Heir to taps and dies set

I don't really know anything about machining, so keep that in mind. I can fix my own car, cut wood enough to get by and that's it. I'm always open to learning though!

My grandfather who has dementia has basically left me a garage full of tools. He liked to amass things, and while looking through it all, I came across a large set of taps and dies as well as what looks like some heavy duty metal drill bits and some things that I can't readily identify, but look like block-shaped taps or drill bits. It has been sitting in a box for years, if not decades.

I don't know if he actually knew how to use all of this and he doesn't have a machine for them, outside of a regular drill press. They're probably about 20-30 years old and have some rust, but I think they started out as quality industrial tools. He worked at the EMD division of General Motors for many years refurbishing locomotives, and when the plant closed, he bought a lot of their equipment and it's all built like a battleship.

I'd like to know the following, if possible...feel free to point me to another thread if you like:

1) Is this equipment particularly valuable or is it junk? I know that's hard to tell from the pictures, but your best guess will be fine.

2) Would rust dull it and make it less useful? Does it need to be cleaned up before use? If so, what's the best way to do so?

3) What would this allow me to do in terms of machining and what additional equipment would I need to get started?

Sorry for the quality of the images, but there's not much room to spread out as the garage is still a big mess. The taps in the third image are much larger than the ones in the pile photo so I took them separately. I should have put a tape measure in for scale.

Thanks in advance!

Has some value but not a lot with the rust, run a add on cl for 100 and see what happens, take the best offer...Phil

Or put on eBay. Huge audience for all things machinist.

First, clean them up- at minimum, just wipe them down really good with an oily rag.

And Hey, that's a good story- Don't pay heed to the self loathing BS about an object just being an object- that's part of what built the world.
Put that in the auction. People will love it.

Pretty much not worth the time to clean, list, package, ship............Bob

It's really a bunch of rusty junk.

I mean, it'd be better than nothing in an emergency...so I have to give it that much credit .... but otherwise junk. Throw it out and get on with your life.

I think Phil is being generous. I agree with others, not worth cleaning, shipping, etc.

But nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose...

You don't really have a lot of things there that are "machine" related. You do however have some taps and dies that could get you out of a jam doing repairs around the house. I agree that there is not much there that would bring you enough money to warrant a lot of time and energy, so I would just chunk them in a toolbox and keep them for your own use or that of a neighbor.

I would clean them up and use them. Then pass them on to another family member when the time comes. Along with a whole bunch of stories about your grandfather. I'm pretty sure that's what he would want.

Looks to be surface rust mostly. It's not ideal, it'll dull them a bit but still OK for casual use I would bet. I would get some of the green scotch-brite pads at the grocery store with some 3-in-1 oil and just clean them up that way. Keep rubbing and oiling till shiny.

Take them to a farm Auction, for some reason worn out rusty taps and dies command a dear price.

most of those don't look like much $, maybe $10 a piece or so new. the hex are only chasing/repair dies. cutting dies are round on the outside diameter.
so basically scrap value or very minimal. you can get whole sets for a couple hundred bucks.

I ordered a tap last week. I mentioned that I have the tap I needed in a old style Vermont American but the cutting area profile was too long to fit my part.
This tap I had came from Sears a while ago.

The salesman said he sold that stuff for 30 years. Compared to today's style cnc taps the old stuff is not worth using. The profiles on the old style taps
taps twice as far to secure a full thread.

My opinion is that the stuff you have is ok for aluminium or brass.

Taps, dies, and broken bolt extractors (4th pic the square tapered pieces). If you work on stuff, inevitably they will come in handy somewhere, oil them up and put them where you can find them. Probably not worth selling, but to replace it all would cost $$.

Taps in that condition I use for cleaning out threaded holes where I don't want to use a good tap for. Them old flaring tools, I have four more to add to the batch, totally junk! Had to go out and buy a "real" flaring tool to get the job done. Ken

Advertise them as "Heirloom Quality" tap set.....

If Grandad was like most, his tools were cheap, homeowner-class to start with, and outdated by now. He also took poor care of them. If Grandad was a rare breed, he was a master machinist and had really good tools...and after 50 years of use they're worn out. Cutting tools don't last forever.

I once dated a girl...she was going on a trip to Europe and, as with most young people, she didn't have a lot of possessions or money. Her mother graciously surprised her by telling her she would 'gift' her Grandad's treasured luggage set - how perfect!

Perfect, until Mom dragged out the luggage .... 1962 vintage, floral pattern canvas, 30 lbs. per piece, mothball-smelling. It took Girl a couple weeks to weasel her way out of that one...

Phil in Montana said:

Has some value but not a lot with the rust, run a add on cl for 100 and see what happens, take the best offer...Phil

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IF you put that out at $100, I'll bet you buck it shows up in "tooling for sale", "craiglist funnys" thead

OP says tools come from EMD......I can say for sure older stuff is one million percent better than the rubbish you get today......buy a bigger tap,costs a fortune ,its never form relieved ,and takes huge force to turn.....and old GTD cuts like a knife through butter.......I find old taps and dies sell like crazy ,as many people realise how good they are.....a bit of rust wont kill them ,its called patina by collectors.

john.k said:

a bit of rust wont kill them ,its called patina by collectors.

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Someone out there is collecting taps?

Mcgyver said:

Someone out there is collecting taps?

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I actually do tend to collect oddball sizes, favoring obscure or obsolete pitch diameter combinations. Particularly GTD (Wells Bros) sets. The OP has some that look to have a relatively large diameter compared to the pitch, possibly uncommon sizes.

And I agree with John K that older GTD stuff is amazingly good. Probably not as good as Emuge or a brand new Guhring, but then again I'm not paying for those either. Not until I win the Lotto.

pavt said:

I actually do tend to collect oddball sizes, f.

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well yeah, I guess we all do but to use them...I was thinking the implication was someone's out there who got tired of beanie babies and barbies and switched to taps.