), and it's

3/4-16. It's not metric; the closest metric pitch is 1.5, and I checked it with a metric thread gage as well as an inch gage. The metric 1.5 pitch, roughly 17 tpi, ain't it.

Major diameter (outside diameter) of the plastic male thread on mine is

0.738 in. That's a sloppy, low-class fit for a 3/4 in. nominal screw thread -- typical of plastic threads.

As Derek said, you measure threads with thread gages, which are relatively cheap try-it-until-you-find-the-one-that-fits gages; similar to leaf-type thickness gages. You'll need a magnifier (a loupe is convenient) to check the smaller diameters, and you'll also need one even for coarser threads when you're trying to figure out if a thread is inch or metric.

When you have to cut threads to a standard dimension, you can get into some fancy gaging methods to get the thread depths right. But just to determine what the diameter is of some standard thread, the easy way is to gage the outside diameter with a micrometer. Again, unless you think you're dealing with a really odd thread, you don't have to be very accurate. Standard threads are made on standardized diameter increments: 3/8, 1/2, etc. I sometimes do it with a ruler.

You can find info on measuring threads on the Web. The three-wire micrometer method and other special methods for gaging diameter apply mostly to

*cutting* threads, rather than to figuring out what you have in your hand, already cut or formed.

Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Usually a "Thead Gauge" is used, see

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They are relatively cheap and come in U.S/Imp. & metric flavours etc.

By flipping through the leaves, you find the one that fits prefectly into the threads. The leaves have cut outs on them that look similar to a saw blade, all with different pitches. The pitch is stamped onto the leaf, much like a feeler gauge.

If you're lucky, and don't want to spring for a few gauges, take your tool to a hardware store and see if you can find a bolt/nut that fits, then just read off the size in the bin.

If it's a whacky size, get it measured and I guess a tap or die is the easiest way to go, providing you can find one. Failing that, screw cutting it on a lathe would be your next option.

Good Luck.

Reply to
Derek
3/4 x 16 - same as Sherline / Taig spindle, no? /mark

Ed Huntress wrote:

Reply to
Mark

I've got a Dremel, but it's old, I don't see the thread you're talking about. If you've no means of threading it, like a lathe, why not go with the way the factory used to set up their jigs, with a split clamp? I've made a toolpost Dremel holder out of hard maple from electrical equipment crating that way, worked fine. Bore a hole to a snug fit, slice across with a saw, put in a bolt and nut for a clamp. If you've got a chunk laying around, I suppose you could use something like polycarbonate or even Micarta. My Dremel has a long parallel surface that I can clamp on, to tell you the truth, I don't even know what the current models look like, I've got pneumatic die grinders that do the same thing a lot better. It doesn't get a whole lot of play anymore.

Stan

Reply to
Stan Schaefer

You, too, huh? d8-). Mine is made of 3/4" birch plywood.

Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 02:11:39 -0800, Derek wrote: || ||Usually a "Thead Gauge" is used, see ||

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|| ||They are relatively cheap and come in U.S/Imp. & metric flavours etc. || ||By flipping through the leaves, you find the one that fits prefectly ||into the threads. The leaves have cut outs on them that look similar ||to a saw blade, all with different pitches. The pitch is stamped onto ||the leaf, much like a feeler gauge. || ||If you're lucky, and don't want to spring for a few gauges, take your ||tool to a hardware store and see if you can find a bolt/nut that fits, ||then just read off the size in the bin.

...and hope someone's precocious 3-year-old wasn't playing in the bins the day before ;) Texas Parts Guy

Reply to
rex

Our local Lowes has a "thread finder" screwed to the wall next to their hardware drawers. It's just a piece of sheet metal with a lot of what look like pemnuts in standard thread sizes fastened to it plus a bunch of short male threaded studs sticking out alongside the nuts.

And 10-4 on jumbled stuff in the drawers in places like that, I can sympathize with the workers there who find them all messsed up the day after someone takes an hour or two to straighten them out. They're probably not motivated to do it all over again in a hurry.

What usually happens to me if I'm looking to buy a couple of fasteners I don't have on hand from those kind of places is that I have to search through every compartment in the drawer and half the time I come up dry anyway.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:46:51 -0500, Jeff Wisnia wrote:

|| snipped-for-privacy@txol.net wrote: ||> On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 02:11:39 -0800, Derek wrote: ||> || ||> ||Usually a "Thead Gauge" is used, see ||> ||

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||> || ||> ||They are relatively cheap and come in U.S/Imp. & metric flavours etc. ||> || ||> ||By flipping through the leaves, you find the one that fits prefectly ||> ||into the threads. The leaves have cut outs on them that look similar ||> ||to a saw blade, all with different pitches. The pitch is stamped onto ||> ||the leaf, much like a feeler gauge. ||> || ||> ||If you're lucky, and don't want to spring for a few gauges, take your ||> ||tool to a hardware store and see if you can find a bolt/nut that fits, ||> ||then just read off the size in the bin. ||> ||> ...and hope someone's precocious 3-year-old wasn't playing in the bins the day ||> before ;) ||> Texas Parts Guy || ||Our local Lowes has a "thread finder" screwed to the wall next to their ||hardware drawers. It's just a piece of sheet metal with a lot of what ||look like pemnuts in standard thread sizes fastened to it plus a bunch ||of short male threaded studs sticking out alongside the nuts. || ||And 10-4 on jumbled stuff in the drawers in places like that, I can ||sympathize with the workers there who find them all messsed up the day ||after someone takes an hour or two to straighten them out. They're ||probably not motivated to do it all over again in a hurry. || ||What usually happens to me if I'm looking to buy a couple of fasteners I ||don't have on hand from those kind of places is that I have to search ||through every compartment in the drawer and half the time I come up dry ||anyway.

The brass cabinet in every parts store is the same way, and no one EVER straightens them out. When I was doing outside sales I'd ususally work on that while I waited to see the buyer. Texas Parts Guy

Reply to
rex

Thanks everybody for your help. I have shop privileges where I can put my hands on a complete set of thread gauges and never thought to try them out. Duh . . .

This group reminds of a buddy who is off sailing right now. Rather than spend fifteen minutes making a part for someone, he would rather spend four hours showing him how to do it.

inexpensive

Reply to
Bill Price

Hi guys, I measured my Dremel, model 395, & the thread is 0.745" so I thought it might be an imperial thread, but the pitch is definately

2.0 m.m. so it becomes a 19.0 m.m. x 2.0 m.m. not a standard size & I doubt that you would find a tap for it.

Suggestions, thread cut the plate in a lathe if it will fit, make a tap for it or turn up a small adaptor that you could thread in the lathe & bolt it to you alluminium plate. (like a pipe flange.)

Hope this helps, Ian Sutherland, Oz.

Reply to
Ian Sutherland

Rudy Kouhoupt, in an article "Building Your Own Engraving Pantograph" in the Nov/Dec '90 "Home Shop Machinist" magazine, cites Dremel nose threads as 3/4-16 but says measure yours to be sure. - GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

I've got a model 595 that appears to be M19 x 2. I have read that the thread changed in the early 90s.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Reply to
Bill Price

replying to Bill Price, 6PTsocket wrote: The thread is 3/4-12. That is absolutely correct. It is discussed in a lot of places. It is a special thread, meaning it is not standard coarse or fine.. 3/4 coarse thread is 3/4-10 and fine thread is 3/4-16. There are no regular nuts you can buy. If threads are a mystery to you I won't even go into where to buy a tap and tap drill. The pair would run you around $30. If you want to go that way, just reply and I will go into the details

Reply to
6PTsocket

replying to Bill Price, 6PTsocket wrote: I posted before but if you go to this ad for a router base for rotary tools ,including Dremel, you will see what they say about the thread. Read the 3rd paragraph.

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Reply to
6PTsocket

You replied to a post that is over 11 years old. Do you think that he is still waiting for a reply to an old Usenet post?

Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 22:48:23 -0500 From: "Bill Price" Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking

Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

replying to 6PTsocket, gomose wrote: Not true, it is a standard thread but BRITISH STANDARD ie 3/4" BSF.

Reply to
gomose

replying to 6PTsocket, Alan27 wrote: This is the new link to the description of the Dremel nose piece size as used in the Veritas plunge router base.

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Reply to
Alan27

I love LVT, and have bought many items from them, but I've never been able to justify their pricing on the neat Veritas tools. This is a perfect example. A Dremel 4000 (corded) costs $70, yet their accessory kit for it costs $170. (Do you hear me up there, Rob?)

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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