tapping kits

MORIMOTOM

MORIMOTOM

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
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str, or anyone else who may know,

im looking at picking one of these up:

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=49_211_118&products_id=584

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=49_211_121&products_id=592


mainly for repositioning clips. im leaning toward the one with the press, since one of my concerns is keeping the holes straight. im certain it is way more tool than i need, but don't mind dropping $100 if it will do a decent job.

if the cheaper handle-only one would work as well, then of course i would opt for that.

i dont have a drill press or anything similar that i could substitute should anyone suggest i get only the bits.

thx!
 
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I know guys that have done threading for years with a Dewalt cordless drill but they do occassionally break a tap or three. I was one of them until this year when I snagged a tap matic on e-bay for a nice price. Its all in keeping it straight and not putting any lateral pressure on it when spinning it. You have to make sure the debris and burring is off the tap and its best to back up a little and then go forward. One guy once told me, three steps forward two steps back.

The other thing to be aware of at least with titanium is that it tends to gall and stick and even grab the threader the deeper the tap goes. If you go by the book and try using a #50 drill for 2-56 clip threads in titanium you will be frustrated and break taps left and right regardless of what the books say. Typically you have to bump the drill size two steps for titanium so most guys that drill 2-56 for titanium are using #48 drills not #50. On some I know guys that use #47 drills on .160 or more thickness slabs. Its also worth stating that although you can stubbornly force your way deep down and even all the way through on thicker slabs like .125 and above that you should know its not necessary at all. In fact many only take the tapper a good 7 to 10 twists and stop there even with a tap matic by setting the stop on the press so it won't go but so deep.

You can thread for years on thinner stock titanium or stainless and never break a tapper but when you bump up to the thick stuff and just go to town like you do the thinner you can indeed break them. I've done it. Others have. The tapmatic is nice no doubt about it and you'll be darn glad you have something like it if you ever upgrade but its not full proof although its as close as it gets.

I think the kit seems a bit high personally but I don't know what all is in it and didn't really check it. You can buy tappers from micro fasteners and MSC as well as ones specifically made for titanium and the wrenchs in many places. There are carbon taps and there are high speed taps. Both break, but in my experience the HSS taps are better and last longer than the carbon taps, particularly if you have a humid environment where you store them. If you get carbon taps I'd store them in light coats of oil personally. Hope that helps. I'm not the tap guru or anything but I do thread all manner and thickness of just about everything under the sun. :eek:

STR
 
i had linked to the same one in my first post, corrected now.

the more expensive one is still manual. im guessing it is fairly labor intensive, but figure for the amount i would be using it, that is fine.
 
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Yes now I see what you are talking about. That is another story altogether and I'm sure it will work just fine because it will make it very hard to break taps for sure. Thats a fine set up no doubt about it. Its a blessing to many that need it too because not everyone has the $600 plus for a tapmatic or the need to even spend what they are used. Every now and again you find one on ebay for 100 bucks if you are lucky but the problem is that everyone and their brother is looking at it too ready to snipe your bargain. :mad:

I'd have bought that if I had known about it and probably would have skipped purchasing the tapmatic at all since that will do it albeit a little slower. I notice others see the value. Its out of stock currently. Too bad I wouldn't mind having one myself as a back up.

STR
 
thx!!

ill give them a call and see if they plan on having them in stock any time soon.
 
Pretty neat tool! But my tapping problems always happened with getting the hole drilled true - for which you really need a drill press. And if you have a drill press, then you don't need that tapping tool.
 
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