All,
Anybody who used the old tapping fluids that contained 1,1,1
trichloroethane knows how well they worked and misses them. Well, I
found a tapping fluid that seems to work as well for tapping
stainless. The stuff contains, no surprise, trichloroethylene. The
label says it has been tested side by side with the old stuff based on
1,1,1 and shows equal performance. It is made by CRC and is called
TrueTap EV. I found it when looking for something else online. I
bought mine from Amazon because they had the lowest price and no
shipping charge because I bought some other stuff with it. About
$16.00 for a pint. Yesterday I had a job tapping a .875 long through
hole in each part in 303 SS. I have done this job many times and have
never had a problem just using coolant for tapping. But this time the
threading wasn't going well at all. The threads were tearing badly.
Using new taps and using different types of taps. Even a tap made
especially for SS couldn't make good threads and ended up sticking in
the part. I think the material is ****ty. I have found this to be the
case more often these days, that SS stock varies in quality. This time
the material was supplied by the customer and was not from the same
vendor as last time because of quality issues. Anyway, I tried the
stuff from CRC and am very happy with it. No thread tearing. I am just
a satisfied used and have no relationship with either CRC or Amazon.
Eric