Best Yet Knurling Tool

[lemelman]

(02-13-2013, 09:17 AM)dallen Wrote: ran the numbers thru the big chief tablet and they said to use 0.875 for the 20 pitch wheels I had so I turned the 1" hunk of O1 drill rod down to 0.876 and ran the knurler up it and then back down after re tightening the adjusters.

Treating knurling as if you are cutting gears certainly works, but is entirely unnecessary.
The knurling wheels don't actually cut the metal, they mould it (yes, I know there is some powdery swarf generated, but it's nowhere near enough to fill the knurl pattern). As long as the next valley in the work-piece is deep enough to grip the next hill of the knurling wheel sufficiently to change its rotation speed, the knurl will be fine.
You do this by making sure that the initial impression is as deep as you can make it - you mustn't pussy-foot around treating it gently. Start off with as much pressure as you can manage, and the knurl pattern will establish itself beautifully.
With hard metals, such as steel, it can help if you start the knurl at the end of the bar with only an edge of the knurling wheel doing any work - you can get a good initial pressure this way that establishes the pattern which is nicely maintained when you move along the bar.

The following photos show the scissor knurling tool I designed and made, and some examples of knurls made with it - in aluminium, brass and steel.