Cool new tool.. Tapping drill.

This is a battery powered tapping drill.
Starts at 2:34 YouTube

Not sure if its really worth the pile of money they no doubt charge for it but rather nifty

It would be cool if that was a mode on a regular drill. Looks like a separate tool for tapping. Main problem I've found with tapping holes with a dewalt is the battery weight makes it difficult to sense being straight with the hole. The little Milwaukee inline electric screwdriver gives you a good chance of being straight when the part is laid flat, but it's good up to maybe M4. I did a bunch of M5 holes in a plate with dewalt with plate laid flat. I wanted deep threads, but past about 2D it was a crap shoot because if the tool started out ~1/2 degrees off, it would be done at that depth.

I guess you missed this other thread?
Metabo Battery Powered Tapping Tool

I did, I saw it after. happens.

Nothing special:

Tap Adapters, 3/8" Socket Drive 3602 - LittleMachineShop.com

Plus

IRWIN Socket Adapter, 1'/'4 Hex to 3'/'8 Sq., 2 In - 1AUV6'|'3567841C - Grainger

I've used these for tapping with portable drills.

Ken

Tapping guns were introduced long ago, so there is nothing new. The only news is that Metabo started making them too.

Tapping guns work really well and are very different from the regular drills with square holding chucks due to the presence of the auto-reversing clutch.

Absolutely mandatory for panel shops.

I see both real clutched f/r and cordless drills used with some success in panel shops where you are taping 10 ga. steel or less where the dia to depth ratio allows the off angle you get by hand . Off angle in thicker stock can give you 100+% thread depth were the root of the tap has to remove stock I have deal with many broken tap do to the bending forces of the pistol grip driving device especially going from forward to reverse with the torque the torque reaction. I find that the taps that have a wasted shank the sharp root of the thread is not the weakest part were there is a section smaller in dia than the root of the thread , this allows bend to be over a grater area not concentrated at the root of the thread. The other big cause of tap breakage is do to many people not realizing that for most applications 60% thread depth is more than enough . and that the % depth should go down as the hole gets deeper.

Of course, bigger tap drills for deeper holes. That will be useful. Thanks.