TAP PROBLEM

FWIW: I use a lot of the Irwin Taps, and they do... alright. You have to be particularly careful with them, particularly with the smaller ones, and have a REALLY good feel for when they are about to break (OR, invest in a set of Wilton broken tap removers). I buy them because they are what is available locally... I rarely want to give up on a project for a week because I don't have the right tap size.
 
It has to be a leaning curve for the OP and all tap users. We offer our opinion. I have tried those cheap taps that dull fast and break off, used tap removers that sometimes work, but after using an industrial grade tap made for professionals. You will get it. Hobbyist are cheap by nature but quality cutting tools be it an insert or a tap you will get it. Google the site below and can see the tap he is using is a Plug tap not a bottom tap. Usually a good tap is shinny and the chap ones are not. I will never buy a cheap one again as I learned my lessons years ago. Scroll to minute 3:40
 
Richard King 2 said:
It has to be a leaning curve for the OP and all tap users. We offer our opinion. I have tried those cheap taps that dull fast and break off, used tap removers that sometimes work, but after using an industrial grade tap made for professionals. You will get it. Hobbyist are cheap by nature but quality cutting tools be it an insert or a tap you will get it. Google the site below and can see the tap he is using is a Plug tap not a bottom tap. Usually a good tap is shinny and the chap ones are not. I will never buy a cheap one again as I learned my lessons years ago. Scroll to minute 3:40
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Oh, I gotcha completely! If I had a source of GOOD taps locally, I would have those. Unfortunately my tap drawer is filled with Irwins because I buy them as I need them :/
 
What brand of tap is in the photo? It looks a little tired, and there are no markings visible on it. There appear to be some nicks on the teeth. There is a huge difference between good taps and bad taps. There is not as much difference in price. We had some tapping problems at work. Seems that the "Made in USA" tap that was bought at Lowes were chewing out threads that caused the screws to strip out. One of the guys went to Fastenal and bought a "Made in China" tap which was 100X the tap, and it looked better. There were some complaints about paying $8 for one good tap, but the bad tap goofed up a $100 door part, and ended up taking a long time to do it. So, we got 1 bad hole from the Lowes tap and 50 good holes from the good tap in less time per hole. The material was 304 stainless.
 
ErichKeane said:
Oh, I gotcha completely! If I had a source of GOOD taps locally, I would have those. Unfortunately my tap drawer is filled with Irwins because I buy them as I need them :/
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There aren't many places outside the major metropolitan areas that have a good source for cutting or threading tools. I buy 99.9% of my drills and taps either from McMaster or on eBay. eBay is less expensive by far, and I use them whenever they have what I'm looking for. I use McMaster for the times I need them in a hurry or they aren't available on eBay. McMaster is expensive, but you know you'll always get a quality product, and in my case it's next day delivery.

If you're considering eBay have a list of the sizes and types of taps you need. Look over the vendors and pick one with a good track record and good prices. There are a number of vendors that specialize in buying excess stock, and from closing businesses, or those that are changing their focus. Buy by the package whenever possible. You may not need 6 or 10 of a particular size today, but you undoubtedly will in the future. Prices by the pack are in almost all cases considerably cheaper by the unit than buying individuals.

In the past 2 years I've bought nearly 100 taps, and over 260 drills on eBay. The most expensive taps were spiral flute bottoming taps at a little less than $5.00 ea. Most were in the $2.00 to $3.00 range, and all were name brands mentioned in an earlier post. The drills were also all name brands, and far less expensive per unit than the hardware store brands.

I keep my list handy and search eBay for the items I need on a fairly regular basis. I only buy when the price is right, and only by the pack to reduce cost. Once you build up a decent inventory you can set an order point and order quantity. I usually reorder when a particular size gets down to 1 or 2 units. Then if it takes a week or so to get the order I still can continue to work with what's in stock.
 
Nobody is cheaper more frugal than I am. I will take a chance on cheap tooling 9 out of 10 times. The 10th time is with taps. The only carbon steel taps (and dies) that I have are in a metric set I bought at a yard sale because it had standard and fine pitches for that unusual situation. I actually used an M6x.75 tap in aluminum to make some special nozzles for my oilers. It worked.

Instead of waiting 'til I have the need, I've ordered several lots of assorted HSS taps and dies off eBay, trying to get all the standards in UNC, UNF and metric. I have gotten some odd ones and duplications, but at about $2 per I don't mind. It's 40 miles to the nearest "decent" hardware store, and I wouldn't buy a tap there unless it was an emergency.
 
speaking of taps, I just made my 1st die part today but had a hard time getting the part to the right size so the die would catch on, yes the part was chamferd>>>>>>>> how can you tell when the part that needs threads is the right size so the die will start????


changing gears>>>>>>>>> yes Ive looked on fleabay at prices and was amazed the diffrence between HSS and carbon !!! which confirms what you guys keep pounding in my brain. dont worry Ill get it one of these days.......!

changing gears again>>>>>>>that 3/8 16 project has been bugging me so I went to "Tacoma screw and looked at taps. but most were bottom or plug types, I was advised to get a taper tap from someone here for that project but they didnt have any so didnt get anything, maybe I was wrong but didnt wanna waste the $$ to get back home and find out I got the wrong one. that project still bugs me and needs to be finished. well lets see have a missed anything??? ohya , the part I did today was 6061 and turned out pretty well so the nut went right on, but the threads were a bit shallow at 1st so I spun the die again. for a better job
 
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Pretty sure you can find all the info you need online for every dimension possible for threads. If you are going to be doing machining I'd recommend you get a copy of the Machinist's Handbook. It can be an older used one since most of the revision stuff has to do with CNC. Buy the full sized version. The tool box version has such small print it is hard to read. Spend a week thumbing through it to get to know what is available. Almost all parts for threading start off a bit under the nominal size.
 
You think that a carbon steel tap is cheap? Spend 6 hours trying to remove a broken CS tap from a part you have 25+ hours into. If your time has any value to you, you'll find that spending the extra for a HSS tap really makes sense (and saves cents!).
 
A plug tap will work. A taper tap is just a lot easier to start. While I'm on the subject, it is quite important to get a tap started straight, I. E, @ 90 degrees. If not the tap will try to drill it's way into the side of the hole and bind up (and break!) If you are using a mill or drill press, don't move anything after you drill. Put the tap into the chuck and manually turn the spindle to get the tap started straight. You can use the end of the chuck key to help turn for a few threads. Then put the tap handle on and proceed as normal. A tap follower is cheap and worth it if you are using the mill where you can keep alignment by just lowering the bed or raising the quill. Get a name brand so it doesn't have a lot of slop. Bigger taps have a centering hole, Taps used with a collet type handle get to use the recess in the tap handle. Dead easy to get started straight.
 
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