Tapping head

[dickda1]

Here goes another thought that has been rattling around in my head forever.  I never asked it before because this is the first forum that I have been on where I feel there are people who could actually give an informed opinion.

I am basically pretty cheap and would prefer to build rather than buy almost always.

I have seen and heard good things about Tapmatic heads for more than 40 years and always choked on their price, even used.

Anyone tried a cheap tapping head from a place like CDCO?  I assume that a tapping head is a particularly precise instrument that would not take kindly to poor construction.  Has anyone here tried to build one?  What do the internals of this device look like that make reversing operation possible?  I envision some sort of heat treated sun gear that would be outside normal home workshop methods.

-Dick

[Bogstandard]

These may be available in the US.

I use this one from Vertex. They do a range of sizes that will do taps from 2mm to 25mm, getting more expensive the larger you go. Plain or MT shank, I use the plain in a collet. Much cheaper than the normal tapping heads.

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/5-10-mm-Auto-Reverse-Tapping-Attachment.html

They work perfectly for me when I have a row of threads to be tapped in the mill.


Bogs

BTW, mine didn't come with a drill chuck mounted, but with a proper tap holder, and this one will definitely hold and cut with up to a 12mm tap.

[Bryan]

There are some pictures of one dismantled here: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/piper-tapping-chuck-134089/, along with some discussion of how it works. I'm not sure how typical that particular one is though.

[Lew_Merrick_PE]

Here goes another thought that has been rattling around in my head forever.  I never asked it before because this is the first forum that I have been on where I feel there are people who could actually give an informed opinion.

I am basically pretty cheap and would prefer to build rather than buy almost always.

I have seen and heard good things about Tapmatic heads for more than 40 years and always choked on their price, even used.

Anyone tried a cheap tapping head from a place like CDCO?  I assume that a tapping head is a particularly precise instrument that would not take kindly to poor construction.  Has anyone here tried to build one?  What do the internals of this device look like that make reversing operation possible?  I envision some sort of heat treated sun gear that would be outside normal home workshop methods.

Dick,

I see them from time-to-time at Harbor Freight and the like.  There is an Indian-made tapping head that sells for (about) $100.  I was given one for testing (one of my college classmates was working in the Indian MITI back in the early-/mid-1990's and was always sending me things to evaluate for him as he could not trust his subordinates to not try to curry his favor) about 20 years ago.  If you take them apart, clean up the gears (mine were incredibly burred!), stone the edges of the sockets that fit to the rubber collets, and do general maintenance, they work just fine.  Yes, I prefer my Tapmatic heads.  They are better tools.  But the Indian unit sits in my drill press and has tapped tens of thousands of holes very nicely for me.  I probably strip it apart, clean it, and lubricate it every (say) 5000 or so holes.

[dickda1]

Decided to order a Vertex head from Chronos.  Since I am not paying VAT, with postage it still beats most good used heads that I can buy over here.  Been a while since I bought stuff from the UK other than the Model Engineer.  Thanks for the pointer John.

-Dick

[Trion]

What size did you buy?
I´m curious to know what one would recommend. Is it preferable to use the tapping head for large heavy to cut threads or to use it for small delicate ones where it is easy to break the tap by hand?

[Bogstandard]

Trion,

Normally, tapping heads come ready for a certain range, so should be perfectly OK to carry out tapping within that range.

You have to look at what you will be doing in your shop, and buy to suit.

I found that most of my tapping range requirement is between 5 and 10mm, so I went with that. It will hold a slightly larger 12mm tap and does work OK, but for smaller sizes, I would tap either by hand or using my tapping stand, with which I can quite easily and safely tap down to 1.5mm, never having to go any lower, but I suppose it would do just as good a job.

Tapping heads come into their own when you have a lot of holes to do, and IMHO, would be a waste of money if you did just the odd one or two.

Also, I do have a 3/8" drive butterfly pneumatic wrench fitted with a tap holder, and that works absolutely great for items you can't get under the mill spindle, in fact last week, I used it to tap out some holes in the aluminium framed fabric canopies around my house, standing at the top of a step ladder. I don't think I could have done it if I was trying to do the job by hand, they were done in a matter of seconds, well before I hit my pain barrier.


Bogs

[dickda1]

I went with the 5-10mm tapper.
Dick

[Trion]

Thanks lads, that makes sense. I'll be looking out for one that goes from 6-12 or something then

[Blade]

Tapping heads are a great time saver, you are going to love it. I have to tap at least three holes on most of my knives and up to fifteen on some of them, 0-80, 1-72 and 2-56 mostly, I couldn't imagine not having my tapmatic,

[kvom]

Can a tapping head tap blind holes?