tapper

francist

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Ok here it is, my abomination for the week. I don't know which was the bigger goal: build a tapping fixture, or try to see how many bits and pieces I could assemble from my various caches into one object.

A scrapped TWS bandsaw provided the basic arm structure to which I added a couple sleeves and Oilite bushings. The chuck is off an old Milwaukee cordless, and some leftover 4140 was just long enough for the shaft. Not too confident with my lathe threading skills yet, so I turned a coupler to marry the two and added a T-handle.

The table is a reconstituted faceplate off an old Beaver wood lathe which I never have owned, and the little eccentric discs and T-nuts make for easy positioning of a part. But when I stood back to admire my creation, the two uprights on the arm were just crying for a purpose in life. Some salvaged ABS pipe, a bit of Lexan and voila, a holder for tapping oil!

I'm happy to say the only things I bought was a piece of channel for the base and a box of set screws. Behold, the "Band-o-Tap" :))

Thanks for looking,

-frank

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I used one like that back in the early 80's, swap the T handle out for a heavy hand wheel with a vertical handle and tapping will go a lot faster. It's been a long time ago but I don't remember ever breaking a tap while using a hand tapper. I love to see stuff re purposed to something useful.
 
that's really neat, I like your thinking! The old bandsaw frame certainly gives you a lot of room to work with too.
 
I rescued this gem from the dumpster recently and the only thing I can think to do with it is to make a tapper.

It certainly won't have the pzazz nor the throat depth of yours!

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Yup, that oughta do it too! Nice scoop, looking forward to seeing the done deed.

-frank
 
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