Tap and Die set price dispersion

I have ordered Dayton products through Zoro because the price was much cheaper. And the parts came in a Grainger box with a Grainger return address.
 
Bill Kahn said:
I ....................Any suggestions as to what I get when I move from $4 to $21 to $77? Yes, generically, I am sure the high price stuff is "better." But what does better mean? Any guidance as to if I can know if the $4 will thread my steel rod? (For $4 I'll just give it a try. Not a big deal. But maybe there is guidance on how to be a discerning tool buyer.)

Thanks.

-Bill
Click to expand...

It just depends on what you are willing to spend moneywise. The $4 die you referred to is Asian made, but if it cuts a decent thread go for it!

I try to find "New Old Stock", NOS, stuff when I can. I look for USA brands like G.T.&D., Cleveland, One's marked Japan are good, too. There are some good Asian made one's out there too, it's kind of hit and miss. I've bought a few just to have to get me out of a bind that I couldn't find USA brand priced reasonably enough.
 
A cheap set is a good fill in for when you don't have a tap or die. But I have been buying individual taps for a while now. Not too many dies, as I can single point them if needed. I buy high quality taps, and also find high quality stuff at machinist estate sales. That saves a bunch too. As for the dies there are probably 3 that are commonly used 3/8 16 1/4 20 and 5/16 18... less common 10-24/32 , 8-32
 
The cheap Chinese taps and dies, are just that, so I wouldn't complain when it breaks while you are using it. So if you need it infrequently, well go for it, but otherwise if you plan on using it regularly then I would get something better than a $4 die. I agree with 4gsr, if you are in no rush then try to get NOS American, Japanese or German. I have a full Snap-On set that I bought 20+ years ago and the dies are still going strong, the taps tend to fatigue over time, so I replaced a few of the smaller ones. Some dies are carbon steel, some HSS, also the more costly dies are usually adjustable. The one you linked two for $4 is not adjustable, so you cannot adjust the thread tolerance. Read the reviews, often they are not very good for the cheap new stuff. Also I would be careful as a lot of the cheap imports are renamed with or sold under the following brand names: Merlin, Westward, Interstate, etc.

So I look for NOS, but for dies and taps when I need a particular size that is uncommon (or I need it now), I buy the Polish Toolmex (TMX) taps and dies either through eBay or online sellers. I find they are very good quality at a reasonable price. On taps, there are a lot of choices for good quality taps, I often by the Cleveland 3 tap sets in various sizes. These are often heavily discounted, even through MSC if you get their flyer. I have purchased Toolmex dies/taps from both Aronson Campbell and Suncoast, the latter is much easier to find what you are looking for. At $12 for an adjustable HSS die, they are very decent if you need a particular size.

https://www.suncoasttools.com/crm/ItemPage.aspx?ItemNumber=840.375024+5805065TM&VendorNumber=TOOMEX
https://www.aronson-campbell.com/in...3&process=search&qdx=0&ds=dept&text=5-805-065
 
I have found that there is really a difference in quality. There a lot of cheap taps and dies out there. The low quality taps will stick in a hole and snap easily. Since they stick, they are difficult to extract. Don't use them for something that you put a lot of time into unless you have a tap burner. Another trick with the low quality taps is to drill for very light thread engagement, since that's all they are good for. Likewise, cheap dies are only good for fixing threads on a bolt that got dented. They are good for dressing up that emergency use bolt that you picked up off the street. If you want to cut threads on a rod, they will work, but you have to give it all the chances. Good quality rapid tap, chamfered end, nice square start, take your time.

It's better to get just a few good taps and dies in the sizes you want and see the difference in quality. An inexpensive way is to do this at garage sales. One successful trick is to buy a whole box of cheap taps, including those black ones that say "Japan" on them that may have one or two good ones in it. This will not work if the seller thinks all taps are the same, but I have found that if a knowledgeable seller sees a few junk taps, he'll price the whole box at $5. If you just get two good ones in there, it is worth it.

I haven't figured out what to use the junk taps for, but maybe they will work for lathe bits or engraving tools. A lot of them spark out as alloy carbon steel, with essentially no tungsten or molybdenum. If they don't say HSS, they probably are not.
 
My price for that set is $2495.00 all over the map I guess. When MSC had a lot of 60% off sales going on for their own Interstate brand I stocked up on taps and dies rh, lh, plug, taper and bottoming. I've had great luck with them except for 1 tap 2mm broke when it first entered a piece of plastic toy I was tapping. Never even cut 1 thread. Bad heat treat. The rest have been great. All are HSS. Many Japan made and some Euro and South America made along with some China. I was afraid I wasted my money but they have been very good. I guess it's just the luck of the draw. Sure saved a lot of hard earned cash though. All are used for home hobby work and repairs. I used high dollar tools when I worked as a mechanic. Too much liability with cheap tools on the job.

Roy
 
I like the 3 tap sets from Cleveland. As mksj said you get the taper tap ,the bottoming tap, and I just went brain dead. But I have used all 3 .
Thanks scruffy ron
 
I have noticed that some cheap taps don't seem to have much (any?) back relief on the teeth.
 
I have a cheep carbon steel set that was purchased and mostly used to chase threads on old hardware as part of a motorcycle restoration project. I tried to use one of the dies to cut some M6 threads in aluminum. No Go! Now I look for at least HSS taps and dies. And no more sets. I buy what I need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top