Taping A 6x32 Hole In Stainless Steel Round Rod Help

Lucky 13 said:
303 is free machining and does not work harden like other types of stainless. I would rather machine 1,000 lbs of 303 to 1 pound of 304. 304 work hardens if you look at it wrong.
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randyc said:
...The worst sound you can hear is a "squeal" when drilling 303 !
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You are absolutely right - as I said I haven't done much stainless work in many years. 304 - not 303 - is the monster for dulling drills and sometimes even breaking them. Thanks for the correction !
 
i wish i could work with more 303...
i get 304 stuffed down my throat to drill through, tap into and to turn.
tapping it just is a Pita, i have broken taps at the worst times.
i have had to redrill and tap holes next to broken tap holes for attaching sheet metal covers ,etc:mad:
echos of others words- new hi-quality gun taps and lots of cutting fluid,
i like bacon grease/dark cutting oil mixture ,
perpendicular bore entry is also essential- that took a long time to get through my thick skull too :grin:
 
Can you use a 6-40 or a M3.5-0.6 instead of 6-32? There's something about 6-32 that makes them fragile IMO... too course a thread for that small of a diameter
 
Lucky 13 said:
303 is free machining and does not work harden like other types of stainless. I would rather machine 1,000 lbs of 303 to 1 pound of 304. 304 work hardens if you look at it wrong.
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I quite agree with you on all aspects of machining 303, that was the only kind that we used in my shop, which machined quite a lot of it for parts and products made for the wine industry; it has been stated that 303 is not good for welding, this seems to be that it has a tendency to undercut, but we never had a failure of a weld, either a fused tig weld or one where filler is used, where 308 rod is employed. One use of 303 that we did not have sucess with was with pump shafts where packing is used as the seal, it wore all too quickly.
 
If the hole is a though hole use a spiral tap for sure. I do a lot of hand drilling and tap in SS at work and a lot of guys just can't get it though their heads to not run the drill at full speed. If blind use taper then plug then bottom. And be sure you start out straight. Never used a form tap guess I need to try. What is a gun tap?
 
markknx said:
If the hole is a though hole use a spiral tap for sure. I do a lot of hand drilling and tap in SS at work and a lot of guys just can't get it though their heads to not run the drill at full speed. If blind use taper then plug then bottom. And be sure you start out straight. Never used a form tap guess I need to try. What is a gun tap?
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'Gun' and 'spiral' (point) tap are the same. If tapping a blind hole, try a spiral flute tap. It'll change your life


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markknx said:
If the hole is a though hole use a spiral tap for sure. I do a lot of hand drilling and tap in SS at work and a lot of guys just can't get it though their heads to not run the drill at full speed. If blind use taper then plug then bottom. And be sure you start out straight. Never used a form tap guess I need to try. What is a gun tap?
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After you use a form tap in stainless, you will NEVER use a cut tap again. The only time I use a cut tap in stainless is on thru holes where a big burr on the back side will be a problem.
 
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