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WTB quality taps

I

indychuck

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 16, 2016
In search of quality taps. A lot of upcoming work on docks requiring a lot of drilling and tapping of 1 / 4 inch galvanized. Most bolt sizes will be in the range of 1/4 thru 7/16.
Investing in a quality kit may not be the best idea due to the specific nature of the job. I’d prefer to spend the extra money on a duplicate quality tap should one break.
 
indychuck said:
In search of quality taps. A lot of upcoming work on docks requiring a lot of drilling and tapping of 1 / 4 inch galvanized. Most bolt sizes will be in the range of 1/4 thru 7/16.
Investing in a quality kit may not be the best idea due to the specific nature of the job. I’d prefer to spend the extra money on a duplicate quality tap should one break.
Click to expand...
Find some Machine taps at McMaster Carr. Not hand taps.

For most things I use spiral point.
For short blind holes I use spiral flute.

I run them in a strong cordless drill. Full depth in one shot. Use a little tap-magic lube if needed.

McMaster does not sell any crappy machine taps. You can't go wrong.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 
I second the two types of taps. If it's a blind hole, use a spiral flute tap. If it's a through hole, use a spiral point tap. Don't waste your money on hand taps.

McMaster sells good machine taps, but since you're buying quite a few, you may be better off going to a tooling supplier. I mostly buy YG-1 taps. They work well and are inexpensive. I also use Dormer. A lot of times the best place to buy them is Amazon.

Power tapping with a cordless drill works well under 1/4", but I would be hesitant on the larger diameters, especially on thin plate. It's easy to get the larger taps started crooked.

I don't know if you're getting your parts laser cut, but here's a useful trick I use for M6 holes. It should work for other sizes. The laser can't hit your minor diameter close enough to tap directly, but you can tell the laser cutter to just pierce, not try to hit a diameter. This gives you a starter hole and you can easily pop in the minor diameter with a hand drill. The laser sets location and removes the center of the hole, which makes drilling much easier.
 
Daniel, it will indeed be a through hole and I much prefer doing it by hand. Threading manually is no big deal, I’m not on a time crunch and I like the positive feel while doing it by hand.
 
converterking said:
Your hand surgeon will thank you. Don't ask me how I know.
Click to expand...
Will the surgeon thank you for using the drill and avoiding the repetitive strain? Or did you hurt yourself?

Personally I like drills. Even big corded units with side handles. I'm really good at eyeballing straight.

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk
 
I believe Dewalt sells combination drill & tap bits intended for use in cordless drills. It is worth checking out.
 
Illinoyance said:
I believe Dewalt sells combination drill & tap bits intended for use in cordless drills. It is worth checking out.
Click to expand...

Very good probability that they are private labeled, and not very good quality.

"Drap" is the originator if the combo drill/tap.
 
I use the YG1 (South Korea) spiral flute taps on everything with a cordless drill if it's not a precise hole requirement. Otherwise, I use the same taps in the mill.
 
Definitely spiral point taps on the thru holes and definitely the cordless drill.

With the spiral point the chips will fall out of the hole and not get caught in the tap, so there is pretty much no risk of breaking the tap due to packed flutes.

The drill will give you a consistent force, which will also lessen the chance of breakage.

There is no downside to using the drill.

Steve
 
The electricity to run the drill will cost you less than the copay if you have to see the physical therapist.

Heck, the DRILL will cost less than your copay.

Steve
 
If straightness is an issue, get a round block of steel or aluminum thick enough to keep the tap vertical but not so thick that the tap won't go all the way thru.

Heck, make that block and cut it in half - it will guide the tap and once the threads are established, you can pull it out of the way to finish tapping.

Steve
 
Good idea Steve, I'm going in horizontally, but the technique sounds like it may still apply.

It's apparent that the drill method is definitely the hands down winner in terms of popularity on this particular thread. My experience tapping under power is just not there. Based on the feedback and comments, I'll search for a couple quality 5/16 x 18 spiral taps that I can chuck in to a drill and do a couple tests.

Many thanks!
 
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