Gearwrench tap and die owners that built a die holder for your lathe

[pontiac428]

AFAIK Gearwrench dies are carbon steel, not HSS, same as most of the Irwin I've encountered. Irwin at least makes HSS taps and dies, but as i recall they cost 3-5x as much.

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I suppose my set is older, I bought mine around 2014 when the tap and die sets were introduced. It's definitely not carbon steel, the permanently bright finish shows the metal is high in moly and chrome. That's not to say they didn't cheap out later in the run. I'd say the GW branded taps are very good as far as import consumer grade stuff goes, but a side by side comparison with any random tap from GTD or Cleveland makes my hair stand on end. The GW taps are on dimension and do cut, so that's a win. I also have both sets of Irwin tap, die, and drill sets, they are TiN coated HSS (or TiN colored coating more likely) but are pretty good, but they're from Y2k, so they may as well have belonged to gran'pa, because they don't make them like that anymore at the big box store level of quality.

 

[ssdesigner]

I ended up finding the gearwrench adapters on eBay for under $10. So I chopped up the one that came in my kit and I'll replace it with an Ebay adapter. Just need to trim it down a bit. Not much because all I need is a 1/2” through hole and I have that already.

 

[Jake M]

Yeah, the socket does not measure above 36.21 mm in any direction. It's made by Zoyakki.

Hey, I know them....... They make impact guns too. Or at least try to.

So the socket is undersized, not only below the tolerance range, but also below nominal. That is, it won't fit on -most- nuts or bolts with a nominal 1-7/16 inch hex. It would however make a very good, in spec 36mm socket, if that's what you happened to need??? They probably don't give a (care) because it's an odd size. The only place that would be a standard size is heavy hex nuts, and tall nuts (which have a reduced hex). The tall nuts go on a one inch thread, so the heavy hex must be 7/8? I think. Must be, it seems too big for 3/4.... Not a common size either way, so most of those sockets probably just get forgotten in the box, or just used to hammer bearing's in and out of things.-

Funny enough, the smaller of the 2 size dies in this Gearwrench set is exactly 1", and- a 1" socket fits perfectly. So they are only 1/2 a$$&@^!

You're on the right track, you've just got to find a socket where the size on the inside correlates to the stamps on the outside, and I suspect the larger dies will fit just as nice as the one inch dies..

 

[ChazzC]

I don't have a Gearwrench set, but my Husky "77 pc Ratcheting Tap & Die SAE & Metric Set" (only goes up to 1/2"/12mm) is identical. As noted, these "smaller" dies are 1" Hex, but the kit includes a sheet metal adapter so you can use the dies in the Gearwrench die holder, shown here in the center, with a die on the left:


This adapter is also included in the Gearwrench 77 piece set.

The dies fit perfectly in the adapter (on the right) that I made from an eBay Craftsman die holder to work with my (also eBay) Tail Stock Die Holder Kit; a little disassembly, some bandsaw work, facing & turning to cleanup and fit the holder:



This is a spare set, purchased as such for $85 including tax after sale price & military discount at HD. As with @pontiac428 , my set appears to be HSS and is very hard. I did try a few taps & dies when I got it and they cut well and cleanly. However, as it is Husky/HD and comes with a lifetime warranty, I'm not too concerned about them wearing out.