Removing tap on 304 stainless Steel

A

Ang_Panday

Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
574
I just broke tap while trying to install a clip. Is there an effective way to remove the broken tap with out damaging the 304 stainless handle :confused:
 
I have had success in the past with the following method :

Take a drop of Ferro Chloric acid and put it on the broken tap. Give it 20 mins and then give it a good smack with a hammer and punch, it normally pops right out.

On the other hand i have not being able to extract all of them and have a pile of blades and bolsters with broken taps in them too..
 
I have made a few tap extractors before by drilling a small hole in the end of a bolt then grinding the bolt to a point then using a knife edge or triangle file, file slots into the bolt to match the tap ,some taps have two grooves some have three, then tap the bolt over the broken tap and turn it out. Hope this helps ,you can also buy tap extractors in some sizes.
 
WTH is a #45 tap? You mean drill bit?

Places like MSC sell broken tap extractors. They don't always work.

The acid idea should work if you give it enough time. The blade will rot slower than the tap because it is stainless and the tap is not

I set up in a mill vice, from the back of the hole, and use old carbide cutters to drill them out from behind. Sometimes the cutter binds in the tap and screws it out, other times the tap stays frozen, but gets a hole through it, which facilitates busting it up from removal. Obviously you eat up cutters this way, but old dull cutters ain't good for much else.

I've been told that EDM (electrical discharge machining) was invented as a way of removing broken taps. It is now a very important manufacturing process used in the construction of injection molds and other things. Anyway, I've seen tap burners for sell, so perhaps you could find a machine shop with one and have the tap burned out with EDM.

Since I started using a fixture to hold my taps straight, and using Moly-dee tapping oil, I hardly ever break a tap. WD-40 is no tapping fluid, FYI
 
I eat them out with an acid. On some metals (that won't corrode fast), I just stick them in a container of Sparex and in a few days the tap is gone. In other cases, I drop on acid (from FC to HCl ) and let it work ,rinse,reapply,etc. When the tap is eaten a good bit (The threads eat away first), push it out with your drill press and a broken drill bit used as a punch (put in upside down).
As Nathan said, a good tapping tool and a proper tapping fluid go a long way toward avoiding this problem. Hand tapping small holes is just asking for broken taps.
Stacy
 
They don't make tap extractors small enough for most of the screw sizes we work with.

Drilling out from behind works if you can properly line up the holes.

Someone posted a trick on here that I have yet to use. They heated up the part with the broken tap with a torch till it reached critical temp, then let it slowly cool, thus annealing the tap and were able to drill it out.
 
do you have a dremel tool? i used to work at a v twin motorcycle repair shop and had to remove a tap the shop owner had stupidly broke off in a case. i had to take a diamond dentist drill and cut the tap in half in order to remove it. if the tap is in a spot where heating the remains wont hurt, you can heat it up cherry red to soften the tap so you can drill it out. good luck, they can be a bear to remove.
 
i had the same problem on a folder i was making. but i was not using stainless steel but o1. so what i did was heat up the broken tap to red hot and let cool slowley to remove the hardness and then i drilled it out.
 
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