Recommendations for a mini set of taps?
There are some on amazon, though the quality seems to be pretty low. Not looking to do anything crazy, just fix the holes in some knife scales. Cheap is the word...
>>992583
Save yourself a headache and get some 3n1 oil instead of the wd40.
>>992583
Cheap taps and dies (like any generic ones, and even those name-brand sold at retail hardware stores) are generally really shitty quality. They break really easily, yet even with lube they require like TWICE the torque to drive them. Plus they don't usually say the size tolerances.
My advice:
Go to a machinist supply website, and just order the specific sizes of taps and dies that you need. They cost more each but you can just get the ones you need, so the total cost is not high and you get much-better-quality taps and dies.
Dies can be made from HSS or carbon steel, but taps should *always* be HSS. The reason is that HSS is tougher and more-resistant to breaking, and this is more important with a tap than a die.
Taps and dies from machinist sites let you specify the "fit", which is the part clearance between the "screw" threads and the "hole" threads. I normally buy 2H taps and split dies. (the die fit of a split die is adjustable). REEEAALLYYY tiny taps & dies may not offer different fits at all.
You can use any oil for cleaning up threads or cutting threads in most metals, just use something. Even vegetable oil works. For hard steel or stainless steel, get proper tapping fluid.
Hand tap sets will have 3 taps each of the same thread size.
I usually buy spiral-point taps, but they are plug taper and can be difficult to start in a hole without some method to guide them. I have a drill press and milling machine for that.
>>992583
small taps are not where u want to cheap out on OP, you will break them off inside holes and totally wreck whatever youre working on
>>992614
>so the total cost is not high and you get much-better-quality taps and dies
One good tap easily costs more than some shit kit.
But yeah, they really work much better.
>>992593
that was from king of the hill, homeslice
>>992614
I have larger sizes, craftsman and kobalt (I believe) and they're worked just fine so far...the smallest size I have is just a touch too big
3 in 1 and motor oil have been fine for me, even saved a contact solution bottle for easy dispensing
>>992627
I'm hoping the fact that I only plan on using them on soft materials will help prevent that
>>992631
I bought a tap a while back so I could make attachments for the threads on a dremel, it wasn't too much on ebay
I also looked before for a tap for GHT, but those all seemed really expensive
>>992634
>I'm hoping the fact that I only plan on using them on soft materials will help prevent that
they will still break because they do not have proper chip breakers. Ive gone to home hardware and tried their name brand shit. it literally costs as much as a good tap and works 1/10th as well. Save yourself the headache and do it right.
Or don't i guess
My local hardware store has Irwin Hanson USA made tap and dies.
Ive actually thought about buying them just to have them, but just havent done it. Are they any good?
I usually wouldnt buy anything irwin because its all shit now, but its still USA made so they havent cheaped out on these particular tools yet
>>992640
who else would carry small taps and not charge out the butt? I think the smallest I have is a 6-32
I don't know which name brands you are referring to, but I think most people who have issues are either using them wrong or are trying to use them on something that is beyond their intended capacity
WD40 for tapping? Fuck that.
And small taps break just by looking at them wrong. Use plenty of lube, go slow, back up often to clear chips.
>>992643
They're fine for hardware store stuff. Hanson taps are pretty standard. Not amazing but not shit.
>>992634
Soft material is almost worse. It clogs and sticks. Especially plastic. Any bit of heat and it's a gummed up mess.
>>992634
Wow yeah a GHT tap on McMaster is $85. Ouch.
>>992583
These guys are being massive elitist faggots. Unless you are trying to tap tough steels any shit tap set will work as long as you use them right.
1. Make sure your fucking tap is straight and lined up with the hole, the easiest way to do this is to put a dead center in the machine that you used to drill the hole and have it push into a dimple in the back of the tap wrench. You will need a good tap wrench, the ones that come with kits are shit and hold the tap off center so badly that you could measure it in millimeters.
2. Keep a little cup of cutting fluid and dip your tap into it before you use it.
3. For every half turn, back out the tap a 1/4 turn then go forward a 1/4 turn and repeat. You have to keep doing this or the metal chips will jam the tap and is guaranteed to break it.
4. Drill the proper sized hole. Use a chart to find the proper drill diameter, if you don't have the weird sizes like a letter F drill then go one size up, never smaller.
A couple more things, the dies that come with sets are usually extremely shit.. and if you needed to actually use a die, you probably wouldn't need to get advice on /diy/. If you are going to be using taps to build custom tooling then you don't need a set, stick to one or two regular sizes like 10-32 and 1/4-20 and buy the taps for those. Avoid metric if you live in north america.
>>992674
read post above holmes
>>992678
heat?
>>992706
I've just done it all by hand so far...I do have a nicer wrench, but it doesn't work for the small sizes
I do already do all that stuff...I got a set of metric bits as well, though I try to use standard whenever possible
unfortunately the included die wrench from the set is nearly useless; I'll look into getting a better one when I eventually run into a project to use them on
>Avoid metric if you live in north america.
not going to be a problem (although when we're talking about screws 1/4" or less, they're going to be metric)
>>992721
Tapping causes friction. Frictions causes heat. Heat melts plastics.
>>992721
>heat?
Even seemingly free-moving cutting can generate a good bit of heat. Ever use a scraper and take a beefy, fast cut on a piece of steel? Even doing it by hand, you can generate a puff of smoke. The first time I saw it myself, I was in disbelief.
>>992644
Be careful with 6-32, it's a shitty thread to cut with a tap, even in EZmodo materials make it about 5 thou above the standard drill size
>>992740
Ugh. 6-32 is a bastard of a tap.
>>992723
I was running a 1.5" tap at work yesterday. Made the mistake of grabbing the tap to remove it from the holder.
Now I have 2nd degree burns on my hand.
>>992583
Nope. They all break.
>>992738
Different anon here, nuts and bolts will even heat up if they're seized. It's not too uncommon for me to be using a very large breaker bar, slowly turning fasteners loose with all my might, and then picking it up once removed with it being warm to the touch. And this is at slow speeds, maybe a complete turn a minute if even. There's a ton of energy being transfered.
>>992706
>These guys are being massive elitist faggots. Unless you are trying to tap tough steels any shit tap set will work as long as you use them right.
nah, some of us have just used cheapo department-store taps, and then used taps bought at machinist supply places. the machinist ones work way better--they simply turn in with much less torque. plus there are special varieties that may work a lot better.
I am USAfag and I usually get the Hertel or Interstate brands from Enco.
>3. For every half turn, back out the tap a 1/4 turn then go forward a 1/4 turn and repeat. You have to keep doing this or the metal chips will jam the tap and is guaranteed to break it.
Protip:
buy spiral-POINT taps from a machinist supply place; they are just better overall. You don't back them up normally, you spin them forward all the way through. Plus they are strongest & most resistant to breaking.
spiral-FLUTE taps are for tapping into blind holes. They look like a drill bit with threads around the outside. you can use them as hand taps but they tend to break easier than spiral-point taps do, since the spiral-flute tap body must be made thinner.
pic related: straight, spiral-point and spiral-flute taps from Enco. I have all three kinds around but mostly I buy and use spiral-points.
When buying machinist-style taps----where it says "ground thread limit"----get H2 or H3 taps. A lower number is tighter and a higher number is looser. H2~3 is typical hardware-store hardware fit. H0 (zero) is aircraft-style fit (interference fit) where you cannot spin the bolts into the threads by hand at all. You have to use lube and a tool to twist them in.
,,,,
In aircraft, this tight bolt fit is done to make sure that the bolt won't ever rattle out if it wasn't tightened completely. But you must oil the threads any time you spin the bolt, or the threads will gall and seize--and then you gotta cut or drill the whole dang bolt off and put a new one in.
