Tapping aluminum (or tapping on wood?)
 

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message news:...

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...

"Louis Ohland" wrote in message
...
Mechanical Magic wrote:
Yes, normal taps work fine in Aluminum. Check to make sure you
grabbed the correct drill size, always measure tap drills before
using.

I try not to machine when in a hurry or frustrated. Instead of making it
work, I just unshipped the collet, put away the clamps and cleaned up my
mill.

I see that Windex is supposed to be a good tapping fluid for aluminum...
Was looking on the web to see who handles Tapmagic in southern
Wisconsin... When Beloit Machine Supply closed, there's not much
machinist stuff around local...

WD-40 works and is available almost everywhere.

WD40, The Wonder Drug. g

If you're going to use Tap Magic, make sure it's Tap Magic Aluminum. The
older Tap Magic for steel (and maybe the newer stuff -- mine is old) will
turn aluminum black, boil and bubble, and eat the threads away. Otherwise,
it's just fine. d8-)

Kerosene is the traditional tapping fluid for aluminum. But WD40 probably
won't hurt.

Eh, forget the comment about Tap Magic for steel. I see they've changed the
formula, and they now say "for all metals."\

The old stuff probably had something in it that gives you cancer and pokes
holes in the ozone layer. But man, it was effective.

--
Ed Huntress

Tapping aluminum (or tapping on wood?)
 

Keywords:
In article , "Ed Huntress" wrote:

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message news:...

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...

"Louis Ohland" wrote in message
...
Mechanical Magic wrote:
Yes, normal taps work fine in Aluminum. Check to make sure you
grabbed the correct drill size, always measure tap drills before
using.

I try not to machine when in a hurry or frustrated. Instead of making it
work, I just unshipped the collet, put away the clamps and cleaned up my
mill.

I see that Windex is supposed to be a good tapping fluid for aluminum...
Was looking on the web to see who handles Tapmagic in southern
Wisconsin... When Beloit Machine Supply closed, there's not much
machinist stuff around local...

WD-40 works and is available almost everywhere.

WD40, The Wonder Drug. g

If you're going to use Tap Magic, make sure it's Tap Magic Aluminum. The
older Tap Magic for steel (and maybe the newer stuff -- mine is old) will
turn aluminum black, boil and bubble, and eat the threads away. Otherwise,
it's just fine. d8-)

Kerosene is the traditional tapping fluid for aluminum. But WD40 probably
won't hurt.

Eh, forget the comment about Tap Magic for steel. I see they've changed the
formula, and they now say "for all metals."\

The old stuff probably had something in it that gives you cancer and pokes
holes in the ozone layer. But man, it was effective.

That's actually the "new old stuff". The really old stuff was
discontinued in the mid-60's. It was fantastic, worked great on
aluminum & steel, and smelled like cinnamon. That's when they switched
to two formulas, one for aluminum & one for steel. We used to pick up
partial cans at the surplus yard in Los Alamos when I was a kid. We
didn't realize they had changed the formula until we tried the "steel"
version on some aluminum. It produced purple smoke & ate the tap.

Doug White

Tapping aluminum (or tapping on wood?)
 

"Doug White" wrote in message
...
Keywords:
In article , "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message news:...

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...

"Louis Ohland" wrote in message
...
Mechanical Magic wrote:
Yes, normal taps work fine in Aluminum. Check to make sure you
grabbed the correct drill size, always measure tap drills before
using.

I try not to machine when in a hurry or frustrated. Instead of making
it
work, I just unshipped the collet, put away the clamps and cleaned up
my
mill.

I see that Windex is supposed to be a good tapping fluid for
aluminum...
Was looking on the web to see who handles Tapmagic in southern
Wisconsin... When Beloit Machine Supply closed, there's not much
machinist stuff around local...

WD-40 works and is available almost everywhere.

WD40, The Wonder Drug. g

If you're going to use Tap Magic, make sure it's Tap Magic Aluminum. The
older Tap Magic for steel (and maybe the newer stuff -- mine is old)
will
turn aluminum black, boil and bubble, and eat the threads away.
Otherwise,
it's just fine. d8-)

Kerosene is the traditional tapping fluid for aluminum. But WD40
probably
won't hurt.

Eh, forget the comment about Tap Magic for steel. I see they've changed
the
formula, and they now say "for all metals."\

The old stuff probably had something in it that gives you cancer and pokes
holes in the ozone layer. But man, it was effective.

That's actually the "new old stuff". The really old stuff was
discontinued in the mid-60's. It was fantastic, worked great on
aluminum & steel, and smelled like cinnamon. That's when they switched
to two formulas, one for aluminum & one for steel. We used to pick up
partial cans at the surplus yard in Los Alamos when I was a kid. We
didn't realize they had changed the formula until we tried the "steel"
version on some aluminum. It produced purple smoke & ate the tap.

Yeah, it was kind of exciting, wasn't it? g I wonder what they put it in.
I may still have a can around here.

--
Ed Huntress