Need a recommendation for a good quality metric tap set. Particularly
want a 12 mm, 1.25 pitch tap. Guess I could buy just one tap
but . . .. Pretty sure I won't be able to buy just taps, but dies
will go with them. Thanks for any input.

Get out your Enco or MSC catalog. You can buy as few or as many as you
want. I think you can go to any auto parts store and single taps, too.

General recommendation: don't scrimp on taps. Always buy high quality.
Cheap ones break easier, then you will wish you had spent the
extra money. Throw away dull taps for the same reason.


Pete Stanaitis
----------------

El Cazador wrote:
Need a recommendation for a good quality metric tap set. Particularly
want a 12 mm, 1.25 pitch tap. Guess I could buy just one tap
but . . .. Pretty sure I won't be able to buy just taps, but dies
will go with them. Thanks for any input.

On Aug 6, 10:14 pm, El Cazador wrote:
Need a recommendation for a good quality metric tap set. Particularly
want a 12 mm, 1.25 pitch tap. Guess I could buy just one tap
but . . .. Pretty sure I won't be able to buy just taps, but dies
will go with them. Thanks for any input.

Good-quality and set are about mutually exclusive. You can buy sets
and you can buy good taps and dies, but the good taps and dies won't
be in the sets. Make your own set. Lots of industrial suppliers
online. Stick with the domestic brands like Greenfield and Chicago
Latrobe unless you know the foreign-made brands. Don't forget you
need metric tap and clearance drills, too. Basically, I just buy what
I need when I need it. Saves having a lot of iron sitting there that
I'll never use.

Haven't seen any taps OR metric hardware in an auto parts place that
really begged me to take it home. Same old chink tomato can stuff you
get from the likes of HF or Homier.

Stan

I think they make a tap with thinned-shank area, so that when you do break a
tap, it breaks at the thinned area, giving you something to grab for
removal.
Nitty-gritty torque limiter??

I guess you could also do this yourself, even if just on an abrasive wheel.
Anyone bother?
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wrote in message
ups.com...
On Aug 6, 10:14 pm, El Cazador wrote:
Need a recommendation for a good quality metric tap set. Particularly
want a 12 mm, 1.25 pitch tap. Guess I could buy just one tap
but . . .. Pretty sure I won't be able to buy just taps, but dies
will go with them. Thanks for any input.

Good-quality and set are about mutually exclusive. You can buy sets
and you can buy good taps and dies, but the good taps and dies won't
be in the sets. Make your own set. Lots of industrial suppliers
online. Stick with the domestic brands like Greenfield and Chicago
Latrobe unless you know the foreign-made brands. Don't forget you
need metric tap and clearance drills, too. Basically, I just buy what
I need when I need it. Saves having a lot of iron sitting there that
I'll never use.

Haven't seen any taps OR metric hardware in an auto parts place that
really begged me to take it home. Same old chink tomato can stuff you
get from the likes of HF or Homier.

Stan

According to :
On Aug 6, 10:14 pm, El Cazador wrote:
Need a recommendation for a good quality metric tap set.

[ ... ]

Good-quality and set are about mutually exclusive. You can buy sets
and you can buy good taps and dies, but the good taps and dies won't
be in the sets.

This has not always been the case. I've seen good sets (bought
by the government and on GSA), and I got a really nice set (1-64 through
1-10) in a large (18"x 36" IIRC) metal case with fitted gray foam
containing a full three-tap HSS set for each size (starting, plug, and
bottoming) and a corresponding die. I got it from an eBay auction which
did not have a photo, and just took a chance, going by the maker's name
(TRW) and the description. It turned out to be a real deal.

Make your own set. Lots of industrial suppliers
online. Stick with the domestic brands like Greenfield and Chicago
Latrobe unless you know the foreign-made brands. Don't forget you
need metric tap and clearance drills, too. Basically, I just buy what
I need when I need it. Saves having a lot of iron sitting there that
I'll never use.

Yes -- metric can mean that some of the imported brands can be
the best choice. You'll pay a premium for the good USA ones.

For most of my use I prefer the gun taps (spiral point taps for
being driven by a tapping head), as you don't have to keep reversing the
tap to break the chips. The spiral point chases them ahead of the tap.
However, for tapping a blind hole when you don't have enough metal to
make an overly-deep hole to collect the chips, others are better. And
in the right materials, thread forming (roll) taps are best, but require
more precise (and different) tap drills.

Haven't seen any taps OR metric hardware in an auto parts place that
really begged me to take it home. Same old chink tomato can stuff you
get from the likes of HF or Homier.

Yep!

Good Luck,
DoN.

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