Tapping with a hand held drill

[projectnut]

Of course if you didn't have the fixture you'd have spent waaay more time dealing with broken taps and misaligned holes.
Brian

Undoubtedly true, but production was king so everything that could be done to minimize the downtime was done before we entered the plant. The last thing you want to do is tell your boss that the production line was down half a day because you were too lazy to make the tooling in advance that would ensure success.

 

[BGHansen]

I do it all of the time in brass and aluminum. I power tap on my Bridgeport also; use a drill chuck and don't crank down hard on the chuck. If it's threading okay and the tap slips, the chuck gets tightened a bit.

I'll use the cordless to back out a tap in steel. Will also run a tap in/out with the cordless after the initial threading to clear the threads.

Bruce

 

[matthewsx]

Will have to give this a try since my job now involves keeping a production line going.

Need to get the right taps at work though….

John

 

[sdelivery]

In the early 90's I worked for a shop building automated equipment.
Many of the smaller fasteners were marked " drill and tap during assembly "
On the drawings..that is when I learned to tap with a hand drill. At first I couldn't do it and so another guy let me use his tapping block, it helped me to hold the drill perpendicular to the material. As soon as I had used the block to square my self up I would let go of the tap block and let it float on the tap while both of my hands held the drill. I became proficient enough at it I made a "y" adapter for my air hose with 2 two foot legs, one for my air drill I was drilling with and one for my reversible drill I tapped with.
This was all in steel.
But It wasn't as if I had a lot of choice it was what the job demanded and there were other guys who had been doing it for years, so I was told.
I still tap with a hand drill when the circumstances are right

 

[Shotgun]

I use a hand drill all the time after I've used the mill or drill press to get the tap started straight. I've had less broken taps with the drill than with a tap wrench. Hold the drill lightly, so that you're not applying a side load, and feed it in slow. Let the motor do the work, and hit the reverse switch to back it out when it start tightening up. I don't seem to have the ability to turn a tap wrench without applying a side load, but I just have to hold the drill to keep it from spinning.
That may change now that I have a tapping head (which I've used once. . . for 16 holes) and a full-sized mill that has the clearance to use it.

 

[whitmore]

Just watched a YouTube video and guy was tapping hole in metal with a Dewalt drill and some kind of clutch chuck.

A pistol-grip drill doesn't give you good feel for the progress of the tapping; long-cylinder
cordless screwdriver items work better for me (slower rotation, quicker stop/start switching).

 

[RJSakowski]

I used to power tap 4-40 threads in 1/4" deep blind holes in 6061 aluminum. Hundreds of them. I used an old Skil cordless screwdriver without the benefit of a torque limiting clutch. Although I broke a few taps over the twenty odd years, for the most part, I was successful. The key was to go slowly and to keep the tap aligned with the hole. The part was small enough that I could let it spin, acting as a torque limiter, when the tap bottomed out.

Modern drill drivers have a torque limiting clutch and if you start at the lowest torque setting and work up until you can cut the threads, you should not be breaking taps. Use a good quality tapping fluid and clean the tap frequently. When taping starts to get hard, the tap os most likely going dull so use a fresh tap. Another good practice is to use a tap guide tpo keep the tap aligned with the hole. I make my own by drilling a clearance hole for the tap in a small block.

 

[GeneT45]

I've used a hand drill for tapping too - but always in thin material (usually electrical chassis) where small misalignment doesn't mean a broken tap. Reading between the lines, I suspect that's true of a lot of the others that have chimed in. I wouldn't even consider tapping e.g. 1/4"-20x 1" - that's a recipe for disaster, at least in my hands.
A tapping block (to get the tap straight) helps a lot, but I have to clamp it down or it's not much better than freehand (which for me isn't great...).

GsT

 

[Winegrower]

That may change now that I have a tapping head (which I've used once. . . for 16 holes) and a full-sized mill that has the clearance to use it.

A Procunier #2 tapping head and spiral flute taps has improved my whole attitude about tapping on the mill. I put a Kwik Switch holder on it, and it’s almost quick enough to set up for a single hole. For two, no contest. It’s been amusing to make a couple of collets I couldn’t quickly find.

Also, for threading, two steps for the lathe have helped: A 9/16” Geometric die head and a bunch of chasers, and a Hemingway tailstock die holder and a bunch of circular dies. Again, each is maybe slightly faster than single point threading for a one-off part, no contest for two or more.

Sure, non critical tapping is easiest with my hand drill, a Makita.

 

[RJSakowski]

Clamping the tapping guide is definitely desirable but I have had situations where it wasn't possible to clamp it. I would use it to start the first few threads and then back the tap out and restart it without the guide. As a rule, I don't power tap in any situation. The workpiece is usually close to finished at that point and I don't want to risk breaking a tap. If at all possible, I tap the workpiece in the mill or lathe by hand, ising a tap guide. I have to have a lot of holes to tap for me to consider power tapping.