# Hand Tapper



## Powder keg (Mar 24, 2008)

For the team build I have 96, 4-40 holes to tap. I was going to buy a hand tapper, but they cost about 100 Bones. I think I'll just build one. Should be able to whip one out in a few days. I have it all planned out. So be ready for some pictures)

Wes


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## chuck foster (Mar 24, 2008)

i need to build one as well so lots of pics would be best ;D 

chuck


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## BobWarfield (Mar 24, 2008)

I want one too. I'll probably use it as an excuse to start a universal pillar tool as others hve shown.

BW


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## Powder keg (Mar 24, 2008)

Mine will be similar to the one Mcgyver posted Here a while back. 

Later, Wes


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## Brass_Machine (Mar 24, 2008)

Very cool. Are you going to do your castings or make it straight from bar stock??

I expect a full build report. :big:

Eric


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## Hexbasher (Mar 24, 2008)

pg 133 in the kbc catalogue have afew simple hand tappers, pretty easy to build


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## Powder keg (Mar 24, 2008)

I'll probably cast the arms and maybe the base? Might sell some later? We'll see. I ave school tomorrow night. I'll try and get the arms milled out this week. It's an easy casting job. 

Later, Wes


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## Brass_Machine (Mar 24, 2008)

tattooed_machinist  said:
			
		

> pg 133 in the kbc catalogue have afew simple hand tappers, pretty easy to build



kbc?

Eric


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## Powder keg (Mar 24, 2008)

KBC


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## Hexbasher (Mar 25, 2008)

looks easy to make


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## Bogstandard (Mar 25, 2008)

TM,
The pic you have shown there does in fact show one of the main failings of the commercial products.

Where a hand tapper really scores over doing it by hand, is that very small taps very rarely break, if ever, because the side to side and tilt over isn't present.

To get back to the point, these commercial units are usually supplied with a large rotating handle, OK for 3/8" taps but easy to break a small one if it starts to bind in the hole. There is no 'feel' on them.

As you most probably know, I modified my small cast iron surface plate to have a swing over hand tapper, that allows me to position the tap almost anywhere on the tables surface, very handy when doing large jobs, you don't have to have the job precariously overhanging the table while you try and tap it.

I am not trying to get you to make them to this design, but show you how I overcome the 'feel' problem.

Under the main handle you will notice a knurled disk, this is turned with fingertips to allow you to feel if you are putting a bit too much pressure on the tap, and it really does work.






The chuck I used was I think the smallest one that Jacobs make, 0 to 6mm. A bit limiting if you want to use a larger tap, but they can be done by other means, this one holds the smallest taps you will ever use.

John


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## compound driver 2 (Mar 25, 2008)

Hi
I made mine some years back using a bench mount drilling machine bought at a sale for a couple of quid. The motor was buggered as was the switch gear so i removed that lot bushed the bore for the quill and made a silver steel spindle. Chuck wise I did the same and used a very small keyless chuck.
The advantage with a drill press is being able to rotate the table, dont half make life easy tapping odd angle holes.
Dont buy the comercial cheap units unless your happy to break taps.

Cheers kevin


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## Powder keg (Mar 30, 2008)

I've been so sick and busy I haven't had time to get on here the last few days. I did get a good start on my hand tapper though. I have one of the patterns ready to paint. One ready for pins and most of the rest is drawn up. Here are some pictures. 

Motor mount half being milled. You can see the difference between the finish and the roughing passes the CNC router made. 





Here is the arm that will go between the two upright shafts. There will be two of these on each tapper. 





Here you can see the wood pins that align up the two half's. I drilled these after I milled them, on my drill press. 





Another picture)





Here is the bottom side of the table so far. I'll cut some slots in it later and also a clamp of some sort?





Here is another picture with all I have so far. 





Thanks everyone for your input here)

More to come...

Wes


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## Bogstandard (Mar 30, 2008)

Wes,
There is a very good build about these.

http://modelenginenews.org/meng/upt/index.html#r1

Just click on the red titles under the headings.
They can be made into very versatile tools. It might give you a few new ideas.

John


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## Powder keg (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks for that link John) I'll look it over. I have everything figured out accept how I'm going to attach the drill press handle? Hasn't come to me yet?

Wes


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## PolskiFran (Mar 30, 2008)

Not to slight anyone's work or any comercial product on the market, but I have seen a few hand tappers made using 2 old engine connecting rods fastened above one another for the reach arms. Some used connecting rods from large diesel engines and some used rods from Briggs and Stratton lawnmower engines. Both worked and looked very good.

Frank


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## Powder keg (Apr 6, 2008)

Hey Frank, Mine will be made from pistons and beer cans)

I have a couple more patterns made. The one on the left will serve as a motor mount for the drill press option. and the one on the right will be a idler pulley mount. 





Later, Wes


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## BobWarfield (Apr 6, 2008)

Wes, you are having a ball with that CNC!

Best,

BW


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## Brass_Machine (Apr 6, 2008)

Nice job Wes. Can't wait to see this one done.


Eric


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## Powder keg (Apr 7, 2008)

Yes Bob! CNC is fun to learn! It has really opened up a lot of possibilities in what I can do. 

I got some more sanding done tonight on my patterns. Should be able to start putting on some finish soon. I'll probably start on the clamps here soon also. I can build those without the casings. 

I still haven't came up for an idea for the drill press handle? But I'll get something)

Wes


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## BobWarfield (Apr 8, 2008)

Wes, on the drill press handle, how about the idea of raising the table rather than lowering the spindle? Mcgyver and others have done that and it seems to be something's that's simple and works well.

What kind of speed do you plan for your spindle? Those tiny bits like a lot of rpms!

Best,

BW


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## miker (Apr 9, 2008)

Question. When using these Hand Tappers, how do you provide the downward force? 
What I mean is, I have recently used my Drill Press to start taps straight. Holding down some pressure on the handle and rotating the chuck at the same time. Then when I want to reverse a quarter turn to break the chip, I have to let the down pressure off a little while I reverse it. Then back on with the down pressure as I advance again and so on. Not really much feel for the down or off pressure.
Do these ones in this thread just rely on the weight of the handle,shaft and chuck to provide some downwards pressure? How do you back of the pressure to reverse and break the chips? 
Hope this makes sense. Using the drill press is not really satisfactory and I would like to make a proper Hand Tapper also.

Rgds


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 9, 2008)

Mike :
A tool I find handy for tapping is a spring loaded tap guide. 
It is a handy aid for tapping on the lathe mill or drill press. it keeps a fairly even pressure on the tap. Also I rarely use hand taps spiral point or spiral flute taps work better and you do not have to worry about breaking the chip. 
Tin


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## Bogstandard (Apr 9, 2008)

Michael,

You have got it in one, the weight does the work of feeding initially, then the tap will take over and pull itself in.

To break the chips, turn the handle the other way.

Once you have used one of these, you will find that because you will get less tap breakage, and nice square threaded holes (not square as in square, but square, you know what I mean), you will go to almost any length to do your tapping on one.

If you look further back in the post you will see how I overcame the problem of overstressing smaller taps.

This is really a little tool that every workshop should have.

John


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## miker (Apr 9, 2008)

Tin, John, thanks for the replies. I will look into the spiral flute and spiral point taps. All of my taps are good quality but just standard straight taps. The hand Tapper sounds like a "Must Have".
This has been a good thread (no pun intended  ).

Michael.


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## 13AL (Apr 11, 2008)

Miker,
I use my mini drill press as a hand tapper and found the spring loaded spindle to be an issue, I am in the process of removing the recoil spindle return spring and changing it to a pulley/cable counter weighted system so I can remove the spring tension instantly to use as a tapper, also making a crank handle that will clamp into the top groove of the driven pulley. conversion from drill to trapper should be about 10 seconds with step one being UNPLUG!!

????
Kurt


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## miker (Apr 13, 2008)

John, your one in the photo would suit me.

Do you have any more info such as approximate dimensions, disassembled photos, materials used, etc?

Does the hole in the middle of the Surface Plate play any role, such as somewhere for the tap to poke through?

Do you ever use the big handle on top or mainly the knurled ring? Looks like you could turn a huge tap with the top wheel and handle!

Do you secure the job to the table. Vise/clamps etc?

Sorry for all the questions, I just have trouble visualising things without a lot of details and often get the bull by the horns. It is a frustrating handicap sometimes.

Kurt, I have had my eye out for a burnt out mini drill to butcher but no luck. I really do like the purpose built unit of John's.
And yes UNPLUG, UNPLUG, UNPLUG.

Rgds

Edited, chuck size and type already given.


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## Bogstandard (Apr 13, 2008)

Michael,

I don't want to hijack Wes's post about his build. But I will give a few details.

It started off as a small surface plate and is still used as such.
The hole in the middle is for taps to go thru if needed. With the back post central in the rear slot, the chuck can be positioned directly over the hole.
The ali arm is 1" square solid, hollow would have been better.
The bearing for the spindle is a bronze bearing, reamed to fit the shaft, which is either 3/8" or 7/16" diameter (can't remember, just something out of the box), thread cut on the lathe for mounting the chuck.
Invariably I use the knurled knob for most small taps, using the big handle on the wind out, much faster.
If you see in the background, there is a small vice, even though it looks rough, it is ground to super squareness. This is what most small parts are mounted and squared up in first. No need to clamp it, the weight of the vice is enough to stop a small tap moving it around.
The picture is self explanatory, just made with what was available. It can be any size you want.

Hope that helps.

John


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## Stan (Apr 14, 2008)

A couple of weeks ago, I made an LTD Stirling that required more heat than I anticipated and I came to the conclusion that I had drag in the power piston crank pin that was not tapped exactly straight in the hub. About the same time, the hand tapper thread showed up so I decided that was the next project before any more work was done on the Stirling.











I started with table from a small Chinese drillpress which was tapered on the bottom so I had to mill it down parallel to to the top surface and leave feet on the corners. The post is 1" 4140 cold rolled and the bottom support is Made out of 2" hot rolled 1018. The top block is 2" X 1 1/2" Fortal (7075 Aluminum ?) milled to size and corners rounded then put in the four jaw on the lathe to bore the 1" hole to size and drill and ream the 3/8" hole for the chuck rod.

When assembled, the post was not square to the base in any direction and I found the cast iron base was saucer shaped (probably surface ground the same day as cast) so I used my poor man surface grinder (belt sander followed by wet and dry paper on a granite flat)

The tap chuck is the only good piece from a Chinese ratchet tapper and will hold taps from #1 to 5/16". I will be using the 2" knurled wheel to turn the small taps and still haven't decided what to put on the top end. I am thinking of just milling it square and using a tap wrench.

I drew an arc with a pencil in the chuck and drilled holes for tap clearance. I am looking for lots of support under small parts so made three different size holes on each side of center to get maximum use of the throat depth.

Now it is time to get back to the original problem - the Stirling hub.


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## Brass_Machine (Apr 14, 2008)

Hey Stan,

Thats a nice looking hand tapper you have there.

Eric


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## Bernd (Apr 14, 2008)

Nice work. I've got one on my to do list.

Bernd


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## miker (Apr 14, 2008)

Thanks John, I hadn't realised that there was a slot for the post, I thought it was permanently mounted on one corner of the base.

Rgds


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## miker (Apr 14, 2008)

Nicely done Stan, and I can relate to the "Poor man's Surface Grinder" 

Is the Aluminium block slit vertically at the back and then clamped using the two ball ended levers?

Rgds


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## Stan (Apr 14, 2008)

Miker: I slotted the back end with a 1/4" end mill, drilled through from each side to center with a 1/4" drill then a #7 into the opposite side. Ran 1/4 x 20 tap and screwed in a piece of all thread. made brass nuts and put the slide rods through them to clamp. I don't really think I needed a double clamp but did it to make sure the block stays square to the post.

I use toggle clamps on by big drill press that fit into the table slots and I'm planning to get smaller ones to use on the tapping table to hold the work piece.


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## snowman (Apr 16, 2008)

great idea on using the ratcheting tapper chuck. that has been my biggest problem with most of the tappers i have seen made, they all use jacob's chucks, which don't hold taps worth a darn in my opinion


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## alan2525 (Apr 16, 2008)

I bought one of those chinese ratchet tap wrenches and noticed that the knurled grips on the chuck are actually lower than the surface - it looks like the knurl has been ploughed in and made the knurls undercut the surface by about 1mm. So it looks like nothing on mine is of any use!


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## Bogstandard (Apr 16, 2008)

You might say that the jacobs chuck doesn't hold tight enough, I have never had that problem, but if it doesn't hold tight, it is a bonus. If the tap is getting near its breaking point, it should slip according to your calculations, whereas with a square drive tapping chuck, the tap would break. I am sure I know which one I would prefer.

John


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## d-m (Apr 16, 2008)

Hi all 
It has been vary busy around here but I have managed to get the start of my hand tapper started. I still need to finish the base and get the run out, out of my chuck I have tired several times with no luck. But here it is I used a con ron from a old chain saw motor I had lying around the pillar and shaft is CRS the hand wheel is from an old cordless drill. I used the pin and spring to be able to change wheel size according to the tap I am using I will make a larger wheel in the near future. I thought the copper coating on the rod gave it a little (think this is the right word) _BLING_  I have several chucks that came off cordless drills but the runout on them is not acceptable.
Dave


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## dparker (Apr 17, 2008)

Hello All: My hand tapper is not as dedicated as most all of the previous posts but it does work for me on taps down to 0-80. It started out as a minature wood lathe made out of a microscope housing. I picked it up at a estate sale where the fellow had modeled Americas Cup Racing Yachts and made their rigging on it.
 I mounted it vertically on what I had started as a hand tapper from a article in HSM. The microscope adjusting knobs give a delicate touch to the down feed for small drill bits. I am using a sewing machine motor with the variable speed foot pedal as a drill press and can pop off the "O" ring drive belt and use it to tap small holes. The pulley on the top is small enough to give a good feel for the torque on the tap.
 As has been mentioned in other posts I most often use my regular drill press for anything 6-32 or above and drive it by turning the belt by hand. When I get up to 1/2-13 or so I use a ratchet and socket on the top of the quill. One thing to remember is to remove the ratchet as soon as you are done tapping, before you move away from the machine,--you only forget it once! Unplug the drill press also!




don


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## Stan (Apr 17, 2008)

d-m: Why such a long shaft on the tap holder? My theory is that the shaft only needs to be slightly longer than the longest tap you will use. Move the head up and down to accommodate the height of the work piece. Any error in angularity will be amplified by the distance from the guide bushing to the tap. Maybe it is only me that has trouble making perfect angles.


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## d-m (Apr 17, 2008)

Hi Stan 
I knew someone may ask that, this is the second shaft I have made the first one was about half the size. Wile trying to work the run out, out of the chuck I lost more than half of what I had. I am sure that when I get to the point were I am happy with the run out I won't have much shaft left on this one and will need to start all over again :big: :big:
This has been challenging for me I have one more ideal to releave the run out if that fails I may just have to give up and become a wood butcher :big:
Dave


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## Bogstandard (Apr 17, 2008)

Dave,

Don't give up on it. It is your little project and if you are happy, that is all you have to worry about.

You have shown us your results, which a lot of people never do, and even though not perfect in your eyes, you are definitely getting there.

You WILL get it in the end. 

We have all been thru little problems such as this, and at each little step you will learn something useful, to be filed away and used at a later date.

Keep up the good work.

John


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## d-m (Apr 20, 2008)

Hi all 
Well the weather here in central or is crappy at best I woke early this morning hoping to get to the shop and get some more done on my hand tapper. Scratching my head I knew using the tap chuck was risky at best having it solid on the shaft if not machined as one, the run out would be bad and it was. Knowing that I needed a different approach I remembered a chuck kit I had bought some 15 years ago thinking it was a good ideal (for what I don't know) but I was glad I found it after searching for about and hour. The kit contained 2 Jacob's chucks one with a 3/8 square drive and one with a 1/4 drive operating range 0- 6.5 mm ( for the Brittish friends) at that point I wondered how a 1/4 drive extension fit my bushing on my rod end. Well the people at Snap-On tools must have know that some day in the future that Dave was going to do this project it fit spot on. Not wanting this to be that simple and wanting to make some chips I found in a junk drawer an off brand import that was over size chucked it up turned it down and polished to size. All I have left is to come up with a hand wheel set up ( any suggestions ? ) 
Dave


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## Divided He ad (Apr 21, 2008)

Hello all, I have not yet ventured into the hand tapper design yet but found this on the tube of you and thought it very well made indeed, very well thought out too. 
Many of you may have already seen this but I thought I would share the talents of Gmark1953 with you ;D 



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKZ7ThaAFI[/ame]



Ralph.


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## Bogstandard (Apr 21, 2008)

Very well made job there, but a bit of overkill.

I would have had the holes tapped, fitted to the engine, and the engine run in by the time he had set up. Well not quite, but you know what I mean.

There are tools, and there are tools.

Tools that do the job perfectly well, and tools that are made for an audience and most probably never get used, because he doesn't want to get it dirty.
Imagine if he had a bit of rough stuff and that dingly doodah thing hanging on the back jumped off the roller, I am sure that would be the first thing thrown up the yard. Counterbalance my a##e.

Marvs tools are a perfect example, easily made and do the job perfectly, with no extraneous bells and whistles attached, and they do the job they were designed for. What more could you ask for? Except maybe a few rhinestones.

What isn't there, can't go wrong.

John

Now that I have got a dustbin lid for protection, let the arguments commence.


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## mklotz (Apr 21, 2008)

Gee, John, I'm flattered. Many thanks. 

I began the apostasy when I suggested that QCTPs weren't the absolute necessity that so many think they are. Let me continue the heresy by suggesting that a hand tapper is not a real model engineering requirement (listens closely for thunderclap).

Whether on lathe, mill or drill press, at some point you needed to have a drill precisely aligned to drill the hole-to-be-tapped. After drilling the hole, pull the drill out of the chuck and stick one of these...






in its place and, voila, you've created a tapping machine that is auto-aligned to the hole where the threads need to go. Moreover, for really tiny taps (e.g., 0-80), the jigs shown in the photo will give you better "feel" than you'll get with any machine.

I won't go so far as to say there is no application for a tapping machine, but, in 99% of the model making I've done, I've never had need for one.


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## Bogstandard (Apr 21, 2008)

Marv,

I partially agree with you on that one, if you only do a few, then a hand tapper will be a waste of space, but like myself, I sometimes tap hundreds of small holes in a day, so it saves me a lot of time and setting up by using a hand tapper.
But don't get me wrong, I sometimes use your method in my miller, but only for larger stuff. I have just been out to the shop and got a couple of piccies of my heavyweight one.


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## Divided He ad (Apr 21, 2008)

Well gents, I really do like the drill/tapper I posted for it's looks as well as overkill... You got to appreciate the workmanship and the design (counterbalance and all!!) 

But I have to say I really like Marv's tooling too... Simple and effective is also very appealing (probably why I like blonde's! :big: )
Would I be correct in assuming there are bearings in the top for the main tool to rotate on Marv?
I think I would like to try one of these before I build a probably not going to be used much devise again (ref' peck drill... Was still fun creating that though!!) 

Ralph.


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## BobWarfield (Apr 21, 2008)

<In best Crocodile Dundee voice he sez:>

Hand Tapper? 

<chuckles>

That's not a hand tapper. THIS, is a hand tapper:






LOL!

Cheers,

BW

PS  I will suggest that the root of all Model Engineering evil is not any particular method, but rather the tendency for some to lapse into feeling it is a competition and there is one right way or that their way is better. Invariably the one right way is either, "that's too simple, you have to do it like this" or "that's overkill, why didn't you do it the simpler way like this." You can never win either bout. Clearly they're entirely at logger heads and both are often right. It's a silly business to try to sort out these arguments. To do so causes one to forget that Model Engineering is, itself, superfluous. It's fun and nothing more.


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## mklotz (Apr 21, 2008)

Ralph,

Yes, the tap holders are free to turn on the guide rods which are gripped in the chuck when the tool is used. In some of them, the collets shown allow a single tool to be used with several different tap sizes.

Building one will cost you maybe twenty minutes of time. Give it a try and see if you like it. If not, or, like John, you have a multitude of holes to tap, then invest the time to fabricate a tapping machine.

As Bob points out, we can't determine what is best for you and your situation. The best we can do is offer alternatives so you have a selection of options from which to choose.


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## Mcgyver (Apr 21, 2008)

mklotz  said:
			
		

> I won't go so far as to say there is no application for a tapping machine, but, in 99% of the model making I've done, I've never had need for one.



Its just a convenience, you could say the same about the three jaw. If I have a bunch to do, and they're small, I set up the UPT (is it a tapping machine? or do you mean a tapping head?) . Nothing i've used is easier or has a more sensitive feel. light springs hold things in place so the tap doesn't fall into the work and you're not awkwardly moving around a machine's spindle or tail stock barrel because the entire top is open. a wonderful luxury.

otoh, for a onesy or twosy or for larger size i just reach for one of little cylinders of AL the taps OD drilled in, i have a box of them in the my bench top Kennedy (recently acquired, but that's a tool gloat thread ). those little slugs see a lot of action and are the simplest tapping machine.


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## Bernd (Apr 22, 2008)

Marv,

Like your tappers you got there. Going to have to make a couple to use in my mini-mill. Those two round pieces with part of the dia. milled off, how do those relate to the tapper? They look almost like edge finders to me. ???

Bernd


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## Circlip (Apr 22, 2008)

They give you a clear view of the hole while using a normal hand tap. The block sits on the job with the cut out end on the job face. Regards Ian.


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## mklotz (Apr 22, 2008)

Bernd,

The pieces you asked about are collets to accommodate tap shanks of various diameters. When inserted into the tap holder, the cutaway section allows the setscrew to seat on the square part of the tap shank and lock it from turning.


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## Bernd (Apr 23, 2008)

Ok, finally sank in after a few minutes of studying the pic.  (must of had a senoir moment :big Very ingenious.

Bernd


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## Circlip (Apr 24, 2008)

Sorry for jumping in there Marv :bow: But I've seen bits like your "half collets" used purely as guides. Have you seen the simpler version of the mousetrap, the one without cheese? :big: :big:  Regards Ian.


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## Bogstandard (May 19, 2008)

Here is another nice hand tapper

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Machining/Tooling/MiniHandTapper/minihandtapper.html

John


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## Cedge (May 20, 2008)

John
To quote Tel in the Rounder Table thread..."Bugger... another tool to build"...LOL. I really like that sturdy design.

Steve


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## Bogstandard (Sep 1, 2008)

Looks good to me bill.

Happy tapping.

John


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## bentprop (Sep 2, 2008)

Here is my home brew version.Parts of old drill etc. picked up at a club night:
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	














I was thinking pretty much along the same lines as John(Bogs).Hence the knurling around the side of the handle.For bigger taps,I can fit a spanner on top and twirl that around.The chuck is 0-1/4".
The arm was an odd casting,also picked up at a club sale.
Hans.


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## enginebob (Aug 11, 2009)

Question: Are they any count? They seem cheap compared to what I have been looking at. Thanks guys EG.


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