Posted by Philip Burley on 01/05/2019 08:24:26:
I made 2 more yesterday in steel , tried boring first and tried threading first , Both ended up being bent , I did what I normally do when things arnt working , which is to abandon it for the day, I will try again today , by holding in a collet in case its a problem with the chuck Seems to go wrong when wining the die off , new ish HHS die , See how it goes today !!
Although I've never made a governor I'm fairly sure from the photo that one would push my skills to the limit. However, as threading an un-bored 3/16" brass rod shouldn't be outrageously difficult, something must be wrong.
I suspect the die. I think it's blunt, especially as it's 'newish' and has been used on steel. I find brass cuts best with a very sharp tool and that using a drill, tap or die on steel takes enough of the edge off to make a noticeable difference when next used on brass. I try to keep a separate set of tools for brass. When they struggle to cut brass cleanly, slightly blunt tools will still work well on steel, so they're not wasted.
It may be folklore, but I believe Carbon Steel dies are often sharper than HSS. HSS's other virtues, like staying hard at red heat, may be wasted when threading brass by hand. Some chaps like to buy expensive tools and expect them to last forever. As I don't think this is always smart, I'd try a brand-new Carbon Steel die, and only use it on Brass thereafter. I see Tracy sell 3/16" 40tpi dies for £3 each. See as a disposable, like sand-paper.
Dave