Product review, Tap Magic, Relton A-9.

[T Bredehoft]

Project: Aluminum Nose Bushing,
Material 3/8 6160 T6 rod,
Operation drill through, .094, turn to .171 by .700, cut off .740.
Machine, Ames turret lathe. Time 1 min 50 sec.
Tap Magic for aluminum. Drills and turns easily, three to four pecks to drill .750 deep. rough turn from 3/8 to .180 in one pass, good chip control, clean cut. Finish at .171, feed both ways.
Tap Magic for all metals (recent case purchase) four to five pecks to drill .750 deep. rough turn takes a little more pressure (hand feed) a bit less chip control (strings ball up a bit. Finish pass about same as T M Aluminum.
Both Tap Magic cans are four ounce, easy to hold in left hand and drip as needed on tooling.
Relton A-9 (this specifies its for aluminum on the can) Drills .750 deep in 4 to 6 pecks, doesn't seem to affect ease of cut or chips at all, smokes considerably more than either Tap Magic. The can is a 16 oz can with a 3 inch spout, Its much less easy to control the can/spout and put a drop as needed on the tool. If it were in a Tap Magic can this would be eliminated. It leaves the work considerably more oily. Ditto operators hands.

Conclusion, For aluminum the Tap Magic (Aluminum) is best, followed by Tap Magic for all metals. I only wish half the cans of Tap Magic I bought last week were for aluminum, The one can purchased a year ago is almost empty.

 

[MAKEITOUTOFWOOD]

Nice review. Thanks

 

[benmychree]

I like to buy TapMagic by the gallon can and use it with a brush in a tuna can, I think it dispenses the product with less waste from over squirting.

 

[Doubleeboy]

I tried A-9 after reading positive review about 15 years ago. I still have 90% or more of the can left. Tap Magic in either aluminum or universal style is much better as is Kerosene or WD-40, or just about any lube in my opinion. I wonder how Relton stays in business. I have been known on occasion to recycle the used way oil that collects on top of the base of my BP clone and use it for cutting oil, when I am too lazy to decant more job specific cutting oil. I swear the used way oil works as well as A-9, go figure.

 

[benmychree]

I liked the old original Rapid Tap that was formulated with a chlorinated hydrocarbon, like trichloroethylene; for some things, I think it worked a bit better than the current product; waxing nostalgic, I looked on E Bay and found a case of the small cans, and bought them, so now I have the best of both worlds, TapMagic and Rapid Tap!
Back in the day when I was in apprenticeship, we had all the tricolor we wanted, cutting oil, Johnson's Wax Cut, and white lead, sometimes we would mix up a witches brew including all those products for some special job; I remember one on the turret lathe with a 5" bore reamed with a two bladed Madison reamer, the lubricant being trichlor and white lead with some light cutting oil thrown in, I think a 32 finish was required.