Two broken taps

I know it may be hard to justify for home shop use, but good taps are worth an investment. Of course, they will all break, so just because it's expensive doesn't mean you can abuse it. Proper alignment is ultra important, especially for the smaller, machine screw sizes.

If want good taps, it does cost a fair amount of money. Look up a Vega, OSG, or Emuge taps. Best there is, and will last a long, long time in a home shop. But, as I said, they aren't cheap. If you have a steady hand, and a good setup, they will dull long before you just break them. But eventually, even the best taps will dull, and you have to know when to toss them, hopefully before they do break.
 
May I suggest that this might be a time to put up a list of ,what I call industrial taps, as compared to commercial taps that are sold in your local hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Along with that would be mfgs. of ind. milling cutters and lathe tool bits. both carbide and HSS. Also quality drill bits which you'll not find in the above mentioned hardware stores. I believe there is a major difference there. There are many machine supply dealers that handle a large selection of good to excellent cutters (taps, endmills, lathe tools, etc.) Travers, MCS, and Fastenal are just 3 that come to mind. Not to pick on anyone, but I will Irwin and Hanson are almost all made in China for export. If you're gonna use an Irwin, Hanson tap make sure it's in Aluminum or brass and large !
dickr
 
Thanks Tony,

I'll check those brands out. I'm always ultra careful about tapping and have broken surprisingly very few over the years but, I must say, the ones that broke had no seemingly good reason to do so. They were relatively fresh and the work was going well. No excessive force whatsoever and all the sudden -pop! Go figure... All were carbide -that's probably why. HSS... I don't believe I've ever broken an HSS tap.

Ray



Tony Wells said:
I know it may be hard to justify for home shop use, but good taps are worth an investment. Of course, they will all break, so just because it's expensive doesn't mean you can abuse it. Proper alignment is ultra important, especially for the smaller, machine screw sizes.

If want good taps, it does cost a fair amount of money. Look up a Vega, OSG, or Emuge taps. Best there is, and will last a long, long time in a home shop. But, as I said, they aren't cheap. If you have a steady hand, and a good setup, they will dull long before you just break them. But eventually, even the best taps will dull, and you have to know when to toss them, hopefully before they do break.
Click to expand...
 
I buy two taps at a time, one gets put in a vice and shattered with a hammer, and the other one does the tapping job.:rofl:
 
I hate cheap taps as they break for no reason.

In MSC December Super Saver flyer on pg 57 there are Guhring 4-40 taps for a small discount, under $20 each. There maybe others in the other flyers.
 
Here is how I saved a piece of brass when I broke off a small tap. I chucked a small diamond point grinding bit in my Taig. I slowly ground it out advancing it with the carriage. When it was out I drill the hole over size and soldered in a brass rod and drilled and tapped again. Saved the part which was well along in the process. (Aren't they always...?)

Al
 
I have used diamond burrs to remove the broken tap that was broken below the surface. Used my Dremel and light oil for lube to not overheat the burr.
 
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