Powered tapper handheld, recommendations

[Montgomery]

Does anyone have any experience/recommendations with power tap guns?

I am open to any brands, budget is not an issue

Pneumatic is not really an option.

12-24 the primary hole size I have to tap, about 22,000.

Material is cold rolled 14 gauge with 12 gauge, cold rolled steel, reinforcing plate behind it, doors frames in the wall.

The metabo cordless is nice

Metabo Power Tools

or I really like my all my Fein tools

Tappers - GWP 10 | FEIN

Thanks in advance

 

[john.k]

Monty,you are going to cordless powertap 22k holes?............does the Hunchback Of Notre Dame come to mind...........I have a couple of air tappers,auto reverse on pull,and tapping a few hundred is a pain.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Best I ever used was a " Desouter " electric tapper. Push for forward, pull back for reverse. I don't recall ever breaking a tap with them. They were brilliant tappers but they've probably gone out of business now.

I used some " Ingersoll Rand " pneumatic tappers later on.They were a different kettle of fish altogether. You had to flick a switch to reverse and I broke a few taps with those. On the bigger sizes 3/8" etc you were better off tapping by hand.

Subsequently I just used reversible electric drills ( DeWalt etc ) but 22,000 holes is likely to get boring pretty quickly.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[MattiJ]

Fein appears to have axially floating chuck and push-pull style reverse, Metabo reverses as you release the trigger.
Metabo has higher rpm if you think you can tap at 2000rpm..
Battery probably last longer than your arms and chargers nowadays are pretty fast..

 

[DDoug]

I have seen in a horse shoe catalog...
A standard Porter Cable hand held electric drill with a small procunier head
on it, for rapid tapping.

And I own a hand held no name (chineesium) hand drill made with a tapping chuck, and a reverse arrangement.
No pressure sensitive clutch like a procunier, rather it goes forward,
and then as you pull back, it goes into with a snap.

 

[Montgomery]

Currently we use a cordless drill with Viking COMBINATION DRILL & TAP
Type 40-UB. The reversing to break chips is tiring on fingers as much as running the drill is.

My guys have broken 3 taps in the first 1500 holes.

Normally we use tek screws with a #3 phillips tip.

The current project has torx security screws that are not holding up even going in a pilot hole.

 

[MattiJ]

Currently we use a cordless drill with Viking COMBINATION DRILL & TAP
Type 40-UB. The reversing to break chips is tiring on fingers as much as running the drill is.

My guys have broken 3 taps in the first 1500 holes.

Normally we use tek screws with a #3 phillips tip.

The current project has torx security screws that are not holding up even going in a pilot hole.

Reversing to break chips? Use gun point aka spiral point tap, no need to break chips.

 

[DavidScott]

Can you set up to do it on a drill press? If so a Procunier tapper is the best. If you can run your parts through a slot to feed it would speed things up a lot if they are small.

 

[TeachMePlease]

Can you set up to do it on a drill press? If so a Procunier tapper is the best. If you can run your parts through a slot to feed it would speed things up a lot if they are small.

They're doorframes already set into the wall... So I doubt it.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Reversing to break chips? Use gun point aka spiral point tap, no need to break chips.

I have to agree, 3/16 total thickness of cold-roll, this reversing to break chips seems like it could be done away with by choosing a better tap...

 

[memphisjed]

500 holes!? per tap/drill bit, thru stacked sheets; with hand held arms out drill, and the cutest size... I would not complain at all about breaking the taps. Viking makes a superior bit, still figure 1000 holes before sharpening, taps are consumables.
In theory it might take more hours to drill and then tap, instead of the drill/tap combo, but workers arm life and coordination will eat into that theoretical. Drill all the holes in a door, then tap all the holes. Muscle memory will learn-- drilling will go faster, tapping will go smoother (and plus 2 on using proper gun taps), arms and brains wont burn as much.

 

[DanielG]

I used to use a Bosch tap gun, now out of production. This was good up to about 1/4". It was a lot like the Fein unit. Pull the trigger and it would spin in reverse. When you pushed the tap into the hole, the clutch would kick in and it would go forward. When you pulled back on the tap gun, it would reverse out of the hole. When you're doing a bunch of the same hole, set the depth stop. When the tap gets to the correct depth, the gun can't move forward any more and the tap will automatically trigger the reversing clutch.

I lost that tap gun when another project took it to tap 6000 M6 holes.

The key to not breaking the taps with the tap gun is to use rapid tap on every hole. Better safe than sorry.

 

[EPAIII]

OK, no drill press. There goes your best option.

I have done dozens of 10-32 in soft metal (copper) with a battery powered drill. The big problem is keeping it square. Your door frames are probably not all that thick, probably about 1/8" mild steel, so I would say go ahead with a good battery powered drill. But keep the knuckle dragers away from it. Buy lots of taps and schedule regular breaks. And issue small cups of cutting oil to dip the taps in before each hole.

 

[MattiJ]

OK, no drill press. There goes your best option.

I have done dozens of 10-32 in soft metal (copper) with a battery powered drill. The big problem is keeping it square. Your door frames are probably not all that thick, probably about 1/8" mild steel, so I would say go ahead with a good battery powered drill. But keep the knuckle dragers away from it. Buy lots of taps and schedule regular breaks. And issue small cups of cutting oil to dip the taps in before each hole.

Fiddling with the reverse switch gets annoying after 200 holes and he has still 10800 holes left after that. Repeat after me:" repertive strain injury"
Same with cutting oil cup: take 2-3kg dumbbell and lift it just 300 times. You probably notice it was a bad idea on the next day

 

[memphisjed]

I am pro cutting fluid (green cut strong mix). Then for thousands of holes, with drill, asking for spills and just annoying. 12-24 taps are sold by the dozen for a reason. Cutting fluid cost more than the tap.

 

[DanielG]

I am pro cutting fluid (green cut strong mix). Then for thousands of holes, with drill, asking for spills and just annoying. 12-24 taps are sold by the dozen for a reason. Cutting fluid cost more than the tap.

The tap isn't the expensive part of breaking a tap. The expensive part is getting the busted tap out of the hole.

 

[Tony Quiring]

We used a self drilling self tapping screw to install second floor in shop.

Threads were machine screw but cannot remember exact but steel was #14.

It seems correct tap or self drinking tapping could be option.

Seek assistance from well stocked screw distribution company as they may have a product.

Also look at correct tap and consider changing to new every x door frames regardless of performance.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[rbent]

The metal door frame screws I've used and seen were a self drilling/tapping style screw.

 

[Montgomery]

Normally we use self drilling phillips drive. This project has torx with a security pin, the screws and drive tips don't hold up at all.

 

[EPAIII]

He is talking about a bunch of door frames that are ALREADY INSTALLED in the walls. So it is not a sit/stand in one place and tap holes. It is a job where you do between 2 and 12 holes and then pick up and move to the next door frame. The aches and pains tomorrow are more likely going to be in the legs from all that walking and squatting to get to the lower holes.

As for a "cutting oil cup", why would that weigh 2-3 kgs? Small plastic cup and about 3/4" of oil in it. I would guess less than 5 ounces. Your cell phone probably weighs more. You don't have to drag a whole 10 Kg can of cutting oil around.

Personally, I would look at getting screws that fit the existing holes. But, that's me.

PS: When I said to schedule many breaks, I meant for the workers, not the taps. The job will slow down when worker fatigue takes effect. A five minute break after 25 minutes of work will probably make the job go FASTER.

Fiddling with the reverse switch gets annoying after 200 holes and he has still 10800 holes left after that. Repeat after me:" repertive strain injury"
Same with cutting oil cup: take 2-3kg dumbbell and lift it just 300 times. You probably notice it was a bad idea on the next day