HOLROYD and J M KING Waterford NY Screw Plates Tap & Dies

Believe they're late 1800s. Uncleaned, touch of light rust. PM me if interested.
The Holroyd & Co #32A has 6 taps #10,11,12L,13,14,14L, measuring 2-3/4" - 4-5/8"L. It's box lid is split, but solid. Assembled handle is @22"L.
The JM King & Co #41 has 6 taps (3)16,18,(2)20, measuring 1-5/8" - 3-3/4"L. Assembled handle is @14"L. The face of 1 die is chipped, but teeth are present.

added more pics

JPRI,

Thank you for this interesting topic! I'm sure there will be a great discussion of the uses of these tapered taps. I'm thinking "gas fitter" in pre-NPT days. My second guess is that they are for 19th century steam boiler work.

Interesting info on these manufacturers here: Unknown Die Head ? Thread Restorer ?

My copy of the Directory of American Toolmakers (DAT) is at home - does anyone have a copy at hand? (Free "plug" for the Early American Industries Association - members can buy the DAT at a discount. Early American Industries Association )

Waterford is at the confluence of the Erie Canal and the Champlain Canal. The Erie canal was a huge "driver" of industrial development along its route.

If these taps prove to be somehow related to ordinance, I would point out that the Watervliet Arsenal is close to Waterford.

Seeing these reminds me of one of the biggest mistakes I ever made as a tool collector: I had a similar Brown & Sharp die set in my hand at the Avenel Flea Market, back when it was a good venue to shop for old tools. Deciding that I did not want to cough up $35 for it, I put it down. It was immediately picked up and purchased by the fellow behind me. Then I said to myself "Idiot! You just passed up a pristine 19th century die set!" Since then, I have vowed to NEVER put something down at the Flea until I am SURE I don't want it.

I believe that the tapered taps were intended to thread nuts and the taper allowed for custom fitting. The nut would be threaded from both sides to negate half of the taper when finished.
Obviously the pitch on the die and tap must agree, but the diameter was not quite as standardized as today.
Fix the problem piece, or make the hardest piece, first, using the adjustable screwplate or the tapered tap. Then custom fit the corresponding piece.

King was the first in Waterford and Holroyd followed. Seems to have been the center of screwplate manufacture with Butterfield arriving later on the scene straddling the Canadian border at Derbyline VT.
Of these, only Butterfield successfully survived long term the transition from thread swedging tools to actual thread cutting thread tools.

JPRI
PM sent.

Leg17 said:

JPRI
PM sent.

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Leg17 check your inbox

I have done no research on this type of threading equipment. But it seems to me to be ideally suited to blacksmith work on non-precise diameters where the male thread is cut on a forged rod and the female thread is cut in a punched hole.

Larry

L Vanice said:

I have done no research on this type of threading equipment. But it seems to me to be ideally suited to blacksmith work on non-precise diameters where the male thread is cut on a forged rod and the female thread is cut in a punched hole.
Larry

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Exactly.
Found commonly in supply catalogs catering to blacksmiths from prior to civil war to after the turn of the century. Pretty much out of the picture by the end of WWI.
Again, the threads are nut 'cut' as we think of them today, but 'swedged', or formed.
Thread cutting required back clearance or relief on the threads of both tap and die.
Machinery capable of such exploded on the scene just after the Civil War.
Cut threads were more consistent and economical, but they required a higher level of standardization than the blacksmith might encounter in a typical repair situation.
If a axle nut became loose or the threaded fit wore out, the male thread could be simply cleaned up smaller and a new smaller nut made up. Standardization would require more extensive operations.

They found a new home.

Up to now, nobody has remarked that at least some of the taps appear to be left hand thread. I picked up a very similar tap at a flea market some years back, marked "12L" (IIRC) and nothing else. I assumed it was "shop made" rather than manufactured. My tap is 12-pitch left hand thread and tapered about 3/4" to the foot. My guess was it was meant for boiler work, but as Leg17 suggested, axle nuts makes more sense.

Brian Smith

Think bicycle pedals.