Tap and Die Storage and Organization - What Do You Do With Yours?

[Cheeseking]

Ha I’m at that point of relating to needing the magnifier lupes held at just the right angle to be able to read tool markings! I settled on various versions of slim plastic tackle box type containers to somewhat organize taps and cutters.

 

[hman]

(1) My inch "go to" set. Drill & tap index bought (populated with Cleveland D&Ts) from McDonald Industrial in Albany, OR some years ago - old and dusty on the store shelf, and a real bargain at somwhere in the $100-200 range. The little can on the red base is my "tap dip." It's a vintage 35mm film cassette.

(2) My "equivalent" metric set, I bought the base not too long ago, and had forgotten how many mistakes it had in it (first saw one back in the '70s). But useful nonetheless. I add PVC half-pipes on the sides to store the dies.

(3) A storage drawer set I got (at a garage sale?) a few years ago, for my inch spares, dies, and larger sizes.

(4) Tap and die wrenches, more taps, etc. in plastic bins nearby.
PS - I have a number of odd-pitch metric taps & dies. If anybody needs such an animal, PM me and I'll look to see if I have what you need.

 

[shadetreedad]

One day years ago I got tired of digging through my bucket of taps/dies and grabbed an old 2x12 board and drilled some holes in it for them. Took a couple tries before I got the spacing close to right. Most of them have the taper and a bottoming tap. Metrics are in the Irwin container they came with plus some additions. I still have my spare/extra taps in that bucket.

 

[Aukai]

Some of mine

 

[Liljoebrshooter]

I need to figure out a way to hold my large taps. Just something I have been adding to the collection.

Joe

 

[Barncat]

I did the holes in a board method also. I had been told that they will rust where contacting the wood, but my previous smaller board had taps in it for more than a decade with no rust, so I don’t really worry about that. Maybe all the cutting oil leftover on the taps keep them from rusting.

 

[savarin]

Not owning as many taps and dies as you guys I keep them in the tubes they were purchased in.
I use predominately metric but did amass a reasonably large collection of Whitworth sizes.
To store those I used a 25mmx300mm x400 pine plank, screwed a sheet of thin ply for a lid then used a forstner bit to make the holes for the dies and router bits for three taps and a clearance drill.
They looked very neat and every thing needed was together.
I soaked the wood in clean engine oil for a few days as an anti ruse and that appeared to work fine.
The major problem was I lent it to what I thought was a friend who absconded with the lot so I dont even have a photo of it.
I've been meaning to do it again for all my metric taps etc but I need a round tuit.

 

[DavidR8]

The major problem was I lent it to what I thought was a friend who absconded with the lot so I dont even have a photo of it.

Jeepers, that really sucks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hman]

Good grief!!! With friends like those ... who needs friends?

 

[Superburban]

If taps are not organized which is fine it is nice to have a magnifying glass near by to see the labels on the taps easier.

Having just upgraded to a smart phone, I have been playing and discovered that if you open the cameras, and then zoom in it will focus close enough to read a lot of small print. At least with this Iphone 7.

Great thing to remember at yard sales.