Flea market tap and die set

[Batmanacw]

I usually find some ridiculously good deals wandering around the flea market on the weekends. This time I talked myself into a pretty expensive purchase.

This GTD Little Giant No 7 tap and die set caught my eye.... the tap handle is not native to the set, but I hoped that it would hold bigger taps than my Threadwell no. 37. The dies look almost completely unused. The 2.75" die handle had some cosmetic damage but is in very useable shape. It's missing the smaller tap handle too. Not that I need it. He was asking $60.

When I went back to look some more his price dropped to $50. It seemed like a lot for something I don't really need.

Well......



Each die is guided to keep the die straight.



The tap handle is quality. It will only accept up to 1 1/8" taps... Still pretty nice. I hope Ira appreciates the value I place on his tools. I really respect these tools.




It wasn't a smoking deal, but it is a useful addition to the shop and now I can use 2 3/4" dies. I won't pass on anymore big dies for next to nothing anymore. Lol.

 

[Batmanacw]

The proper tap handles are specific no. 5 and no. 7 handles, but not the same style as the one that came with the set. The proper handles are rounded instead of concave. They are crazy expensive on eBay. It would cost over $120 to buy both right now.

I'll have to wait until they pop up at the flea market.

 

[ltlvt]

I have 2 complete sets of Greenfield. 1 set is course and 1 set is fine. I have new taps and dies that I use most of the time but the Greenfield is hard to beat. I love mine. 1 set even has the original day the owner marked inside the wooden case. 1943. I was not even thought of them I am a 1952 model. Let's see how many Vevor tap and die sets are still around 81 years from now. I have a full set of the Vevor taps and dies and the dies are $hit. Taps are not bad but I rarely use them. But they sure look good in their nice steel case. LOL BTW the Vevor die holders are ****ty as well. OOps the dirty word cops caught me. LOL

 

[Batmanacw]

Around and hour of wire wheel time and it looks tons better. The 1/4-20 ,5/16-18, and 7/16-14 taps are only good for chasing threads. The 5/8-11 is a good GTD replacement. The rest are good to go.



I do want to complete the set someday.

 

[ltlvt]

Around and hour of wire wheel time and it looks tons better. The 1/4-20 ,5/16-18, and 7/16-14 taps are only good for chasing threads. The 5/8-11 is a good GTD replacement. The rest are good to go.

View attachment 500940

I do want to complete the set someday.

I will take a few pictures of mine today. I never have cleaned them up yet. Just got busy and never have done it yet.

 

[Batmanacw]

It was tough finding a place to put the tap and die set where it wouldn't get buried. I hate stacking stuff and then needing to un-bury it to use it.

 

[mmcmdl]

I do want to complete the set someday.

I'll be home in a week !

 

[Batmanacw]

5/8-11 on hot roll.





3/4-10 on mystery gummy steel



It likes lots of oil.

Seriously though....I'm nerding out big time. So easy to adjust the fit. Cuts fairly easily. Once you get to 3/4" you need a pretty firm grip on the rod. Lol! There is a bunch of torque involved.


I had a guy who wanted me to extend the threads another inch on a bunch of old bolts. I quoted him $10 each long before I had this set. Die cutting threads that big is a work out for sure. I'm glad he decided not to.

 

[Eddyde]

$50 is the new $20 so it looks like a pretty good score to me!