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Advice on purchasing a tapping Attatchment for mill

Kingston1100

Aluminum
Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Location
Saskatchewan, Canada
Looking for advice on brand pros and cons of a tapping attachment for a smaller commercial shop milling machine . Are the available to be driven with R - 8 arbour. Looking for 1/2" to 5/8" capacity taps
 
I have purchased both Procunier and Tapmatic heads, although not for the "larger" sizes you list. There are units available for those sizes, but most of my work has been with smaller sizes up to 1/4". The Tapmatic works well, I've used it a fair amount, the Procunier unit also works well, but I use it less often just because it is larger in size, and requires more setup space. It's marginally less convenient, and I have to also use it with a Morse taper adapter in the R-8 taper; not clear whether they offer one with direct R-8 shank.
 
If you're tapping 1/2 inch and 5/8ths on a Bridgeport or Bridgeport clone, why hassle with a tapping head? I've tapped hundreds (probably thousands) of holes on a Bridgeport with the tap tight in a drill chuck. With three phase power, the motor instantly reverses when you've reached the correct depth with a flick of the switch.
Tapping heads take time to get the mill set for them, as you normally have to lower the knee, because of their increased height. In some applications you run out of daylight under the spindle. In a shop doing production, every minute counts, I HATE having to raise and lower the knee any more than I have to.

I have Procunier tapping heads, tapmatics, and Bilz holders. The Bilz are the most compact, and tend to be the ones I grab. I have three sizes of Procuniers, that are clutch driven and have a higher retract speed. They ARE nice, but because of their bulk, I rarely if ever grab them. I tend to ONLY use tapping heads on small taps, as they are so easy to break. Another brand of tapping head is SPV which are made in Sweden. These are very nice heads that have built in adjustable clutches. I use these MOST of the time in my Sip and Devlieg boring machines. BUT for the fastest drill and tap, in the 1/2 inch and 5/8ths, my go to is a Bridgeport with NO tapping head at all.
 
Yeah I have routinely tapped direct drive in a Bridgeport for decades. All sizes. Very tiny taps I start in the BP chuck to get them started nice and square, then loosen the chuck and hand tap to finish.
 
If you need a tapping head, use it on a drill press and save the expensive machine to do what it does.

I vastly prefer procunier, if you do not over oil them, or let them get full of tapping fluid, they are perfect.
 








 
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