For some reason geometric die heads don't seem to much in favor these days. I regularly visit a couple used equipment dealers. They both have hundreds of heads and thousands of chaser sets in stock. I've often considered buying one, but for the number of times it would get used, and the room it would take to store the heads and all the chasers I've passed.
I do still see new units for sale from Travers and other tool houses. They seem extremely costly in that the least expensive ones list for $1,359.00 and the most expensive are $1,959.00. Then there are the chaser sets. They cost between $30.00 and $266.00 per set for the standard length, and "projection" style cost between $96.00 and $146.00 per set. I do a considerable amount of threading (both internal and external) but I could never justify a die head setup at those prices.
It's interesting that this subject came up at this time. I'm currently looking into better organizing my taps and dies. I haven't done an actual count yet, but I'm guessing there in in the neighborhood of 500 taps and nearly as many dies. With sizes ranging from 0-80 to 2"-8. While some of the larger ones were expensive, I doubt I have more invested in the entire collection than what a single die head and necessary chasers would cost. I feel a bit better spending a few hundred dollars on quality Huot cabinets seeing what the alternative would cost.
