Tap brass oil

[Mike1955]

What kind of oil do I supposed to use to tap brass?

 

[number two]

Brass is soft enough that I've never used any lube for taping.
Maybe tell us more about you're doing?
Good Luck!

 

[Mike1955]

Thank you number two. A little about my task. I needed a knob for my shifter on my d2 cat crawler. My stick is three eights fine threads. I found the ideal knob but didn’t notice it was course threads until I went to install it. So today I bought a tap set at harbor freight and I hope I can run this fine thread tap in there and install this new knob on my shifter stick. And I’ll put some jb weld in there when I screw it on. I don’t know how well it will work, but I got the knob and need to try something. Got a better idea? Let me know

 

[rangerfredbob]

For that I wouldn't worry about lube, brass is very nice to work with, your plan with JB weld will likely be necessary but should work fine for a shift knob...

 

[Mike1955]

Well I thank you for passing judgement on it. It’s either try something or just get another with proper threads. That thing is difficult to shift at times. We will see how well it serves the test of time. I’m improving the looks of this thing one step at a time and I love my dozer

 

[D&D]

A coating of light oil (wd40, sewing machine oil, etc) is just as much for the tool. I like the sticks like tap ease and tap magic, a little less mess in the shop.

Waxx Stick - Tap Magic

Do you have a tough metal cutting application that won’t allow for liquid lubricants? Do you want to extend the life of your tooling and improve the precision of your work? Tap Magic has now created their high-performance formula in a solid stick form for those jobs where a liquid just won’t...

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Tap-Ease, Lubricant Stick

Reduce friction and heat during threading with AGS Tap-Ease Lubricant Stick. 4.3 oz wax-based formula for cleaner cuts and longer tool life.

www.agscompany.com

 

[bigtiller]

I'm running your game plan through my head because I have never tried doing it. Is jb weld tuff enough to do the job and not crumble? If it fails, will the threads on the shifter be damaged?

It's worth a try and it just might work, but I think I would take the safe road and look for another knob.

 

[rangerfredbob]

JB should hold, will likely stick to the shifter harder than the brass but worst case you would still be able to run a die down the threads on the shifter, I don't think it's "that" risky, there's going to be some void where there are threads that don't need to be there on the female side, the root diameter of fine threads is bigger than coarse threads so it is better than the other way... The "right" way to do this would be a helicoil type thread insert, but it's just a shifter, even some loctite (probably red but blue would likely be good enough) should be sufficient to hold it on for use

 

[JJT]

Tap it and put it on with either locktite, teflon tape or gasket adhesive. It's a shifter knob, not a structural member, don't over analyze it. If it come loose, upgrade the adhesive.

 

[Mike1955]

I'm running your game plan through my head because I have never tried doing it. Is jb weld tuff enough to do the job and not crumble? If it fails, will the threads on the shifter be damaged?

It's worth a try and it just might work, but I think I would take the safe road and look for another knob.

Big tiller you are most likely right. Ones I seen on eBay are expensive by my standards, for a knob. The hole size for a 3/8 fine thread is 21/64 bit I don’t think I own one. That’s a 64th bigger than a 5/16 which is what I have. And I’m having a problem getting my harbor freight bottoming tap to start this work. So at this point I’m at a stand still

JB should hold, will likely stick to the shifter harder than the brass but worst case you would still be able to run a die down the threads on the shifter, I don't think it's "that" risky, there's going to be some void where there are threads that don't need to be there on the female side, the root diameter of fine threads is bigger than coarse threads so it is better than the other way... The "right" way to do this would be a helicoil type thread insert, but it's just a shifter, even some loctite (probably red but blue would likely be good enough) should be sufficient to hold it on for use

rangerfred it didn’t work like I thought. I only had a bottoming tap and it didn’t start yet due to the hole not hardly big enough. I can buy a knob for an Oliver tractor with the correct threads on eBay for five bucks and about that much shipping. I’m not in a hurry I just wanted it fixed So I’ll order it when I get settled tonight. One with the big Cat is 75 bucks. The one I have don’t have Cat on it either. Not many things work out as planned for me but they always work out. Thanks a million to all helpful posters

 

[AWSubie]

Post pictures of the knob! Inquiring
Minds want to see!

 

[jonathentyquan]

What kind of oil do I supposed to use to tap brass? Nox Vidmate VLC

Maybe tell us more about you're doing?

 

[Mike1955]

Jonathan I had just about given up and ordered one with correct threads. You know how much trouble to sit down and order, especially one thing. Back to what I was doing….my shifter knob was broken on a little cat tractor I bought. One brand new came with it in a pack brand new. My shifter has three eights fine threads. The new knob has course threads. I got a tap and I cannot get it to start and tap it to the fine threads. So I’m on the fence as to just buying the new, I’m also at the drawing board as to how to tap the fine threads over the course threads I ask YOUR thoughts. Thank you

 

[rangerfredbob]

Dumb question possibly, but what quality of tap? A good tap bought in a single pack at a hardware store or one of the cheap sets from Harbor Freight or something? I just tried to tap steel to 3/8" fine with one of the taps from the dedicated Standard tap sets from Harbor Freight and it made some threads but the steel wore down the tap. The 3/8" fine tap from their metric/standard set was LEAPS better and works as taps are supposed to, even looked better...

Starting a bottoming tap in an already threaded hole is goin to be a pain, you need a good standard taper tap

 

[Mike1955]

Well it was a bottoming tap in a set from harbor freight. I think the drilling size is one sixtyforth bigger than a five sixteenth which is what I have. I wasn’t going to tell that and just see what posts I would get on here! So the problem is I don’t have proper stuff. And I trying something I shouldn’t be doing. But sometimes I hit it just right and it works. Thanks

 

[Beaver Cove Deere]

What kind of oil do I supposed to use to tap brass?

You don’t need to use any oils cutting brass by blade, endmill, threading or drilling. I loved machining it letting the chips fly.

In fact when drilling the bit prefers a 0degree or slight flat face on the cutting edge.
Brass loves to catch so clamping is not a stupid move depending on what you’re doing.