# Tap Organizer/Dispensers



## projectnut (Oct 13, 2020)

I am looking to better organize my inventory of taps.  I currently have in the neighborhood of 500 or more tape ranging in size from 0-80 to 2"-8.  They currently occupy several drawers in a roll around printers cabinet.  I would like to move and better organize them into something like the Huot 13500 and 13550 cabinets.  They seem interesting, but are somewhat rudimentary in that they don't have separate dividers for plug, taper, and bottoming versions of each tap.  In addition their capacity seems somewhat limited for each size.  I am looking to store approximately a dozen or so of each of the less common taps, and 36 to 40 of the more common fractional taps.  The larger volume taps include 1/4-20, 5/16-18, 3/8-16, and 1/2-13.  In addition I have a fairly large number of left hand taps, and Special Thread Insert  (STI) taps 

I am not averse to spending the money necessary for a quality storage and dispensing system, but would like to keep it within reason.


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## middle.road (Oct 13, 2020)

The Printer's Cabinet sounds pretty neat in it's own right.
With the quantities noted, probably a Vidmar style cabinet would work best.


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## C-Bag (Oct 13, 2020)

Or a flat file. You’d have to of course make dividers, but that’s no big deal. Right now there are literally tons of flat file cabs in LA and SF but they want around $300 on up. Since everybody going digital in engineering departments there is little call for them. I didn’t get on to them until there was one local for $125 and by the time I got a clue it was gone. The problem might be that they are so deep in Y axis to be able to store blueprints. But if you really want everything laid out in front of you that would be the ticket. I’m still looking for one to use for all my metrology tools. There was also a model that wasn’t deep in the Y but those are even more rare.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Oct 13, 2020)

I use metal framed/ plastic drawer organisers to store my bolts/ nuts/ taps. I have one for imperial and one for metric. Makes it easy to keep things organised and find stuff quickly.





depending on pitch I have at least one each of spiral point, spiral flute and form tap. Some I have extras, but I tend not to break them or wear them out, so I don't see the need for more than that.


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## matthewsx (Oct 13, 2020)

C-Bag said:


> Or a flat file. You’d have to of course make dividers, but that’s no big deal. Right now there are literally tons of flat file cabs in LA and SF but they want around $300 on up. Since everybody going digital in engineering departments there is little call for them. I didn’t get on to them until there was one local for $125 and by the time I got a clue it was gone. The problem might be that they are so deep in Y axis to be able to store blueprints. But if you really want everything laid out in front of you that would be the ticket. I’m still looking for one to use for all my metrology tools. There was also a model that wasn’t deep in the Y but those are even more rare.


I have a blueprint file and it's definitely deep, maybe a little too much so. The only thing I would worry about is how heavy the drawers would get if you loaded them completely up, I use mine for measuring tools and such.

The Vidmar style cabinets are probably what you want. I have one (Equipto) and it handles anything you can put into it. Probably just comes down to budget though, there's nothing "reasonable" about the cost of these things new....

John


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## projectnut (Oct 14, 2020)

Thanks everyone for your input.  After  considering all the alternatives presented, and a fair amount of research I bit the bullet yesterday afternoon and ordered some Huot tap organizer/dispensers.  I ended up with 2 of their 13500 cabinets for fractional taps,









						HUOT FRACTIONL(SIZES 1/4-20 to 1-12)TAP DISPENSER INDEX  ORGANIZER CABINET-13500  | eBay
					

HUOT FRACTIONAL TAP DISPENSER, PN 13500. ONE PIECE DRAWER SLIDE. We are a distributor for. Holds popular fractional sizes Just let us send you updated invoice. NEED PARTS FOR YOUR BRIDGEPORT?.



					www.ebay.com
				




and 1 of their 13550 cabinets for machine screw sizes.









						HUOT TAP (SIZES 2-56 thru 12-28)  DISPENSER STORAGE ORGANIZER CABINET-13550 "NEW 650229393706 | eBay
					

HUOT TAP DISPENSER, PN 13550. StackablE with other Huot Original Dispensers. One piece drawer slide. We are a distributor for. Holds machine screw sizes Just let us send you updated invoice. NEED PARTS FOR YOUR BRIDGEPORT?.



					www.ebay.com
				




I liked the idea of the print cabinets (I actually have one for prints) but unfortunately there isn't enough floor space to accommodate another large cabinet.  There were several for sale on our local Craigslist with reasonable asking prices, but the foot print of most were a whopping 36"x48".

With the new Huot cabinets I should be able to move the majority of the taps from the printers cabinet.  I say the majority because about the only cabinets made to store/dispense all the sizes and (0-80 thru 2"-8) and the most common styles (Spiral point, spiral flute, taper, bottoming, and STI (special thread insert) run in the neighborhood of $6,700.00 and are the size of a standard Vidmar.

Once the taps are organized hopefully I can also do a better job of organizing the drills.  There are easily twice the number of drills in the cabinet as there are/were taps.  Like the taps there are many different types and styles ranging in size from #80 to 1".  There are also the metrics and letters as well as a few hundred specialty aircraft style.

Like most efforts at reorganizing this one has gotten out of control.  Hopefully the time and money spent will streamline work flow.  That would be a good thing in that my wife does occasionally mention there's a lot of time, effort, and money going into the shop, but for some reason there are minimal results coming out the other end.


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## C-Bag (Oct 14, 2020)

It’s always tough to organize because it’s not always about just dumping a bunch of stuff. We all do different work and approach jobs differently so feeling like I’m organized enough to feel like I know where everything thing is a challenge.

 I‘m sure my solution is not anybody else’s solution. All to often the solution I see in my head is not made commercially and like the flat file there are things that are close but no cigar. I also suffer from seeing a cool little solution somewhere in my virtual travels but can’t remember the details. That’s the most frustrating.

I have gone the route with drills and taps of buying sets in cases and resisted the buying of single “just as needed” and now all are in one drawer in the cabinet built into my drill press stand. I’m the most organized I’ve been since embarking on doing machining as far as drills. Getting my mig, plasma, and OA along with a cabinet for everything on one cart was a big undertaking too but also worth it. Because I’m building from scratch there’s no actual shop output but when we do taxes at the end of the year there is proof that my efforts pay off as overall output keeps going up.  Being organized and working smart is easier and less frustrating, far less time consuming. Means I get in the flow and get er done instead of digging through drawers.

I’d be interested to know if the organizers work out for you.


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## C-Bag (Oct 14, 2020)

Funny how this morning there was several of those hardware flats that the hardware stores use but now their gone. Probably too short for taps and drills. There‘s also been several CL ads where they are parting out storage units like what you’d find in a van. They finally got down to a reasonable price now their gone. These searches are always hard because sometimes they come up “storage”, or toolbox or metal drawers. These popped up for $25 to $50. The big one with all the bins was $100. All in the SF area so out of my range, but interesting. I’m still on the lookout for plastic separating things that were an add on to some thread but I don’t know what they were called. Seems like they were something in Bed Bath and Beyond for dividing drawers. Those would be good for drills and taps, if I can find them again.


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## Pops (Oct 15, 2020)

I went to an auction and bought a couple of these card catalogs from a school. Then went to the Schaller Corp and got some little plastic boxes to divide my stuff up. I’m still setting it up but think it will work very well. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Pops (Oct 15, 2020)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Pops (Oct 15, 2020)

The card catalog


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## C-Bag (Oct 15, 2020)

It’s all about cost for me because folks get carried away sometimes. There are a couple of those card catalogs around and they have become some kind of collector thing or used by beaders and quilters so one is $1000 and the other $400. I picked this up a while back for $20. I’ve had to take other projects first. I think it’s an old hydraulic fittings bin. HF sells these great hd drawer organizers and I cut them up for different sizes nuts and bolts.


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## projectnut (Oct 21, 2020)

An update on tap organization.


I got a chance to start organizing the taps this afternoon.  As expected there were slightly over 500 so far, but that only includes wire numbers and fractionals 1" and below.  I still have to use a drawer in the printers cabinet for metrics, pipe sizes, and anything over an inch.

The Huot cabinets certainly help, but it's a bit of a mixed bag.  The organizer for the numbers provides a slot each plug, taper, STI (special thread insert) and bottoming taps for sizes from 2-56 thru 12-28.  There are no provisions for sizes 0 and 1, or any left hand taps.  There is however sufficient room behind the compartment slots to store additional taps.

As for the fractional sizes it's a little more complicated.  There is only 1 slot for each size.  That means no separation of plug, taper, STI, or bottoming styles.  In addition the sizes over 5/8" are only large enough to accommodate 2 or 3 taps at most.  I'm glad I purchased 2 of the fractional organizers because I needed all the room they both have for sizes 1/4" thru 1/2"  All the slots are full with a few stragglers in storage in the number size cabinet.

If you're considering these style cabinets be aware the fractional size ones are for the most common sizes only.  Unfortunately my collection has nearly 60 uncommon sizes like 4-36, 1/4-14, and others used on older machinery that are now considered obsolete.  There are also no provisions for specialty taps like left hand.

With the majority of the taps moved to the organizers I'll be able to rearrange the drawers in the printers cabinet to better organize the drills.  I'm sure there won't be a compartment available for each size and style, but at least I won't have to sort through a big pile to find what I need.


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