Anyone use a tapping guide?

[MickeyDBC]

Sounds like you are making enough of these to outsource them to a real machine shop. If you ordered 500+ of them someone could bar pull them, drill, tap, and then tumble deburr these for $1.75 each.

 

[crazyal]

I'd love to have a hand tapping machine like this one at Grizzly, Hand Tapping Machine | Grizzly Industrial

They look nice but with my luck the part I would want to tap would be just a fraction of an inch too large to fit on it.

A little late but one of these is handy also. Its actually two pieces with the top being removable.

I tried looking for one but couldn't find one. It looks like it's just a variation of the Brown&Sharp tool. One uses the center of the tap handle while the one you pictured uses the outside of the tap handle and the top piece to center it. Does the top part stay attached when using it or is it always loose? The only down side to the B&Sharp is that without a power feed I'm going to be using one hand to turn the tap and the other to put pressure on the tap using the drill press. Depending on how stiff the spring is on the B&Sharp I could use the drill press stop to hold it in place but I would rather not for this application as they are basically just nuts that you have to turn by hand. It's actually pretty time consuming and I would have to do it each time.

 

[crazyal]

I'd love to have a hand tapping machine like this one at Grizzly, Hand Tapping Machine | Grizzly Industrial

A little late but one of these is handy also. Its actually two pieces with the top being removable.

Sounds like you are making enough of these to outsource them to a real machine shop. If you ordered 500+ of them someone could bar pull them, drill, tap, and then tumble deburr these for $1.75 each.

I'm making a lot of them but I only making a half dozen at a time. The real problem is they are being used with a small lazy suzan bearing. So far even the American made ones are really lacking in quality. I've tried both pressed steel and aluminum ones and they have too much play. On the pressed steel ones I can use my hydraulic press and tighten them up but getting them tight but not too tight is more art than skill. So I'm going to come up with a different solution. A trust bearing would work but I haven't finalized a good design yet. A pillow block flange bearing might work but I think they may be too thick. I have about 20 more of the lazy susan bearings to use up (each requires two of the aluminum disks) and once they are close to being used up I'll try some different ideas.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

The only down side to the B&Sharp is that without a power feed I'm going to be using one hand to turn the tap and the other to put pressure on the tap using the drill press. Depending on how stiff the spring is on the B&Sharp I could use the drill press stop to hold it in place but I would rather not for this application as they are basically just nuts that you have to turn by hand. It's actually pretty time consuming and I would have to do it each time.

I've used those for years when I was a tool & die maker. The spring is not stiff at all. Just stiff enough to hold the tap handle in place. You could push it down with your finger if you want a nice poke... The stop on the drill press should hold it no problem.

 

[crazyal]

I've used those for years when I was a tool & die maker. The spring is not stiff at all. Just stiff enough to hold the tap handle in place. You could push it down with your finger if you want a nice poke... The stop on the drill press should hold it no problem.

I'm hoping that for speed purposes I can dip the tap in oil and use one had to turn the tap handle and the other hand on the drill press to push down.

 

[TMGT]

I'm hoping that for speed purposes I can dip the tap in oil and use one had to turn the tap handle and the other hand on the drill press to push down.

Shouldn't be a problem, I use one in my mill.
Typically I put some tension and lock the quill on the mill to get the tap started but on small taps I've had no problem holding the quill with one hand and tapping with the other.

 

[ddbackhoe]

They look nice but with my luck the part I would want to tap would be just a fraction of an inch too large to fit on it.



I tried looking for one but couldn't find one. It looks like it's just a variation of the Brown&Sharp tool. One uses the center of the tap handle while the one you pictured uses the outside of the tap handle and the top piece to center it. Does the top part stay attached when using it or is it always loose? The only down side to the B&Sharp is that without a power feed I'm going to be using one hand to turn the tap and the other to put pressure on the tap using the drill press. Depending on how stiff the spring is on the B&Sharp I could use the drill press stop to hold it in place but I would rather not for this application as they are basically just nuts that you have to turn by hand. It's actually pretty time consuming and I would have to do it each time.

Instead of the B&S , I have just used a spring loaded center punch. You dont need down pressure to run a tap in so on the one I posted, the cap gets chucked up and holds the tap handle centered over the hole. On the one pictured, a 1/2 handle, you have 5/8 of travel and you can use a live center or .... with them. I probably got mine through MSC or McMaster Carr.

 

[Big Barn]

They look nice but with my luck the part I would want to tap would be just a fraction of an inch too large to fit on it.

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Yes. You are pretty much limited to the the throat clearance same as you would a drill press’s capacity.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I thought maybe a junk drill press from CL could be converted to be like the Grizzly machine. Don't do enough tapping myself to make it worthwhile.

 

[Big Barn]

Me neither but for $50 ( aprx $37 USD) I couldn’t pass it up.