A shorter version of the 1.2" Double Female?

[hedgehog1]

I need to go from the male end of a long curved choke to the male end of a pommel in as little length as possible.

Right now I have a 1.2" Double Female in the dry-fit saber. It looks OK, but not great. If I could get a .75" Double Female I could really run with that. With the three pieces assembled together, I an see about .4" of exposed thread on the inside of the 1.2" Double Female. If I could remove that .4" that would get me to a .8" Double Female. That would work.

I know I can sand the 1.2" Double Female down (but it will take all afternoon hand sanding). Does anyone know another solution that does not require hours of sanding?

[Silver Serpent]

Turn the choke around and shave off space from another area where it's less critical?

It's that or cut the DF down and sand it flat. A belt sander is ideal for getting it perfectly flat on the cut edge.

[hedgehog1]

My belt sander is at my Dads house (along with my ladder and some other things - but that is another thread!). However, I can take the MHS parts to his house and sand both the male end of the choke down a bit and the sand the 1.2" Double Female down as well.

This piece will have rings on both ends - and that will help hide any minor errors. I hope.

Thanks Silver!

[Silver Serpent]

Trim rings? Yeah, those will hide minor errors on the edges. You just want to be sure that the sanding is perfectly square or you'll end up with gaps.

And please, please, please, clean the parts thoroughly before you try screwing them together. Any little bits of grit or loose aluminum will lock your threads tight.

[hedgehog1]

.... Any little bits of grit or loose aluminum will lock your threads tight.

Yeah. Found this out the hard way. I did get them apart without damage, but it was a close call. Now I clean the threads twice after sanding and it has not occurred again.

[Silver Serpent]

Old toothbrush. Soap and water. Dry thoroughly. Light coat of oil or anti-seize compound. Screw together slowly and carefully the first time.

You'll be fine if you use all those, in that order. :)

[hedgehog1]

...Old toothbrush...

An OLD toothbrush? Where were you when i needed you? My mouth tasted like aluminum all morning! That could have been avoided... :-D

[acerocket]

As short as possible? You need .6" long double female. chokes and pommels have .4" of male thread. That leaves .8" between shoulders if you butt them together. But if you are using trim rings, they leave a .1" or so gap between the mating parts. You could shorten up the DF12 by at least .6", essentially cut it in half. If it were me, I use the half of the DF12 that has the deeper thread and cut it .6" long from that end. When all your parts are put together, the male threaded ends of the choke and pommel should touch.

[hedgehog1]

AR - this sounds promising except for one thing: the threads are cut the opposite direction on each end of a double female part, right? So one male end will attach fine, while the other will find the threads all are backwards for it.

I am thinking of those few times I have put threading on a steel pipe (that was long ago). Those threads were opposite from each other when viewed from any one end of the finished pipe.

[Silver Serpent]

Nope. The threads will work just fine. It's the same reason you can take a nut off of a bolt, flip it around, and it'll still screw right back on. You can trust acerocket. He's got more than a little machining experience (and a shop that would make most of us drool).

[hedgehog1]

Thanks SS - If both you and AR say it works, then I believe it.

When my next box from Tim arrives (should be tomorrow, according to the post office tracking web site) it has two 1.2 double female connector in it. One is going to get cut in half.

I hope I don't screw it up. Pun not intended.