On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 03:27:03 +0000, "William B Noble (don't reply to
this address)" wrote:

I just bought a hand tapper from E-bay - local pickup, bla bla bla
It's nice, I cleaned it up a little, did some machining to make the
ball detent work so the shaft would stay up while I changed tap
holders, and all would be well, except for one problem - I can't
figure out how this thing was supposed to retain the tap holders.

The holders, as you can see, are hexagonal. they fit into the end of
the shaft. Inside the shaft, about 3/16 up from the end, there is a
groove. I suppose a spring goes in there? does anyone have a similar
unit so they can tell me exactly how the retainer looks?

thanks

bill

I always wanted one of those but never came across one. I did find a
small 1/2" drill press with a dead motor for $2. Made a crank out of
flat iron and screwed it on top of the pulley. Works good up to 3/8".
Haven't tried anything larger.