I've Had It! (Drill Chuck Blues)

[MrWhoopee]

I thought it was just me!

Could you use a hand tap wrench? Pull the rod out and mill a hex on the end so it won't slip in the chuck? ...just a thought.

View attachment 476607

That's what I've been doing. I have a pair of the spindle tappers, but there's just so much up and down between drilling and tapping.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I use a ball bearing drill chuck the tap will not slip. It will break if did to mush tighten.

Dave

Just received my new import ball-bearing chuck. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[Advil]

A few options outside the box being discussed:
Maybe an upgrade to the mill with a power drawbar for fast tool switches? Or maybe even better for this problem a cheap pneumatic tapping arm? Then you don't have to tap with the mill spindle at all and keep it set up to drill. A Tapmatic head as someone suggested earlier is nice, but would cost a lot more than a basic tapping arm and you'd still have to swap back and forth between drilling and tapping.

Your comment about the spindle tappers (which are a pretty good solution) being too much up and down makes me think you are doing a LOT of these tapped holes. Enough of them to maybe invest at least a little in a more dedicated tapping solution?

 

[AGCB97]

I've got one like this.

TAPMATIC 30 TC/DC REVERSIBLE TAPPING ATTACHMENT | eBay

1/2" straight shank #0-1/4" maximum capacity. Mx rpm 2000.

www.ebay.com

$100 and a flat rate box will get it to your house.

 

[DeanB]

I have a set of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SWH3O24/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Standard 3/8 square drive and hold the tap very well. I got a set of HF extensions, cut one off and it's large enough to lock up solid in my chuck.