Purchase rigid tapping, tapping head or tapmatic

Looking for advice please gents

My 2007 HAAS doesn't have rigid tapping, well, it has the 200hr trial, but not as a purchased option.

have read on here it can be purchased for around $999, which knowing how we always get screwed in the UK will be £1000 at least.

I can get a 2nd hand tapping head for a BT40 for £50 from a local machining 2nd hand which I assume is a tension compression arranagement? but then all the quick change collets need to be bought, and I'm not confident the 2nd hand tapping head wont have a some legacy fitment I won't be able to get hold of... anyone who has used them know?

BT4 QUICK CHANGE TAPPING HEAD WITH 1mm TAPPING COLLET | eBay

Or there is a tapmatic for £400, but the seller is being vague about what is included when I am asking him.

Tapmatic tapping Heads BT4 And Other Plus Accessories | eBay

I figured I could re-sell 3 of the heads and get some of the money back.

So what would you do if you were a young startup with not a lot of money to splash?

My preferred option at the moment is, use the 200hr trail to make parts, then invest the income it in rigid tapping option... would love to sense check the thought.

EDIT - Supplementary question - is there a way on the HAAS controller to see how many of hours of the trial remains?

Thanks!

I definitely prefer rigid tapping in my vf2. Using tapping heads can be tricky to dial in when running a tap all the way to the bottom of a blind hole. It's also nice to be able to run the tap again while setting up.

Bite the bullet and get the code. No depth control with the heads.

Mike

And with rigid tapping you can use really slim toolholders for the taps if you want/must.

Rigid tapping is the way to go then you can avoid the clutter of a bunch of other bits and pieces and you can use just about any collet based toolholder for tapping should you have the need to tap multiple sizes in one operation.

I cannot imagine not having rigid tapping!

To add to whysosharps comment . Be careful to pay attention to the post / program feed rate for floating vs solid tool holder. I learned the hard way my CAD post was set to floating holders and the feed rate is slightly faster than the exact pitch.

You will not regret the investment!

I'm sure you've considered it -- if you're not threading small holes, why not just thread mill? Yes... it's a little bit slower, but the control and accuracy it offers beats the heck out of tapping. I personally roll-tap from about M5 down, and thread mill anything above that.

Agree with the others though -- get rigid tapping!

PM

Thanks guys, I'll get a quote from HAAS

Dangle_kt said:

My 2007 HAAS doesn't have rigid tapping, well, it has the 200hr trial, but not as a purchased option.

have read on here it can be purchased for around $999, which knowing how we always get screwed in the UK will be £1000 at least.


Thanks!

Click to expand...

Dangle, that is a puzzling comment.
How does that work in the UK?

Here, the way you'd purchase the option is call the HFO for a quote, which in this case would be the price listed on the Haas site (Assuming you have a TM, so it's $1495)
Then, you'd give the credit card info to the HFO, who in turn will call you back within an hour or so to give you an unlock code for the rigid tapping option.
You then walk over to the control, type this code in the appropriate field, hit ENTER and start rigid tapping 5 seconds after that.

Not sure why would it be any higher price unless the HFO-s work differently over there.

SeymourDumore said:

Dangle, that is a puzzling comment.
How does that work in the UK?

Here, the way you'd purchase the option is call the HFO for a quote, which in this case would be the price listed on the Haas site (Assuming you have a TM, so it's $1495)
Then, you'd give the credit card info to the HFO, who in turn will call you back within an hour or so to give you an unlock code for the rigid tapping option.
You then walk over to the control, type this code in the appropriate field, hit ENTER and start rigid tapping 5 seconds after that.

Not sure why would it be any higher price unless the HFO-s work differently over there.

Click to expand...

Because prices always seem to inflate between the US and UK, we should get stuff cheaper due to the exchange rate, but it never works out that way, there is always something which bumps the costs.

I am hopeful I won't have to pay the full brand new price for the option, as its a 2007 machine, and so paying the new price seems like I'm coping for the inflation over the last 10 years, when the product was developed 10 years ago.

One thing that always bumps the prices is the VAT which they don't have in the USA and all EU countries do have. In Germany it is 19% and I believe the UK is even more.

Dangle_kt said:

I am hopeful I won't have to pay the full brand new price for the option, as its a 2007 machine, and so paying the new price seems like I'm coping for the inflation over the last 10 years, when the product was developed 10 years ago.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I needed a good laugh. Discount the software as its 10 years old...I gotta remember that one.

I do hope I am wrong for your sake...but I doubt it. From what I understand is the HFO has to pay the factory to get the code and they all want their piece of the pie.


As to ways around it...

Threadmill...but it takes more time to mill a thread, you need to write a program for it, a bump and your threadmill is toast and they are pricey.

Tapmatic head...very quick...but one head, one tap. Plus the mechanism to secure head from turning is a loose cannon with tool changes...something to watch for. But its the one head, one tap that causes grief a second or third tap needs other methods.

Tap with floating/compensating head. These can now be picked up somewhat inexpensively...program a rigid tap cycle, back off a couple % on feed, watch head so you stay in the floating area and when disengaging your neither pulling the last thread out or sitting at hole top mashing it. It is not as accurate going to blind bottom, but does allow some give on hole locations and can help thread guage better. I even us on machine with Rigid tap option for just that reason.

Tap outside machine with tapping head. Tapping heads can be very fast and set to slip saving parts and taps...
Another plus...in CNC your not always able to get to back of hole to chamfer before tapping in machine. So parts come out and need to be chamfered after the tapping has been done...Too often I need to chase threads after chamfering...double tapping...can cause to guage over, takes more time wasted machine operation. Spot (with chamfer, drill, pull from machine chamfer back side and tap in bridgeport or drill press with tapping head.


That said...overall, I think having rigid tap in CNC is valuable and have bought and will continue to buy...just part of the machine tool cost for me.

Spruewell said:

I definitely prefer rigid tapping in my vf2. Using tapping heads can be tricky to dial in when running a tap all the way to the bottom of a blind hole. It's also nice to be able to run the tap again while setting up.

Click to expand...

I agree! I rigid tap in my VF3 all the time.

Kevin Wilkins said:

One thing that always bumps the prices is the VAT which they don't have in the USA and all EU countries do have. In Germany it is 19% and I believe the UK is even more.

Click to expand...

In the states it's called sales tax, here in Orange County it's 8.75%