for hand tapping in general, one of the first tools I made for myself was a
piece if 1-1/4" sqaure steel bar, with nominal diameter holes drilled in it
from 1/2" on down.
for heavier work, I clamp it to the work, for quikee jobs using smaller
taps, i can just hold in place with my free hand.
this is not foolproof, but way better than trying to eyeball the alignment

another tip is to drill with your tap drill, in say a drillpress or mill
spindle, then swap the drill ith the tap, before moving the work.
That way, you are tapping on exactly the same axis as the drill operation

as to teeny little taps, when we are hand tapping, we use a tap guide as
described above, and make up a knurled knob , say, about 1/2" od, that fits
the body of the tap, and uses a setscrew to bind the tap to the knob, in the
same way an endmill is clamped in its holder.
The knob gives you a much better feel for the torque you are applying,
compared to a t-shaped tap handle.




"trumpy81" wrote in message
u...
GDay All,
I plan to do some model engine building in the near future and it crossed
my
mind that I dont really know how to cut internal threads at diameters
smaller
than 3mm (1/8").

I know I should be able to cut external threads without too much bother,
but
how does one tap a hole for such small threads??

Needless to say, I'm not a machinist, yet! But I am learning quickly!

Any help you guys could give me, would be greatly appreciated.

Also, to any aussies here, where's the best place to buy drill bits from
# 80 - 1/8" ?, especially in Brisbane.

TIA
--
Regards
trumpy81

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