Learned how to tap on a lathe today

Must be nice to have a good lathe. I tapped something like that the other day by clamping a tap in the drill chuck for my tail stock and sliding the tail stuck up against the work piece and holding light pressure with my hand while bumping the lathe. Forget low speed. LOL.

Click/Click Click/Click Click/Click

Its pretty cool though to try something new and have it work isn't it.

I've used a tool like this for many years:

It has a 1/2" shank that fits the tailstock chuck in the lathe and the chuck in the mill. I crank the tap by hand, or stop the tap with a wrench and rotate the lathe chuck by hand. It preserves "feel" and enables "rocking" the tap to break chips, useful in some materials with some tap sizes.

Not a production approach to be sure. I don't do production. It works very nicely for model-shop sort of jobs and tasks.

Avoid using hand taps and you don't have to worry about backing the tap. Assuming you are tapping a through hole, there's nothing quite like a gun plug tap for power tapping. They're commonly referenced as spiral pointed taps. For blind holes, a spiral fluted tap serves the same purpose, as it lifts the chips from the hole instead of packing them in the flutes, which is the chief cause of tap breakage when power tapping by using straight flute taps not intended to be used under power.

Harold

Plus, you can do weird things like making worm wheels with them:

-- Jeff R.

I often do the same thing , but I use the lever on mine to lightly engage the belt drive . Drop it in back gear and away we go . If it stalls or the tap slips in the chuck , it's time to back it out and clear the chips .

That is a bit dangerous for the tap and your work. You must have a torque release in case of bind. I use conventional hand taps and chuck with a standard 1/2' Jacobs drill chuck on the round shank. In case of bind, the shank will slip in the chuck. Steve

release in case of bind. I use conventional hand taps

case of bind, the shank will slip in the chuck.

I use the drill chuck until the tap has cut enough threads to stay straight, then switch to a hand tap wrench short enough to clear the lathe ways or mill column.

have only 3" of quill travel and that type of wrench lets me leave the drill chuck in place.

I've just about used up the 9 lives power-tapping, but I still back it out with power.

jsw

Very cool!

I tap shotgun muzzles for screw in chokes while under power in the lathe.

T Alan, how do you calculate the SPL in db reubar at the threshold of supersonic gas 2 atmospheres peak, cavitation trough?

You did it once before and I can't find it.