# Broke My Tap Handle Today:-(



## YYCHM (Oct 6, 2021)

Cheap BB tap handle, they don't even sell them anymore.  Kind of surprised as I've broken lots of taps with that handle, never thought I'd break the handle it self.  This time I was tapping 5/16-18.


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## YotaBota (Oct 6, 2021)

Looks like a good project to make a new one out of steel. Do you know anyone with a lathe and a milling machine?  You could probably reuse the handles (if you want to).


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## YYCHM (Oct 6, 2021)

YotaBota said:


> Looks like a good project to make a new one out of steel. Do you know anyone with a lathe and a milling machine?  You could probably reuse the handles (if you want to).



At tap handle has been on my todo list for quite some time now LOL...


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## RobinHood (Oct 6, 2021)

…. And a shaper to cut the square corners…

And that’s how fast we have added another project to your list, Craig.


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## John Conroy (Oct 6, 2021)

These are the ones I made a few years ago.


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## PeterT (Oct 6, 2021)

The break is exactly where one would expect them to propagate from - those sharp internal corners on cast material. That would be a perfect place for a fillet, or better yet, John's design. Looks like the anvil corners of your green wrench are getting rounded over too torqueing against the tap shank. For bonus points you could make out of tool steel, harden & quench. If you prefer in-line handle design, you could copy the proportions of a Starrett tap wrench.


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## John Conroy (Oct 6, 2021)

Mine are actually a shameless copy of one that This Old Tony made.


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## Tom Kitta (Oct 6, 2021)

I have a big one that I made some time ago for taps over 1"

I also bought 120 or so year old tap / die set for 4 CAD recently. Made in the US. Good stuff. The taps are all dull and I am sure dies as well (through they have easy provision to resharpen) BUT the tap handle is excellent. It has very "innovative" design and after 120 or so years shows little wear on the hardened parts. 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/atq-green-river-screw-plate-tap-die-1862336523

Notice the little wheel to adjust - no worries you make something loose while tapping by moving the handles. 

Also my dad broke his tapping handle - the die cast AL is very weak on these and does break.


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## Dusty (Oct 6, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> View attachment 17554
> 
> Cheap BB tap handle, they don't even sell them anymore.  Kind of surprised as I've broken lots of taps with that handle.  This time I was tapping 5/16-18.





YYCHM said:


> View attachment 17554
> 
> Cheap BB tap handle, they don't even sell them anymore.  Kind of surprised as I've broken lots of taps with that handle.  This time I was tapping 5/16-18.



Hey Craig, you must have muscles in your poo. LOL

@John Conroy shows photos of a nice home made set however he offers no background music on material used, size of stock, and the hardened parts.

Come on John will only takes a few minutes of your time.


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## John Conroy (Oct 6, 2021)

The handles are just cold rolled bar stock and the jaws are 4340 tool steel but not hardened. I have used the smaller one a lot and it shows no signs of wear.


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## PeterT (Oct 6, 2021)

Interesting set Tom. A nice oldy. I retract my statement about square corners. The difference must be the material.

The die wrench is a different retention principle than current ones with the cone tip set screws that come off radially (and rarely match the die divots anyways).


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## YYCHM (Oct 6, 2021)

PeterT said:


> I retract my statement about square corners. The difference must be the material.



Don't retract your statement about square corners.  Square corners are stress raisers as taught to every mechanical engineering student since the De Havilland Comet failures.  In my case the failed member was made of pot metal.


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## PeterT (Oct 6, 2021)

Ya I just mean if there is enough meat then its probably is fine. I would expect the tap to break long before the body.
The bottom 2 are Starretts (internet picture not mine). Different clamping principle.


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## YYCHM (Oct 29, 2021)

Well..... after dithering over do I make or purchase I decided to give this a try...





__





						KBC,NO.8 HEAVY DUTY TAP WRENCH,1-389-08,KBC Tools & Machinery
					

KBC,NO.8 HEAVY DUTY TAP WRENCH,1-389-08,KBC Tools & Machinery




					www.kbctools.ca
				




I'm impressed, no pot metal here.  I think the body is cast iron or maybe even forged and originates from India.  Got the #9 as well.


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## Dusty (Oct 29, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Well..... after dithering over do I make or purchase I decided to give this a try...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hey Craig be a kind old gent, after you give your new tap wrenches a workout give us your honest opinion of both.


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## whydontu (Oct 29, 2021)

I’ve been using a KBC #11 for at least the last 30 years. Could be used to kill moose. The dings are from when I removed the fixed anvil (tap was too big to fit properly) and used it to hand tap 400 1” NPT pipe fittings. That job paid for my first milling machine.


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## YYCHM (Oct 29, 2021)

Don't look like the website image....






Quite the size jump between a #8 and a #9.


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## DPittman (Oct 29, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Well..... after dithering over do I make or purchase I decided to give this a try...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good to hear I probably should order one or two of those myself and now can with confidence.
I bought a set of BA tap and die set from India and the tap and die holders are absolutely HIDEOUSLY poor  the rest of the set is only extremely poor.


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## YYCHM (Oct 29, 2021)

DPittman said:


> Good to hear I probably should order one or two of those myself and now can with confidence.
> I bought a set of BA tap and die set from India and the tap and die holders are absolutely HIDEOUSLY poor  the rest of the set is only extremely poor.



That sounds like the tap and die set I got at PA 30+ years ago.  You can't even chaise threads with that set, pure garbage.  Don't think I would ever order tooling from India, but other things like rotary tables etc aren't too too bad.


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## DPittman (Oct 29, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> That sounds like the tap and die set I got at PA 30+ years ago.  You can't even chaise threads with that set, pure garbage.  Don't think I would ever order tooling from India, but other things like rotary tables etc aren't too too bad.


Yes I knew it was a poor gamble right from the start but I couldn't find any other British Assoc. tap/die sets elsewhere.  I've never tried them yet but I bought them for a Stuart model that needs to come off the shelf one of these fine days.


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## Susquatch (Oct 30, 2021)

PeterT said:


> Ya I just mean if there is enough meat then its probably is fine.



"Probably" is a good choice of words but no safety net. I work with big stuff (@Brent H 's stuff is bigger), and I see huge machines broken all the time because of sharp corners. It's worse when there is moisture around. Farm equipment designers dont seem to have gone to a decent engineering program as they love sharp corners. Add a wee bit of force (as in torquing a tap) and a micro-crack forms. Moisture gets into the crack, micro corrosion follows the grain structure of the material, and it weakens to crack some more. Add a constant force and it can become stress corrosion. 

I seem to regularly break tap wrenches there. I've upgraded to better wrenches but I still get failures and I'm still not happy. 

I've wondered about adding a tiny (1/16th or 1/8th) milled out corner relief. 

I like @John Conroy 's wrenches, but would prefer to buy if I can find something more reliable. I've often used square drive sockets on a big sliding T-bar socket wrench for the big stuff, and I recently bought a small starrett wrench. But I'll be watching for a report from @YYCHM on the KBC wrenches.


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## PeterT (Oct 30, 2021)

You used to see these (arguably older style?) cylindrical style tap wrenches before they morphed into the plate style we see today. I see them on Ali of dubious quality. They probably would be easier to make in a home shop lathe. I started to do some drawings but couldn't quite get my head around the jaws. By that I mean even though the thicker body looked like it should hold more of the tap shaft (which would be a good thing) the length of flat ground on the tap crown is relatively short by comparison & that's what the 90-deg Vee jaw must mate. Maybe I'm missing something?


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## YotaBota (Oct 30, 2021)

DPittman said:


> I couldn't find any other British Assoc. tap/die sets elsewhere.


Goliathtoolingcanada.com  Dan has BA tooling and is good to deal with.


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## DPittman (Oct 30, 2021)

YotaBota said:


> Goliathtoolingcanada.com  Dan has BA tooling and is good to deal with.


Thanks for the link and recommendation.


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## YotaBota (Oct 30, 2021)

Don't be shocked by the prices but the tools are good.


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## buckbrush (Nov 7, 2021)

Goliath taps and dies are still made in Great Britain and are top shelf-tools


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## DPittman (Nov 7, 2021)

buckbrush said:


> Goliath taps and dies are still made in Great Britain and are top shelf-tools


I guess that would explain the high prices.  I'd still like to own a top quality set of tap and dies someday.  I'll probably wait until I'm to old to get much use out of them if I ever do.  Hee hee.


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## historicalarms (Nov 7, 2021)

Tapping threads is probably the area of hobby machining where quality taps show their worth in spades. I have 4 tapping sets in my shop, two that were "end of the Ille specials from BB that are only usable for wood or plastic threading ( aluminum in a real pinch), a CT small set up to 1/2 " that I have found to be very good for the cost of it and a large set up to 1" that came from an industrial supply place....supposed to be "very good quality" but in actuality, not any better than the moderately priced CT version.

    Now for a story on "the good stuff"....25 yrs ago I got the opportunity to attend a machinist trade show in Edmonton...me, being a brand new hobbyist with a $350 lathe/mill combo at home was walking in the same crowd that used hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment every day...yup I sure fit in with that bunch.

any ways , one of the vendors had a "try our stuff out" display set up that had an industrial tapping apparatus set up. It had a "pantograph type arm system set up with a air drill attached to it with some make of 3/8 tap that i can't remember installed in it. Under the machine was a sheet of 1/2 steel plate that must have had 1000 pilot holes drilled in it.  Any body that want to giv'r a try could do so...so, after having a look around to see if anybody recognized me as an imposter first, grabbed the air tool and touched a new hole with it...it had a "usage counter" on it for the tap in the machine & I was #380 or so...the instant I hit the trigger on that die grinder it grabbed and threaded through that 1/2 inch steel in less time than it took me to type the last 5 words, once it was through it automatically reversed and backed out leaving a perfect thread. 
    My biggest "come away" from that show & that tapping machine is that I will always and forever be an amateur.


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## PeterT (Nov 7, 2021)

I find the Sowa taps to be excellent quality & reasonable price. Which is kind of strange because I find their prices to be on the high side by comparison. You can get many different flavors of their taps but I find the blue ring to be perfectly suitable for hobby purposes. The only thing with Sowa is they are a distributer so you have to go to a Thomas Skinner or DMH or whoever carries the line in your town. Too bad KBC doesn't carry because their shipping model is great. I have been tapping a lot of M3 holes in aluminum so I've tried quite a few brands of that size more for morbid interest. Buying low quality taps is a waste of money IMO. You negate the cost difference in the first part you wreck. Having said that, most home shop tapping issues are related to the fundamentals: tap stability (going in & out perfectly straight), chip loading (cleaning/lubrication), over-driving under power etc. In a controlled (CNC) environment good taps will make guessing thousands of holes.


			SOWA - Homepage


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## Susquatch (Nov 7, 2021)

PeterT said:


> I find the Sowa taps to be excellent quality & reasonable price. Which is kind of strange because I find their prices to be on the high side by comparison. You can get many different flavors of their taps but I find the blue ring to be perfectly suitable for hobby purposes. The only thing with Sowa is they are a distributer so you have to go to a Thomas Skinner or DMH or whoever carries the line in your town. Too bad KBC doesn't carry because their shipping model is great. I have been tapping a lot of M3 holes in aluminum so I've tried quite a few brands of that size more for morbid interest. Buying low quality taps is a waste of money IMO. You negate the cost difference in the first part you wreck. Having said that, most home shop tapping issues are related to the fundamentals: tap stability (going in & out perfectly straight), chip loading (cleaning/lubrication), over-driving under power etc. In a controlled (CNC) environment good taps will make guessing thousands of holes.
> 
> 
> SOWA - Homepage



My local Varco industrial Supply carries or can get Sowa products. I'd guess they are all across Canada but don't know that for a fact. I got my GS (Sowa) vice jaws there. 

I have several sets of taps & dies too. Most are gathering dust today. Should have bought a really good set right up front when I was 18.  Today, I buy taps, drill bits, and dies as I need them from Varco. Someday I'll have a full set of good ones - maybe just in time to throw them in the hole with me.....  

Just wondering, what makes the blue line ones worth the extra coin over say Dormer?


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## PeterT (Nov 7, 2021)

The catalog has some application specific information you can peruse:


			SOWA - Homepage
		


Their color coded banding is basically a function of material hardness & then sub-groups. Probably more selection granularity than a weekend warrior would have to delve into, but anyways gives you an idea. Sowa is a middle man so these taps likely correspond to some 'other' brand. I remember seeing a very similar categorization in a brochure I picked up at T.Skinner. Now whether that was Emuge or YG or... I can't recall.  There are very likely equivalents to this brand including Dormer, its a competitive business. Some have more extensive or specialized coating systems, but generally they seem to be more costly, hence why I think the Sowa are good value. I tried some Merlin blue? from KBC that tapped very well, but they are through hole style. They don't have (or carry) anywhere near the selection of chip ejecting styles. Same goes for gun guys or model engineers in the teeny sizes, sometimes that limits the brands they can use.

For a while I was favoring uncoated taps for aluminum work, maybe more to just to keep them separate from non-aluminum. But I find the quality & sharpness & geometry type kind of dominates over most everything else so now I pretty much use the same for aluminum & mild steel. I don't have a wide range of big taps but more in smaller sizes so thats the basis of my comparison. If the application is say more stainless or tool steel or 4140... that might be a legitimate need to try a few types more dedicated to that alloy.


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## Susquatch (Nov 7, 2021)

PeterT said:


> The catalog has some application specific information you can peruse:
> 
> 
> SOWA - Homepage
> ...



Thanks @PeterT. Pretty good overview. 

I'm wondering what the real difference is between a really good tap for mild steel and one for harder steel. Betting price is one big difference. Exotic material and coating is probably another. Just have to wonder what makes sense for a regular machinist. Will a tap for hard steel also cut standard steel? What is the price break, ie when does it make sense to jump over the difference hurdle. I can barely afford to buy taps as needed. It would be difficult to justify accumulating different grades of taps too.


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## John Conroy (Nov 7, 2021)

Adam is using OSG Tool Hy-Pro taps on his FlexArm machine in this video and he is tapping at 150rpm and they cut the 4140 like butter.  The taps in that Sowa catalog recommend les than 50 rpm. Tapping starts at 48.55 near the end of the vid.





__





						OSG | Taps | End Mills | Drills | Indexable | Composite Tooling | Diamond Coating | Die Products. OSG Cutting Tools for Threading Applications
					

OSG offers spiral flute, spiral point, straight flute, forming taps, pipe taps and more.



					www.osgcanada.com


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## CalgaryPT (Nov 7, 2021)

whydontu said:


> I’ve been using a KBC #11 for at least the last 30 years. Could be used to kill moose. The dings are from when I removed the fixed anvil (tap was too big to fit properly) and used it to hand tap 400 1” NPT pipe fittings. That job paid for my first milling machine.


400 1" hand taps??? 

You'd be buff enough to kill the moose with your bare hands after that. No tap wrench needed.


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## Susquatch (Nov 7, 2021)

John Conroy said:


> Adam is using OSG Tool Hy-Pro taps on his FlexArm machine in this video and he is tapping at 150rpm and they cut the 4140 like butter.  The taps in that Sowa catalog recommend les than 50 rpm. Tapping starts at 48.55 near the end of the vid.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



For some reason, I couldn't fast forward so watched the hole thing....... 

That's what I call tapping! @whydontu would still be skinny if he did his 400 holes that way!


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## Crankit (Nov 7, 2021)

Keep an eye on Marketplace for used tap & die sets and you will find vintage sets with excellent handles, I've collected many Greenfield Tap & Die (and other quality ones) handles over the past few years


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## PeterT (Nov 8, 2021)

John Conroy said:


> Adam is using OSG Tool Hy-Pro taps on his FlexArm machine in this video and he is tapping at 150rpm and they cut the 4140 like butter.  The taps in that Sowa catalog recommend les than 50 rpm. Tapping starts at 48.55 near the end of the vid.



Those FlexArms are impressive. I bet they are spendy. But for shops where time is money I can see the benefit. They have such a reach, the head goes to the hole so the part can stay put.

Good comment about the speed. Was this the Sowa chart you were getting that from? They specify feet per minute (FPM). So a 3/8 tap would be ~500 rpm at 50 FPM. I must admit I usually tap way slower than how the calculation works, mostly trying to avoid problems. When I power tap in the mill, higher rpm takes longer for machine to decelerate so the pucker factor increases. The tapping head can self reverse which solves that issue. But it takes me longer to clean the chips that actually tap the hole! LOL


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## John Conroy (Nov 8, 2021)

Yeah I mis-read the FPM as RPM. That makes more sense now.


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## historicalarms (Nov 9, 2021)

My taping speed is more in the 50 minutes per 1/2"...and i can even break taps quite nicely at that speed.


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## Susquatch (Nov 9, 2021)

historicalarms said:


> My taping speed is more in the 50 minutes per 1/2"...and i can even break taps quite nicely at that speed.



Sad, but true! That's kinda my experience too! I don't do enough tapping to justify a tapping head or a tapping machine. 

My tapping got an order of magnitude better after I made myself a tap centering holder so I could tap on the drilling axis. But still manual all the way.


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## YYCHM (Nov 13, 2021)

Hey, my new tap handles work great!






That's 9/16-18 and the tap wouldn't fit in the smaller handle.  Should have gotten a bigger handle years ago, this made tapping soo much easier.

Craig


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## Susquatch (Nov 14, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Hey, my new tap handles work great!
> 
> View attachment 18248
> 
> ...



It seems that KBC carries tap handles ranging from a #8 (1/16-1/4) through to a #13 (1" to 2-1/2"). They are all called "Heavy Duty".

I have a Bosche #12 that looks Heavy Duty  (forged) but that designation will only last till I break it.

As I said before, when taps get big, I like to use a sliding driver bar with a square drive socket.






The problem with that is all those sizes of square drive that come on taps. They are not all 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc. Some have an equivalent square drive size and some don't. But on the other hand, when they do fit, they work great and it also allows the use of an extension for easier access and cheater pipe for extra leverage for those few times when either is needed.

I took a quick look at the die holders on KBC too. On this side of fastener threading tools, they flamed big time IMHO. None of them look very impressive based on the web site photos but then again as @YYCHM found out, the product that arrives doesn't always look like the photo.


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## Chicken lights (Nov 14, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> It seems that KBC carries tap handles ranging from a #8 (1/16-1/4) through to a #13 (1" to 2-1/2"). They are all called "Heavy Duty".
> 
> I have a Bosche #12 that looks Heavy Duty  (forged) but that designation will only last till I break it.
> 
> ...


Square drive socket? You mean an 8 point socket or actual tap sockets?


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## Susquatch (Nov 14, 2021)

Chicken lights said:


> Square drive socket? You mean an 8 point socket or actual tap sockets?



Typically 8 point. I believe that they do make tap sockets though. I just don't have any.


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## Chicken lights (Nov 14, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> Typically 8 point. I believe that they do make tap sockets though. I just don't have any.


You will love tap sockets, for the type of stuff you wrench on


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## whydontu (Nov 14, 2021)

my experience in using a bigger tap handle is it makes it soooo much easier to break the tap….


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## YYCHM (Nov 14, 2021)

whydontu said:


> my experience in using a bigger tap handle is it makes it soooo much easier to break the tap….



I was kind of thinking of that the entire time when tapping that 9/16-18 LOL.  Lord knows I've broken enough of them with the small handle already  You get that scritch sound and then bang.


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## Dusty (Nov 14, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> I was kind of thinking of that to LOL.  Lord knows I have broken enough of them with the small handle already  You get that scritch sound and then bang.



From my limited experience threading with any size tap is a no rush job. One uses much cutting fluid, takes a small cut then backs it off  to clear the cuttings. Making a consorted effort to clear cuttings is a must where you will end up with a thread like a pro. Just saying!


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## YYCHM (Nov 14, 2021)

Dusty said:


> From my limited experience threading with any size tap is a no rush job. One uses much cutting fluid, takes a small cut then backs it off  to clear the cuttings. Making a consorted effort to clear cuttings is a must where you will end up with a thread like a pro. Just saying!



I hear you on that one, after learning the hard way.  Back off and blow all the swarf out many times.


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## Susquatch (Nov 14, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> I was kind of thinking of that the entire time when tapping that 9/16-18 LOL.





Dusty said:


> From my limited experience threading with any size tap is a no rush job.





YYCHM said:


> I hear you on that one, after learning the hard way. Back off and blow all the swarf out many times.



With you guys all the way. I don't know how anyone ever gets the courage to chuck a tap in a motorized driver of any kind. 

I'm a firm believer in getting the cutting axis as close as humanly possible to the hole axis - follow the hole even if the hole is crooked! Then slow and easy she goes..... My rule of thumb is 1/2 in, 1/4 out 4 times (one full thread) then clean. 

Ya a big tap handle is bad, but so is tapping a big hole. Not gunna tap a 1.5" hole if your using a tiny handle even if you could get the handle onto the tap. That's when the square socket and big sliding T-bar come into their own. 

To be honest though, I've broken more teeny tiny taps than big ones.


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## Susquatch (Dec 21, 2021)

Got a pair of tap wrenches in my last KBC order on the strength of comments by others here. These are different. They are branded KBC - Blaze ProTool. 

I'll probably send them back. They have a baked on paint coat to hide the metal, the machining is poor, and I have little faith in them. Here is a photo of my Bosch next to the KBC. Obviously, the Bosche is a bigger size, but it's easy to see the difference.


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## Dusty (Dec 21, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> Got a pair of tap wrenches in my last KBC order on the strength of comments by others here. These are different. They are branded KBC - Blaze ProTool.
> 
> I'll probably send them back. They have a baked on paint coat to hide the metal, the machining is poor, and I have little faith in them. Here is a photo of my Bosch next to the KBC. Obviously, the Bosche is a bigger size, but it's easy to see the difference.
> 
> View attachment 19172



Thanks for the post @Susquatch, for what it's worth I have a small set of adjustable reamers branded KBC - Blase ProTool manufactured in India. Although the machining is not, I repeat not of Starrett quality they do the job for the few times I've needed one. If the price is right most often one can always clean up botched machining. As for looking pretty I can live with ugly appearance, it's only a tool.  

On the flip side perhaps @YYCHM might comment here as to how well his 2 tap wrenches from KBC function.

What say you Craig?


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## YYCHM (Dec 21, 2021)

Dusty said:


> Thanks for the post @Susquatch, for what it's worth I have a small set of adjustable reamers branded KBC - Blase ProTool manufactured in India. Although the machining is not, I repeat not of Starrett quality they do the job for the few times I've needed one. If the price is right most often one can always clean up botched machining. As for looking pretty I can live with ugly appearance, it's only a tool.
> 
> On the flip side perhaps @YYCHM might comment here as to how well his 2 tap wrenches from KBC function.
> 
> What say you Craig?



For the price I'm quite happy with them.


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## Susquatch (Dec 21, 2021)

Dusty said:


> As for looking pretty I can live with ugly appearance, it's only a tool.



Me too. I'm fact, I almost prefer ugly. Anyone as ugly as I am can't throw stones. 

However, I don't like paint so thick I can't see what is under it, I don't like edges that look like they were cut with a jig saw, and I don't like a clamp that wobbles as you tighten the screw.


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## Susquatch (Dec 21, 2021)

I'm thinking the handles are sourced differently here in Ontario.


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## YYCHM (Dec 21, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> I'm thinking the handles are sourced differently here in Ontario.



Na, mine looks just like yours.  At least they are steel and not pot metal.


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## Susquatch (Dec 21, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Na, mine looks just like yours.  At least they are steel and not pot metal.



How do you know that? That's my bitch with the paint. I can't see what's under that and therefore I'm suspicious. What is hiding under there?


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## YYCHM (Dec 21, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> How do you know that? That's my bitch with the paint. I can't see what's under that and therefore I'm suspicious. What is hiding under there?



Magnet  Also, they were listed as heavy duty....


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## Janger (Dec 21, 2021)

John Conroy said:


> Adam is using OSG Tool Hy-Pro taps on his FlexArm machine in this video and he is tapping at 150rpm and they cut the 4140 like butter.  The taps in that Sowa catalog recommend les than 50 rpm. Tapping starts at 48.55 near the end of the vid.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I want to know more about this flexarm he's using. Nice tool. Anybody give us more info on that? Like how much for one?


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## Susquatch (Dec 21, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> Magnet  Also, they were listed as heavy duty....



The laugh I added to your post was at myself for not trying the magnet...... I'll give that a whirl tomorrow.


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## Dusty (Dec 22, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> The laugh I added to your post was at myself for not trying the magnet...... I'll give that a whirl tomorrow.


 
@Susquatch, and what did your trusty whirl magnet say? LOL


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## Susquatch (Dec 22, 2021)

Dusty said:


> @Susquatch, and what did your trusty whirl magnet say? LOL



Grandkids all day. Didn't get out to the shop at all. 

Hopefully tomorrow morning.


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## Dusty (Dec 22, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> Grandkids all day. Didn't get out to the shop at all.
> 
> Hopefully tomorrow morning.



Wait for it next comes great-grandchildren to keep your Yeti tribe going then you'll be an old man like me.


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## Susquatch (Dec 23, 2021)

Dusty said:


> @Susquatch, and what did your trusty whirl magnet say? LOL



Steel of some kind. 

I'm still not impressed. But I'll prolly keep them. 

The sliding block wobbles as the screw is tightened. Ordinary 60 degree threads on the Leade screw. Fit and finish is poor. But they were not expensive. 

The Bosche has Acme threads and it's smooth as silk with solid fit and finish. But Amazon doesn't seem to have them anymore. 

So I'll prolly keep the KBC handles for now.


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## YYCHM (Dec 23, 2021)

Susquatch said:


> Steel of some kind.
> 
> I'm still not impressed. But I'll prolly keep them.
> 
> ...



https://www.kbctools.ca/itemdetail/1-855-50422 $20 v.s. $250. You could always return it and upgrade


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## Susquatch (Dec 23, 2021)

YYCHM said:


> https://www.kbctools.ca/itemdetail/1-855-50422 $20 v.s. $250. You could always return it and upgrade



OK, but fair is fair. 

The KBC 11 & 12 are $30 & $95
      The 11 is 3/8 to 1
      The 12 is 3/4 to 1-1/2

My Bosche was $63. It is 1/2 to 1-1/8 which is halfway between the KBC #11 and #12. Coincidentally, so is the price. So I think it's reasonable to say that you get more for your money with the Bosche. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be available anymore.


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