Thread: Minimum size for rigid tapping?

What's practical? Do people routinely do stuff like M1?

I had a job doing M1 in 304
No problems at all.

Wow, nice. We're pondering a mill purchase and most of our tapped holes are down in that region. Thanks.

One of the youtubers that I follow routinely does his work in 10 BA. You don't realize how small his parts are until his fingernail gets into the video picture. BA size chart

I have done 0-80 with no problems. I did it by hand, using a pin vise for a tap handle. I don't think power tapping that size is a good idea unless you have a head that was specifically made for such a small size.

But then, they do make smaller taps.

I have found rigid tapping easier to use when the size gets smaller.
Bob

0 or 00-80 on a Fadal of all things, held in an ER collet. No problems doing hundreds form tapping in 6061. If the machine is good it's better than any other way.

Some MTB do a better job tuning the rigid tapping parameters than others. If the machine is tight and tuned properly I don't see why you couldn't rigid tap with the smallest tap made (whatever that is).

If you ever look through a Fanuc parameter manual you'll see there are a ton of parameters that can be used to fine tune rigid tapping.

we do 0-80 form taps in aluminum and half hard brass day in and day out. also do some 000-120(?) cut taps once in a while. Haas VF2

THe right question is compared to what

Perfectly square, perfectly fed, compared to tapping with a hand tap wrench?

I've seen 0000-160 done on a Brother. I have a client that roll taps 1000s of M1 per day in titanium on brother machines at 800 rpm.