Hand tapper

I just received my new tapper from an eBay purchase. It was about $100 delivered and has a #10-3/4" range. The fit/finish isn't great and we had to replace the set screws in the tap holders and drill and tap the threads to 10-24 from what ever bastard Metric size the were. But, I tapped twenty five 1/4-20 holes in 1/2" AL in just a few minutes. I used to tap with a handle that fit on a drill press quill and tightened the tap in the chuck. But that would only go to 1/2" and it was awkward. All said, I should have bought or built one of these 30 years ago! Highly recommended for any shop! I doubt I could build one with tap holders for $100.

Reply to
Tom Gardner
Loading thread data ...

Pics? I've been looking at the model that LittleMachineShop sells for about $90. #6 - 5/8 adapters

Reply to
marc.britten

Me too on everything, Tom. Only thing is, Enco sells these for $79 with free shipping ..

GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

[snippage above]

I can see how one of those would be handy. I've used a BP too many times with either the tap in collet or drill chuck or a spring loaded center locating tap wrench. Don't like to do that with small taps.

Either way the above tends to be a bit slow compared to getting things close enough and using a tapping fixture. Having the side loads that I have to worry about using a tap wrench unsupported canceled by the fixture likely speeds things up a lot.

When I first saw one of these things I thought why would I need that but I've learned to appreciate simple fixtures as I progress.

I'd have one now but my play funds go only so far each week.

Wes

Reply to
Wes

And ... Enco sells sets of tap holders separately. A second set is handy when you're tapping blind holes and finishing them up with bottom taps.

Tove

Reply to
Tove Momerathsson

One of the regular posters a while back, posted a tapping fixture project he made implementing mostly black pipe fittings and some nipples.

I've looked at some old tabletop jigsaws (real jigsaws with the fixed overarm), and thought that they could be used as a tapping fixture. Almost anything that resembles a big rigid C-clamp could be used as the major part of a tapping fixture, providing that a small table can be attached, and that a spindle can be fabricated for holding and turning the tap.

My own improvised tapper is a modification I made to a small bench model drill press. I machined a hub that adapts the spindle pulley to accept a crank (holesaw made the opening in the top half of the belt cover). It seems to work fine and doesn't require the additional space that a separate machine would.

WB ......... metalworking projects

formatting link

Reply to
Wild_Bill

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.