# Home Built Tap Wrench Project



## MozamPete

I have broken a couple of tap wrench over the years - while I have some good quality taps, all my tap wrenches are rubbish.  So today I decided to try and build my own base on a blatant rip off of the Starrett No.91 style.

Started with a bit of 28mm dia. scrap round stock.


Turned down one end to 12mm dia, for the adjusting side handle.


and the other to 15mm dia. for the fixed handle.



Knurled the fixed handle.



and drilled the adjusting side handle for the plunger.


and that was the lathe work on the body complete


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## Silverbullet

Lookin good so far, now ya need to make several more sizes to complete the collection.


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## MozamPete

That's the plan if the first one works out OK.


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## Matabele

Looks good so far!


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## MozamPete

Got a couple of hours in the workshop tonight and managed to make and fit the adjusting handle.  Turned down another piece of the same stock so ended up with more chips than part.

Turned down the 28mm stock to 15mm



Knurled it to match the fixed handle



And after some drilling and tapping I had my adjusting handle.  Trimmed the corresponding handle of the main body down and threaded it to suit.



And they fit like they were made for each other.


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## MozamPete

As the next task is milling the middle flat, and due to my garage/workshop layout it is easier to use the lathe for a little work in an evening than the mill (basically to use the mill I have to move the kids bikes out of the garage), it will probably wait until the weekend.  So instead  I made a start on it's big brother.

This one is from 40mm diameter stock, about 400mm long (the longest I can turn between my chuck and the  tailstock with a live centre installed)


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## Matabele

Im interested to see how this tool works, I'm not familiar with the No.91. The knurling looks good, nicely done.


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## Andre

Looking good, I should make one sometime.


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## MozamPete

Matabele said:


> Im interested to see how this tool works, I'm not familiar with the No.91. The knurling looks good, nicely done.


Basically there is a spring loaded plunger down the center of the adjusting handle that will be the movable jaw of the chuck, and the side of the hole in the middle (still to be drilled) will be the fixed jaw. As you screw the adjusting handle on it presses on the plunger and advances the jaw.

For the plunger I intend to use a piece of drill rod attached to the end for the actual jaw so it can be hardened - could just make the whole plunger from drill rod but I'm cheap so will use scrap for most of its length and just a short piece of drill rod for the actual jaw.

Basic idea of the design is as shown below


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## compsurge

Looks great. I was just thinking today about making a tap handle as well!


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## MozamPete

I think it is  quite an elegant design (still have to finish it and confirm that it works). Ignoring the spring - which we all have a container full of salvaged from dead devices - it is only three component to manufacture. And the body can be 90% finished in one set up on the lathe.

This evenings progress


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## CluelessNewB

I have two questions.  What is the purpose of the spring?  How do you make the odd shaped hole for the tap?  (I'm guessing the answer to question 2 will be the next episode.)  

Thanks

Rich


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## CluelessNewB

Never mind question 1.  I found the answer on the Starrett web site: 

 "_Spring inside sleeve causes plunger to back off when pressure is removed"

http://www.starrett.com/metrology/p...sion-Hand-Tools/Precision-Measuring-Tools/91A_


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## Cobra

I would assume the apeasiest way to make the fixed jaw shape is with a file.


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## MozamPete

My thinking is drilling a small hole near the 'V' of the fixed jaw, then the big hole, then file out the rest. I have been doing a lot of trigonometry to figure out how far off center the big hole has to be so that a tap shank in the middle of the wrenches range will be on center (as only one jaw moves a larger or smaller shank will be slightly off center - but I want to try and minimize that by making a tap in the middle of the range  exactly on center). So my tap wrenches now have a spreadsheet to calculate the dimensions for each size.  Once I get the taps finished and refined I will tidied it up and post it with the drawings.
While I'm pretty sure they will work, perfecting them is a balance between strength, weight and leverage.
My main concern at present it they will be too heavy and you will loose the 'feel' of the tap which could lead to breaking smaller taps. Will wait till I have milled flat the middle section which will cut out a lot of weight and see.


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## Matabele

Thanks for the explanation, seems like a great tool that will be easy to use!


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## MozamPete

Finished the lathe work for the body and handle of 'big brother' and milled the middle section flat on both today







Sorry, didn't put anything in the picture to give an idea of scale - the large one is approx. 380mm long and the small on 230mm.  I'm thinking I may need one in between in size and one smaller just to complete the set - but will get these two finished first.  Drilling and filing tomorrow.


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## mattthemuppet2

awesome work and you'll have a couple of really lovely tools to use when you're done. As for feel, you'll just hold the handle closer to the tap for the smaller taps to get more feel. that's what I do anyway  One of my favourite small tap holders is a 0-1/4 Jacobs drill chuck on a 1/2in straight shank. I drilled a cross hole in the shank for a T-bar, but for 4-40 and smaller taps I tend to just hold the shank. Another plus is that the tap will tend to spin if it jams.


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## MozamPete

Drilled out and filed the holes today.






For the larger one I ended up making the plunger with a removable top to allow easy installation of the spring which is captive in a reduced diameter section of the shaft.  On the smaller one the spring is only slightly smaller in ID than the shaft so I just stretch the spring on (a bit of a pain to get on and off so I wont put it on again until after the heat treatment).  The two piece plunge is a bit more versatile in allowing to size the shaft to whatever spring you have available (as well as easier to get the spring on and off).









Also milled a small slot in each handle and inserted a pin in the plunger as an anti-rotation measure so the movable jaw stays in line as the plunger is advanced and withdrawn.



Nearly complete. Still have to do a little more filing to finish them up and then heat treating of the jaw and the first two will be finished.



Ironically, in making these I managed to snap the handle off my die holder - so another one added to the list and I will end up with matching tap and die handles.


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## Eddyde

Nice Job!


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## 09kevin

Nice work, Pete!


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## Matabele

Great work! Those tools will last a lifetime.


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## zmotorsports

Beautiful job on the tap handles.

Mike.


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## middle.road

Gorgeous. Don't forget to stamp (or etch) and date 'em.


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## GarageGuy

Very nice work!  Those are tap handles to be proud of.  Like Dan said, be sure to sign and date them.  50 years from now they will most likely still be working.

GG


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## MozamPete

Thanks for all the kind words - I must admit I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.

Still planning to make another one in between in size.  The small one will hold taps from M5 to M16 - but I don't think it really has enough length/leverage to drive an M16 tap cutting a new thread, fine for use tidying up an existing thread though.  And a matching die holder is now required.

Still thinking of what I'm going to do as a surface finish to stop them rusting and keep them looking good.  Most stuff I just heat and blacken in used motor oil, but may try something different with these.


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## zmotorsports

Maybe some bluing.  That might look cool and protect them.

Mike.


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## Navy Chief

Very nice work on those, for rust prevention I agree with the previous comments regarding potentially bluing them.


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## Silverbullet

I would be for blueing , but I think I would nickel plate them . If not case harden colors are kool.


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## MozamPete

Ok, just when I think I'm getting the hang of thing machning lark, it slap me in the face and calls me an idiot.

I harden the jaws and reassembled the tap handles and all was good until I used then. Seemed fine until the tap started to bind and then snap.




Should of tempered them after hardening, but didn't. Well as long as I learn from my mistakes - or even better someone else learns from my mistakes and doesn't repeat them.

New plungers to be turned


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## compsurge

At least you know the design inside and out


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## Navy Chief

Ouch!


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## afreeland

MozamPete said:


> Ok, just when I think I'm getting the hang of thing machning lark, it slap me in the face and calls me an idiot.
> 
> I harden the jaws and reassembled the tap handles and all was good until I used then. Seemed fine until the tap started to bind and then snap.
> 
> View attachment 115120
> 
> 
> Should of tempered them after hardening, but didn't. Well as long as I learn from my mistakes - or even better someone else learns from my mistakes and doesn't repeat them.
> 
> New plungers to be turned



Aahh nooo, those were looking great too!  Been eyeing the Starret tap wrenches and thought I might try my hand at some when I stumbled across these, which look awesome.  Appreciate you posting this even though I'm sure this was probably pretty frustrating.  Did you ever remake this and if so how did you go about hardening this to hold up?  I am new to machining and never tried any heat treating, so any advice is appreciated.


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## Todd3138

afreeland said:


> Aahh nooo, those were looking great too!  Been eyeing the Starret tap wrenches and thought I might try my hand at some when I stumbled across these, which look awesome.  Appreciate you posting this even though I'm sure this was probably pretty frustrating.  Did you ever remake this and if so how did you go about hardening this to hold up?  I am new to machining and never tried any heat treating, so any advice is appreciated.


I'm new to machining as well but have been blacksmithing for a little while.  Heat treating and tempering is a big part of making functional tools for use in the shop and involves heating your steel to its critical temp (varies from alloy to alloy), quenching in the proper medium (oil, water, or even air hardening steels) to achieve your hardness, then tempering.  Tempering again involves finding the correct temperature and holding the piece at that temp for the necessary period of time to take just enough of the brittleness out of your hardened steel that it's still very durable, but has enough give to avoid breaking.  There are a lot of charts online for these varying temps and they are great to have.  Most of my smithing work involves critical temps in the 1725 - 1750 degree F range followed by two one hour cycles at 375-425 with complete cooling in between.  Many properly tempered alloys will take on a straw color at the correct temperature but, again, that varies from alloy to alloy.

And I'm with you - those wrenches were absolutely beautiful work and it would be great to know how they eventually turned out if that gent is still an active member here.


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## T Bredehoft

Cold water time. Beautiful job of knurling, but those same knurls are going to tear up some skin as you wrench on them to get the tap through the work. Starret products are smooth for a purpose.


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## Winegrower

I like this style of tap wrench, but I can't see how to use a tap guide with this.   I generally have to/ want to use a guide for good alignment.


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## Todd3138

Winegrower said:


> I like this style of tap wrench, but I can't see how to use a tap guide with this.   I generally have to/ want to use a guide for good alignment.


The last tap job I did on a lathe chuck key (drilled a hole in the top of the key, tapped it, and used a set screw to lock the T handle in place) was done on my lathe.  I used a live center snugged up to the center of the tap in the wrench and just kept adjusting the live center along with the tap as I advanced it manually.  I ended up with what I believe is a pretty straight threaded bore and it was just a makeshift method of aligning the tap.  You may already know about doing that so I apologize if I'm sharing my own newbie experience with the choir!

Todd


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## Winegrower

Todd3138 said:


> I used a live center snugged up to the center of the tap in the wrench


I see.  The issue for me is that some taps have a centering hole as a reference, but others don't.  In fact many of my taps, especially the smaller sizes actually have a pyramid, just the opposite of what I'd like.  

Well, maybe I need all new taps.


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## Todd3138

Winegrower said:


> I see.  The issue for me is that some taps have a centering hole as a reference, but others don't.  In fact many of my taps, especially the smaller sizes actually have a pyramid, just the opposite of what I'd like.
> 
> Well, maybe I need all new taps.


Hey, buying new stuff is always fun!  I got really lucky and picked up a beautiful and very lightly used complete set of taps and dies by Wells Bros./Greenfield/Little Giant in the original wooden box at an estate auction.  The best part - I paid $10!  That had to be my best value score ever as far as I'm concerned.  The taps are pretty well flat across the top although they do have a very slight crown.  Still, using the live center to hold it steady when I was tapping the other day worked out really well.  I get your point, though, about the shape having a big impact on being able to use this technique.  Could you chuck your taps up in the lathe and use a center drill to put just a little detent in the top that could be used as a secure placement for a live center on the lathe or in your mill?


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## Winegrower

Todd3138 said:


> Could you chuck your taps up in the lathe and use a center drill to put just a little detent in the top that could be used as a secure placement for a live center on the lathe or in your mill?



I think not…these taps are pretty hard, many with a small pyramid on the end.   My center drills wouldn’t be able to  drill into them.

Congrats on a great find at a staggering price!


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## Todd3138

Winegrower said:


> I think not…these taps are pretty hard, many with a small pyramid on the end.   My center drills wouldn’t be able to  drill into them.
> 
> Congrats on a great find at a staggering price!


That makes sense that it wouldn't work, then.  That's too bad because it might have been an easy solution.  Thanks on the set I found.  I figured at the time it was a good deal and have since learned it was an amazing deal!


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## Jake M

I know that buying tools isn't really in the spirit of the thread, but I have one of these and it's quite useful, quite cheap (in every sense of the word), but it does a pretty good job.  The pointy bit can be reversed to capture the cone on top of many smaller taps.



			https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Sharpe-599-792-30-Adjustable-Tensioned/dp/B005317ZMC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tap+follower&qid=1649560832&sr=8-1


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## Janderso

afreeland said:


> Aahh nooo, those were looking great too!  Been eyeing the Starret tap wrenches and thought I might try my hand at some when I stumbled across these, which look awesome.  Appreciate you posting this even though I'm sure this was probably pretty frustrating.  Did you ever remake this and if so how did you go about hardening this to hold up?  I am new to machining and never tried any heat treating, so any advice is appreciated.


I love it when we bring back old threads. They are still of good value.
I had not seen these shop made tap handles. Well done for sure.
In reading through these comments it occured to me that most of these members are absent today.
Do we just lose interest? Die off? Go another direction?

afreeland, (welcome)
The Starrett 91 series are very well made tap wrenches. I have the 91B and 91C. I did have to lap the pivot point (the end where it grinds against the opposite when tightening) It felt like there was grit in there. 
After that they work slick. 
I can see the weak point is where this one broke. Lots of stress there.


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## Janderso

Winegrower said:


> I see.  The issue for me is that some taps have a centering hole as a reference, but others don't.  In fact many of my taps, especially the smaller sizes actually have a pyramid, just the opposite of what I'd like.
> 
> Well, maybe I need all new taps.


I think all my taps have center holes. =very handy for alignment in the mill.
I’ll have to check. I don’t know how I would line up without them??


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## NC Rick

All my smaller taps use a cone point sticking up.


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## Just for fun

My larger taps have center holes but I believe all my smaller ones have the cone point.


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## xr650rRider

If you'll read @Jake M post above.  Most of the tap followers like he shows a link to, you can flip the point around and there is an indent on the other end to use the pointed taps.


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## Todd3138

Jake M said:


> I know that buying tools isn't really in the spirit of the thread, but I have one of these and it's quite useful, quite cheap (in every sense of the word), but it does a pretty good job.  The pointy bit can be reversed to capture the cone on top of many smaller taps.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Sharpe-599-792-30-Adjustable-Tensioned/dp/B005317ZMC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tap+follower&qid=1649560832&sr=8-1


That's a very handy looking tool.  I'm going to order one today.  I'm not sure what the tops of my vintage Wells Bros/Greenfield taps look like offhand, but I don't recall there being a recess - I think they are just a more flat top.  I'll have to look when I get home, but regardless, this slick tool is going to be headed my way!


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## Janderso

NC Rick said:


> All my smaller taps use a cone point sticking up.


Is there a spring loaded tool for the cone tip?
Now I see what you mean


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## xr650rRider

You unscrew the knurled section and turn the pointed tip around.  There is a cone on other end.


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