It is kind of really amazing, how well I can tap on a manual lathe
when I need a concentrically tapped hole. The accuracy and ease of
that cannot possibly be even approached while tapping manually.

To hold the tap, I used Morse tapered tap collets that I horse traded
a while ago. They are made to hold taps with square shanks. See
mcmaster item 2731A49 for example.

It was also nice to slow down the lathe greatly, by changing the
frequency of the VFD.

i