On 2012-03-14, Bob La Londe wrote:
A buddy of mine brought over some bending dies and asked me to change their
shape and size on the lathe. He also brought a brand new can of Tap Magic
as a gift for helping him out. The bending dies were very hard, and I tried
both oil and the Tap Magic. We went with the TM if for no other reason than
it smelled better.

1,1,1, Trichlor -- if it is the original TapMagic.

Yesterday I was making a stepped shoulder pin with a head out of a bolt for
an special application. I was using the mini lathe just because I finally
got it into tolerable condition. I made a rough pass that stalled the lathe
and tripped off the over load. I reset it, put a couple drops of tap magic
on the work piece, and tried the pass again at the exact same DOC, feed,
RPM, etc. The cutter not only breezed right through it, but it looked
really good.

I think the jury is still out for tapping aluminum, but time will tell. I
have used it to tap some 10 32 holes nearly the full length of the cutting
portion of the tap, but I don't have that many holes on this tap yet.

If yours does not have the words "For Aluminum" on there
somewhere, and especially if it is the original formula, start tapping
aluminum and you will get smoke coming out of the interface, and a brown
stain on both the workpiece and the tap. I learned this the hard way
with a sample sized bottle. :-)

Anyway, to whoever suggested Tap Magic. Thank you.

I was at least one of those -- and I was specific about looking
for the original formula for use on hard steel -- the one which says
"Don't use for aluminum" on the can. :-)

I was planning on
ordering some sooner or later to try, and to my buddy who brought me a
can... a BIG THANK YOU. I now also know its available locally. Makes
getting more easier.

That helps indeed. Especially if you can find the original
formula there. That is somewhat harder to find, because the 1,1,1
Trichlor is considered a carcinogen. But I don't need to use it very
often, and I've already got enough years on this chassis so I figure
that I'll risk it.

I also got exposed to a lot of it when developing printed
circuit board photo-resist.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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