On Feb 20, 4:29*pm, wrote:
Can anyone advise about what type of taps to get, pros cons of types
of tool steel in different materials etc......

I looked through the tap drawers downstairs and found a wide range
from Morse, Greenfield and TRW (good) through Hanson, Bay State and
Anser (adequate) to Anonymous and Made In India (still sharp,
somehow). A mirror-like ground finish on the shank and threads is
often a good sign of quality, though that may not help much with mail-
order selection. Be suspicious of taps with the finish and grey color
of a nail.

For light home shop use you could buy plastic-cased metric, USS and
SAE sets and replace them as they dull. Then you will automatically
have good taps in the sizes you use most and at least something to
clean up odd damaged threads on the kids' bicycles, plus safe
organized storage so they don't bang together and dull each other.

I have used these sets in small company shops and most of the taps
were reasonably sharp. They came from MSC or McMaster-Carr, though,
not Harbor Freight or the local Dollar Store.

Spiral point taps which curl the chips forward are a good choice as
long as you can dig the chips out of blind holes. They are excellent
for through holes, cut noticeably easier and if you're careful can be
sharpened by grinding the flute groove with a Dremel or round
whetstone. Someone with a tool and cutter grinding setup (I'm not
volunteering) can relief-grind the conical point to salvage large,
expensive taps that sell very cheap when dull. I've tried to sharpen
them that way by hand but it never worked well.

Jim Wilkins