Tapping questions

Steve B · 2007-03-20T16:43:51+00:00

I did some drilling and tapping yesterday. I only broke one bit and one tap.What's the tips on not breaking taps? I would do a quarter turn, then back out an eighth. Then repeat. At first when I broke the tap, I'd just do a quarter turn. I was using a 1/4" x 20 NC tap. I would also ass-u-me that taps less than a certain diameter would be easier to break, as bigger ones would require a lot more torque. (I can break anything.)Does oil make any difference? How many holes will a tap do? I was doing 3/8" thick, and I know tap life will be relational to the thickness. But just a guess. These were decent taps I got at Ace.Also, are the taps self aligning in the hole.? It seemed that they would follow the hole after they got started, but there at first, you have to work to get them started, and sometimes they are a little cockeyed. Do they need to be exact straight on, or just as good as you can do, and then they straighten themselves after they go in?Steve

Mar 20, 2007 40 Replies

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clutch 19 years ago

Boiling in water containing alum.

Wes

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