Tap and die

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Jump to: navigation, search Not to be confused with Tool and die. Taps and dies are cutting tools used to create screw threads, which is called threading. A tap is used to cut the female portion of the mating pair (e.g., a nut). A die is used to cut the male portion of the mating pair (e.g., ascrew). The process of cutting threads using a tap is called tapping, whereas the process using a die is called threading. Both tools can be used to clean up a thread, which is called chasing.

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Tap o 2.1 Machine tapping o 2.2 Tool holders for tapping operations 2.2.1 Aids for hand-tapping (simple jigs and fixtures) 2.2.2 Heads for machine tool spindles 2.2.3 Tapping stations o 2.3 Tap drill bit sizes 3 Die 4 Lubricants 5 References o 5.1 Bibliography 6 External links

[edit] History
While modern nuts and bolts are routinely made of metal, this was not the case in earlier ages, when woodworking tools were employed to fashion very large wooden bolts and nuts for use in winches, windmills, watermills, and flour mills of the Middle Ages; the ease of cutting and replacing wooden parts was balanced by the need to resist large amounts of torque, and bear up against ever heavier loads of weight. As the loads grew ever heavier, bigger and stronger bolts were needed to resist breakage. Some nuts and bolts were measured by the foot or yard. This development eventually led to a complete replacement of wood parts with metal parts of an identical measure. When a wooden part broke, it usually snapped, ripped, or tore. The splinters having been sanded off, the remaining parts were encased in a makeshift mold of clay, and molten metal

poured into the mold, so that an identical replacement could be made on the spot. Metalworking taps and dies were often made by their users during the 18th and 19th centuries (especially if the user was skilled in toolmaking), using such tools as lathes and files for the shaping, and the smithy for hardening and tempering. Thus builders of, for example, locomotives, firearms, or textile machinery were likely to make their own taps and dies. During the 19th century the machining industries evolved greatly, and the practice of buying taps and dies from suppliers specializing in them gradually supplanted most such inhouse work. Joseph Clement was one such early vendor of taps and dies, starting in 1828.[1] With the introduction of more advanced milling practice in the 1860s and 1870s, tasks such as cutting a tap's flutes with a hand file became a thing of the past. In the early 20th century, thread-grinding practice went through significant evolution, further advancing the state of the art (and applied science) of cutting screw threads, including those of taps and dies. During the 19th and 20th centuries, thread standardization was evolving simultaneously with the techniques of thread generation, including taps and dies. The largest tap and die company to exist in the United States was Greenfield Tap & Die (GTD) of Greenfield, Massachusetts. GTD was so irreplaceably vital to the Allied war effort from 19401945 that anti-aircraft guns were placed around its campus in anticipation of possible Axis air attack. The GTD brand is now a part of Widia Products Group.

[edit] Tap

Bottoming, plug and taper taps, from top to bottom, respectively.

Various taps.

A tap and "T" wrench

Various tap handles (wrenches). A tap cuts a thread on the inside surface of a hole, creating a female surface which functions like a nut. The three taps in the image illustrate the basic types commonly used by most machinists: Bottoming tap or plug tap[2] The tap illustrated in the top of the image has a continuous cutting edge with almost no taper between 1 and 1.5 threads of taper is typical.[3] This feature enables a bottoming tap to cut threads to the bottom of ablind hole. A bottoming tap is usually used to cut threads in a hole that has already been partially threaded using one of the more tapered types of tap; the tapered end ("tap chamfer") of a bottoming tap is too short to successfully start into an unthreaded hole. In the US they are commonly known as bottoming taps, but in Australia and Britain they are also known as plug taps. Intermediate tap, second tap,[2] or plug tap[4] The tap illustrated in the middle of the image has tapered cutting edges, which assist in aligning and starting the tap into an untapped hole. The number of tapered threads typically ranges from 3 to 5.[3] Plug taps are the most commonly used type of tap.[citation needed] In the US they are commonly known as plug taps, whereas in Australia and Britain they are commonly known as second taps. Taper tap The small tap illustrated at the bottom of the image is similar to a plug tap but has a more pronounced taper to the cutting edges. This feature gives the taper tap a very gradual cutting action that is less aggressive than that of the plug tap. The number of tapered threads typically ranges from 8 to 10.[3] A

taper tap is most often used when the material to be tapped is difficult to work (e.g., alloy steel) or the tap is of a very small diameter and thus prone to breakage. The above illustrated taps are generally referred to as hand taps, since they are, by design, intended to be manually operated. During operation, it is necessary with a hand tap to periodically reverse rotation to break the chipformed during the cutting process, thus preventing an effect called "crowding" that may cause breakage. Periodic reversing is usually not practical when power tapping is involved, and thus has led to the development of taps suitable for continuous rotation in the cutting direction. The most common type of power driven tap is the "spiral point" plug tap (also referred to as a "gun tap"), whose cutting edges are angularly displaced relative to the tap centerline. This feature causes the tap to continuously break the chip and eject it into the flutes, preventing crowding. Another version of the spiral point plug tap is the spiral flute tap, whose flutes resemble those of a twist drill. Spiral flute taps are widely used in high speed, automatic tapping operations due to their ability to work well in blind holes. Whether manual or automatic, the processing of tapping begins with forming and slightly countersinking a hole (usually by drilling) with a diameter somewhat smaller than the tap's diameter. The correct hole diameter may be determined by consulting a drill and tap size chart, a standard reference item found in many machine shops. If the hole is to be drilled, the proper diameter is called the tap drill size. In lieu of a tap drill chart, it is possible with inch sized taps to compute the correct tap drill diameter as follows:

where TD is the tap drill size, MD is the major diameter of the tap (e.g., inch for a "-16 tap), and N is the number of threads per inch (16 in the case of a "-16 tap). For a "-16 tap, the above formula would produce 516 as a result, which is the correct tap drill diameter for a "-16 tap. The result produces a tap drill size that results in an approximate 75 percent thread. The correct tap drill diameter for metric sized taps is computed as:

TD = MD pitch
where TD is the tap drill size, MD is the major diameter of the tap (e.g., 10 mm for a M101.5 tap), and pitch is the pitch of the thread (1.5 mm in the case of a standard M10 tap) and so the correct drill size is 8.5 mm. This works for both fine and coarse pitches. With soft or average hardness materials, such as plastic, aluminum or mild steel, the common practice is to use a intermediate (plug) tap to cut the threads. If the threads are to extend to the bottom of a blind hole, the intermediate (plug) tap will be used to cut threads until the point of the tap reaches bottom, after which a bottoming tap will be used to finish the hole. Frequent ejection of the chips must be made in such an operation to avoid jamming and possibly breaking the tap. With hard materials, the machinist may start with a taper tap, whose less severe diameter transition reduces the amount of torque required to cut the threads. If threads are to be cut to the bottom of a blind hole, the taper tap will be followed by an intermediate (plug) tap and then a bottoming tap to finish the operation. [edit] Machine tapping Tapping may either be achieved by hand tapping by using a set of taps first tap, second tap & final (finish) tap or using a machine to do the tapping, such as a lathe, radial drilling machine, bench type drill machine, pillar type drill machine, vertical milling machines, HMCs, VMCs. Machine tapping is faster, and generally more accurate because human error is eliminated. Final tapping is achieved with single tap. Although in general machine tapping is more accurate, tapping operations have traditionally been very tricky to execute due to frequent tap breakage and inconsistent quality of tapping. Research has shown[citation needed] that the important reasons causing tap breakage are as follows:

Tap-related problems: o Wearing of tap cannot be easily quantified (use of worn-out taps)

Use of tap with improper tap geometry for a particular application. o Use of non-standard or inferior quality taps. Clogging with chips Tapping does not follow the pre-tap hole (misalignment) Mismatch of machine feed and tap feed may cause the tap to break in tension or compression. Use of improper cutting fluid or not enough fluid. No safety mechanism to limit torque below torque breakage value of tap. Improper or zero float for use with screw machines (recommended feed .1 slower to establish float for 40 tpi or higher and .15 slower for 40 tpi or finer[5]) Improper spindle speed
o

In order to overcome these problems, special tool holders are required to minimize the chances of tap breakage during tapping. These are usually classified as conventional tool holders and CNC tool holders. [edit] Tool holders for tapping operations Various tool holders may be used for tapping depending on the requirements of the user:
[edit] Aids for hand-tapping (simple jigs and fixtures)

The biggest problem with simple hand-tapping is accurately aligning the tap with the hole so that they are coaxialin other words, going in straight instead of on an angle. The operator must get this alignment rather close to ideal in order to (a) produce good threads and (b) avoid tap breakage. The deeper the depth of thread, the more pronounced the effect of the angular error becomes. With a depth of 1 or 2 diameters, it matters little. With depths beyond 2 diameters, the error becomes too pronounced to ignore. Another fact about this alignment task is that the first thread or two that is cut establishes the direction that the rest of the threads will follow. In other words, you can't make corrections to the angle once you have cut the first thread or two. To help with this alignment task, several kinds of jigs and fixtures can be used to provide the correct geometry (i.e., accurate coaxiality with the hole) without having to use freehand skill to approximate it:

Hand-tapper: A simple fixture analogous to an arbor press in its basic shape. Its spindle is thus held accurately perpendicular to the work. Standard taps are held in the spindle, and the operator turns the spindle manually via a handlebar. This fixture obviates the need for the operator to carefully and skillfully approximate perpendicularity, which even for a skilled operator can easily result in a 2 5 error. Tapping guide, or "tap and reamer aligner/holder", a simple conical guide slipped over a tap when using a regular tap handle. As with a hand-tapper, the basic principle is simply that of a jig or fixture to provide the correct alignment.

[edit] Heads for machine tool spindles

Tapping attachments: these may be normal (available in a range of tap sizes) or quick-change Quick-change drilling and tapping chucks (variations available for both CNC and manual-control tools) Rigid tapping attachments (for CNC)

Generally the following features are required of tapping holders:

Twin chucking: tap is held at points of both its circular and square cross-section, holding it steady and providing positive rotational drive. Safety clutch: The built in safety mechanism operates as soon as the set torque limit is crossed to save the tap from breakage. Float radial parallel: small misalignments are taken care of by this float. Length compensation: built in length compensation takes care of small push or pull to the spindle or feed difference.

Tapping case studies with typical examples of tapping operations in various environments are shown on source machinetoolaid.com [1]
[edit] Tapping stations

Tapping stations are worktables with a tapping head attached to the end of a pantograph-style arm similar to that of a balanced-arm lamp. The operator guides the

tapping head to each (already-drilled) hole and quickly taps it. Drilling and tapping centers, whose name sounds similar to that of tapping stations, are actually light-duty, affordable machining centers of 2, 2.5, or 3 axes that are designed for a life of mainly drilling and tapping with limited milling use.

[edit] Tap drill bit sizes Main article: Drill and tap size chart
Imperial tap and drill bit size table Fractional drill bit 3/64 0-80 1-64 2-56 3-48 3/32 4-40 5-40 7/64 6-32 8-32 9/64 10-24 5/32 10-32 11/64 12-24 1/413/64 20 1/47/32 28 5/1617/64 18 5/1624 3/85/16 16 3/821/64 24 7/1623/64 14 7/1625/64 20 1/227/64 13 Tap Number drill bit 53 50 47 43 38 36 29 25 21 16 7 3 Letter drill bit F I Q U Metric tap and drill bit size table Tap 3 mm 0.5 4 mm 0.7 5 mm 0.8 6 mm 1.0 7 mm 1.0 8 mm 1.25 8 mm 1.0 10 mm 1.5 10 mm 1.25 10 mm 1.0 12 mm 1.75 12 mm 1.5 14 mm 2.0 14 mm 1.5 16 mm 2.0 Metric drill 2.5 mm 3.3 mm 4.2 mm 5.0 mm 6.0 mm 6.8 mm 7.0 mm 8.5 mm 8.8 mm 9.0 mm 10.3 mm 10.5 mm 12.0 mm 12.5 mm 14.0 mm Imperial drill 15/64 17/64 11/32 27/64 1/2 35/64
[6][7]

1/220 9/1612 9/1618 5/811 5/818 3/410 3/416

29/64 31/64 33/64 17/32 37/64 21/32 11/16

16 mm 14.5 mm 1.5

Drill sizes are for 75% depth of thread.

Drill sizes are for 75% depth of thread.

[edit] Die
File:DieHolder.jpg Die holder

Five die sizes and types The die cuts a thread on a preformed cylindrical rod, which creates a male threaded piece which functions like a bolt. The dies shown are

top left: an older split die, with top adjusting screw bottom left: a one piece die with top adjusting screw center: a one piece die with side adjusting screw (barely visible on the full image) right: two dies with side adjusting screws

A cylindrical blank, which is usually slightly less than the required diameter, is machined with a taper (chamfer) at the threaded end. This chamfer allows the die to ease onto the blank before it cuts a sufficient thread to pull itself along.[8]

The adjusting screws allow the die to be compressed or expanded to accommodate slight variations in size, due to material, manufacture, or die sharpness. Each tool is used independently, but are usually sold in paired sets of both types, one die and three taps. Some sets may provide a lesser number of taps. The common sets shown are designed for hand operation, but different types such as helical or spiral may be used in production tools such as CNC machining tools, which employ die heads to make large volumes of threaded parts. Die nuts, also known as rethreading dies, are dies made for cleaning up damaged threads,[9] have no split for resizing and are made from a hexagonal bar so that a wrench or shifter spanner can be used to turn them. Die nuts cannot be used to cut new threads.[10]

[edit] Lubricants
Main article: Cutting fluid The use of a suitable lubricant is essential with most tapping and reaming operations. Recommended lubricants for some common materials are as follows: Carbon steel Petroleum-based or synthetic cutting oil. Alloy steel Petroleum-based cutting oil mixed with a small amount (approximately 10%) of kerosene or mineral spirits. This mixture is also suitable for use with stainless steel. Cast iron No lubricant. An air blast should be used to clear chips. Aluminum Kerosene or mineral spirits mixed with a small amount (1525%) of petroleum-based cutting oil. WD-40 and 3-In-One Oil are acceptable substitutes in some cases. Brass Kerosene or mineral spirits. Bronze Kerosene or mineral spirits mixed with a small amount (1015%) of petroleum-based cutting oil.

In power tapping and reaming operations, the tool and workpiece should be continuously flooded with lubricant.

[edit] References
1. ^ Roe 1916, p. 58. 2. ^ a b "Taps: Technical information". Retrieved 2009-01-04. 3. ^ a b c Smid, Peter (2003-03-01). CNC Programming Handbook. ISBN 9780831131586. 4. ^ Degarmo, pp. 750751. 5. ^ Brown & Sharpe: Cam & Tool Design, p.11-12 6. ^ "US Tap and Drill Bit Size Table". BoltDepot.com. Retrieved 2006-12-03. 7. ^ "Metric Tap and Drill Bit Size Table". BoltDepot.com. Retrieved 2006-12-03. 8. ^ "Taps and Dies Terminology". TapDie.com. Retrieved 2006-12-03. 9. ^ http://www.tpub.com/content/constructio n/14256/css/14256_231.htm 10. ^ Keenan, Julian Paul (2005). ASVAB - The Best Test Prep. Research & Education Association. ISBN 9780738600635.

Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003). Materials and Processes in Manufacturing (9th ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-471-65653-4. Roe, Joseph Wickham (1916), English and American Tool Builders, New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Yale University Press, LCCN 16-011753. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (LCCN 27-024075); and by Lindsay Publications, Inc., Bradley, IL, USA (ISBN 978-0917914-73-7).


Some explanation:

Tap Drill Sizes

What kind of tap do I need? As explained in the screw guide, coarse threads are much more common, stronger, less likely to jam during installation (cross thread), and faster to install. So, if you're deciding between coarse and fine threads for a custom hole, use a coarse thread unless you're going into sheet metal. If you're trying to make a hole for an unidentified screw, chances are it's a coarse thread. Metric coarse threads are in between English coarse and fine threads. Metric fine threads are finer than English fine threads and are rarely used.

50% vs 75% tap drill sizes: 100% engagement of a male and female thread means that both threads are fully formed and fully engaged. 50% means that only half of the thread height is engaged, and is what you'd have if you ground off the top half of a fully formed thread. According to the machinery's handbook, tests have shown that more than 60% thread engagement provides no significant increase in strength. For thread engagements more than 1.5 diameters deep, 50% is usually sufficient. Most taps drill are sized to drill a slightly larger hole than what a 100% thread could be cut into, typically 75% or 50%. More commonly, holes that will create a 75% thread when tapped are used as a margin of safety, and this is what we sell. The downside with drilling a hole that a 100% thread could be tapped into is that it is much more difficult to tap (deeper cuts into the metal), and therefore much more likely to break a tap. We recommend 75% tapping drills unless deep holes in steel are being made.

Clearance holes: A clearance hole is large enough for the screw to slide through without being turned. Many tapping charts will have two types of clearance drills: tight and loose. We list the tight clearance drills and recommend choosing whatever bit is handy and larger than the major diameter for larger clearances--just make sure the screw head or washer is larger. Note that if several holes are being made, the tight clearances don't leave much room for misaligned holes.

Coarse Threads - English

tap drill size for 75% .dia 3/64 (.0469) 53 (.0595) 50 (.0700) 47 (.0785) 43 (.0890) 38 (.1015) 36 (.1065) 29 (.1360) 25 (.1495) 16 (.1770) 7 (.2010) F (.2570) 5/16 (.3125) U (.3680) 27/64 (.4219) 31/64 (.4844) 17/32 (.5312) 21/32 (.6562) 49/64 (.7656) 7/8 (.8750) 63/64 (.9844) tap drill size clearance drill for 50% .dia 55 (.0520) 50 (.0700) 1/16 (.0625) 46 (.0810) 49 (.0730) 41 (.0960) 44 (.0860) 35 (.1100) 41 (.0960) 30 (.1285) 7/64 (.1094) 29 (.1360) 32 (.1160) 25 (.1495) 27 (.1440) 16 (.1770) 20 (.1610) 7 (.2010) 12 (.1890) 1 (.2280) 7/32 (.2188) H (.2660) J (.2770) Q (.3320) Q (.3320) X (.3970) 25/64 (.3906) 15/32 (.4687) 29/64 (.4531) 17/32 (.5312) 33/64 (.5156) 19/32 (.5938) 9/16 (.5625) 21/32 (.6562) 11/16 (.6875) 25/32 (.7812) 51/64 (.7969) 29/32 (.9062) 59/64 (.9219) 1-1/32 (1.0313) 1-1/32 (1.0313) 1-5/32 (1.1562)

tap size screw (major dia. - threads / inch) major dia. #0-80 0.060 #1-64 0.073 #2-56 0.086 #3-48 0.099 #4-40 0.112 #5-40 0.125 #6-32 0.138 #8-32 0.164 #10-24 0.190 #12-24 0.216 1/4-20 .2500 5/16-18 .3125 3/8-16 .3750 7/16-14 .4375 1/2-13 .5000 9/16-12 .5625 5/8-11 .6250 3/4-10 .7500 7/8-9 .8750 1"-8 1.000 1 1/8-7 1.1250

tap size

Coarse Threads - Metric

major dia. mm (inch) tap drill (mm) tap drill (inch) clearance (mm) clearance inch (dec.)

M1.6x0.35 1.6 (.0630) M2x0.4 2.0 (.0787) M2.5x0.45 2.5 (.0984) M3x.05 3.0 (.1181) M3.5x0.6 3.5 (.1378) M4x0.7 4.0 (.1575) M5x0.8 5.0 (.1969) M6x1 6.0 (.2362) M8x1 8.0 (.3150) M10x1.25 10.0 (.3937) M12x1.25 12.0 (.4724) M14x1.5 14.0 (.5512) M16x1.5 16.0 (.6299) M18x1.5 18.0 (.7087) M20x1.5 20.0 (.7874) M22x1.5 22.0 (.8661) M24x2 24.0 (.9449) M27x2 27.0 (1.0630)

1.25 1.60 2.05 2.50 2.90 3.30 4.20 5.0 7.0 8.8 10.8 12.5 14.5 16.5 18.5 20.5 22.0 25.0

#55 #52 #46 #39 #32 #30 #19 #8 J 11/32 27/64 1/2 37/64 21/32 47/64 13/16 7/8 1

1.8 2.4 2.9 3.4 3.9 4.5 5.5 6.6 9.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0 22.0 25.0 27.0 30.0

#49 #41 #32 #29 #23 #16 7/32 G T 31/64 35/64 5/8 45/64 51/64 7/8 1 1-5/64 1-3/16

Fine Threads - English

tap size screw tap drill size tap drill size clearance drill (major dia. - threads / inch) major dia. for 75% .dia for 50% .dia #1-72 0.073 53 (.0595) 52 (.0635) 46 (.0810) #2-64 0.086 50 (.0700) 48 (.0760) 41 (.0960) #3-56 0.099 45 (.0820) 43 (.0890) 35 (.1100) #4-48 0.112 42 (.0935) 40 (.0980) 30 (.1285) #5-44 0.125 37 (.1040) 35 (.1100) 29 (.1360) #6-40 0.138 33 (.1130) 31 (.1200) 25 (.1495) #8-36 0.164 29 (.1360) 26 (.1470) 16 (.1770) #10-32 0.190 21 (.1590) 18 (.1695) 7 (.2010) #12-28 0.216 14 (.1820) 10 (.1935) 1 (.2280) 1/4-28 .2500 3 (.2130) 1 (.2280) H (.2660) 5/16-24 .3125 I (.2720) 9/32 (.2812) Q (.3320) 3/8-24 .3750 Q (.3320) S (.3480) X (.3970) 7/16-20 .4375 25/64 (.3906) 13/32 (.4062) 15/32 (.4687) 1/2-20 .5000 29/64 (.4531) 15/32 (.4688) 17/32 (.5312) 9/16-18 .5625 33/64 (.5156) 17/32 (.5312) 19/32 (.5938) 5/8-18 .6250 37/64 (.5781) 19/32 (.5938) 21/32 (.6562) 3/4-16 .7500 11/16 (.6875) 45/64 (.7031) 25/32 (.7812) 7/8-14 .8750 13/16 (.8125) 53/64 (.8281) 29/32 (.9062) 1"-12 1.000 15/16 (.9375) 61/64 (.9531) 1-1/32 (1.0313) 1 1/8-12 1.1250 1-3/64 (1.0469) 1-5/64 (1.0781) 1-5/32 (1.1562)

tap size

Fine Threads - Metric

clearance (mm) clearance inch (dec.) 9.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0 22.0 25.0 27.0 15/16 T 31/64 35/64 5/8 45/64 51/64 7/8 1 1-5/64 1-3/16

major dia. tap drill (mm) tap drill mm (inch) (inch) M8x1.25 8.0 (.3150) 6.8 H M10x1.5 10.0 (.3937) 8.5 R M12x1.75 12.0 (.4724) 10.2 13/32 M14x2 14.0 (.5512) 12.0 15/32 M16x2 16.0 (.6299) 14.0 35/64 M18x2.5 18.0 (.7087) 15.5 39/64 M20x2.5 20.0 (.7874) 17.5 11/16 M22x2.5 22.0 (.8661) 19.5 49/64 M24x3 24.0 (.9449) 21.0 53/64 M27x3 27.0 (1.0630) 24.0 1

Tapping is a simple machining operation that many people overlook either because we have broken a tap in a hole once and couldn't remove it (happens to all of us at one time or other), or because it's simply a mystery. Well, it isn't a mystery and if you've had a broken tap remain in a hole and couldn't remove it, well it's just a tough apples kind of thing and we have to move on with our lives. Some folks have had good luck with tap removal tools though, but others haven't. If we have had a bad experience with this operation, then consider it an opportunity to learn how to do it right rather than giving up on it. Anyway don't let bad luck or the fear of mystery drive you away, come back and take another look at this operation. First let's see why we should even consider tapping holes for our fasteners in the first place. Why not through bolt everything? Well, because it isn't always feasible, that's why. Also drilling and through bolting may only be a quick and dirty way to acomplish something on a work that you've spent many a caring hour on and the result could very well be quite nasty looking in relation to the finish on the rest of the work. Often the look of a work is ruined not by an attractive bolt head but rather by the nut and protruding stem of the bolt on the backside of the work. There are times when a part or piece that is either removable or needs to be secured in place at a later time requires a tapped receiver hole. Maybe there isn't room to add a nut behind the work or there needs to be a clean way to remove and/or replace a part, especially if there are adjustments or repairs to be made later. There are a number of good reasons for tapping including into blind holes and it's really obvious why to the most rudimentary of metal workers. Okay, we now are convinced, what next. Each tap and bolt size usually has two distinct threads, a fine thread and a coarse thread. The most common type that we use is the coarse configuration and without going into endless detail about the why's and wherefore's of each type let's simply move on. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, same with tapped holes. Most likely you will be tapping for coarse threads most of the time, if not always, unless you do a bit of machining work. If you do that kind of thing then you already know everything here and should move on to read about forging stuff or something like that. Each tap has a recommended drill size for predrilling the receiver hole. Sometimes you may find this size stamped on a tap itself, or you may have to look up the mating drill size on either a chart or somewhere else. What you may find is that the drill sizes are often number/letter sizes and not fractional sizes which we normally keep around the shop. What to do? Well you don't have to run out to the neighborhood hardware store (chances are they don't have what you're looking for anyway) so you will then have to use the next larger drill bit size that closely resembles the recommended number/letter drill size. Again refer to a chart for the decimal sizes/fractional size conversion chart. It probably would help to put up a metric/number/letter/fractional drill size chart here in the Bramblebush sometime and if there is a demand for it, I may do that,

but in the meantime let your fingers do the walking and find your own chart. Chances are however, that if you bought a matched set of drills and taps then everything is already set up for you in the package. Okay, I'm going to get to the tapping part in a minute but first I want to say something about drilling holes, then we'll move on. Drilling is a simple operation, however there may be a couple of things that could be helpful in improving your drilling techniques. One thing is predrilling and an application here is when you may be drilling into heavy stock or using a large drill, (1/2" or larger). It helps enormously to predrill a smaller hole first and that hole could be about the size of the two flats on the point of the large drill, or a little larger. Doing this aids in spotting the drill for accuracy to begin with and also speeds up the drilling operation for the larger drill bit considerably. After predrilling, less pressure is also required for a larger drill bit, a handy thing to know when you may have to use a hand drill rather than a drill press. Life is good. Oh, don't forget to punch mark your drill location, but I probably didn't have to remind you of that though. Alright, now a word about breaking through the drilled hole while drilling. This is kind of important, especially if breaking wrists or thumbs and getting bruised by spinning unclamped metal smarts too much. Whenever a drill is beginning to break through the far side of a piece of metal, always back off the pressure a bit. Many folks do the opposite and find themselves in serious trouble. What the hole looks like from the other side is something more like a ragged tear and easily grabs the bit with heavy pressure bearing down on it. If the final pass is lightly taken, then whatever metal is trying to grab the bit is only a few thousands thick and is easily defeated, even if you are not clamping the work down on the press. This is especially good to know whenever you are manhandling a powerful 3/4 hp hand drill instead of a drill press. That drill can spin itself around and your wrist with it if you aren't careful. Oh, by the way, it always helps to use a lubricant when using a large drill bit except into cast iron, then you drill that dry. Ahhh.....now we're getting back to the tapping thing again. Well, tapping is an operation that requires one to be very sensitive with their fingertips. When starting to tap a hole, the taper on a plug tap easily works itself into the hole then begins to resist. What you need to do is to back off the tap every time you advance it about an eighth turn or so in order to release the curled chips that are forming inside the hole. Otherwise the tap is going to get jammed, and boink! it breaks. Also use a lubricant every time you tap, and for each new hole started. Taps are made of a very hard and brittle steel so they are not very forgiving when over stressed. This is where fingertip sensitivity comes into play here and it's important that you develop the feel for taps and how much they may be turned when tight in a hole before backing off. You have to be aware of just how limited the twisting can be and yes, a hardened tap can twist a little bit before breaking.

Remember that the tapping wrench usually applies quite a bit of torque to the tapping tool. While we're on topic here let me clue you in on another tip. When you are through tapping a hole that is equal or less than the diameter of the tap, then using the matched drill bit for the hole is fine and offers the most strength to the threads. However, whenever you are taping deep into a hole, especially blind holes or heavy bar stock then be advised to use the next larger drill bit for the starter hole. This relieves the tremendous pressure that builds up after a tap is working it's way into that hole. How about the strength of the threads then, when we use a drill bit larger than the recommended size? Well, if 75% of the threads match the bolt threads then you only lose about 5% (five percent) of the total strength. Interesting isn't it? I still can't understand that one but it's a general rule, not absolute though. How do we tap into a deep blind hole? Well here's how I do it, but of course I usually have complete sets of each kind and type of tap which most folks might not have around. If you do then here is what you might do. First start with the long taper tap, which by the way helps you to align your tap much better than the plug tap. Tap to the bottom of the hole, then next, insert your plug tap and do the same. Finally, use your bottoming tap which has practically no taper execpt for the first thread, and finish up the job. A little tedious but it's much better than drilling way past the bolt length and then tapping with a plug tap which needs to extend past the point of the final bolt thread in order for the bolt to seat itself well. I probably should wrap this up with a pithy saying of some sort or other but I can't think of anything clever to say right now. Chris Ray

INCH TAP DRILL SIZES Recommended tap drill sizes (for approx. 75% thread)
INCH SIZES - NATIONAL COARSE ---------------------------TAP DRILL SIZE SIZE ---------------------------#1-64 #53 #2-56 #51 #3-48 5/64" #4-40 #43 #5-40 #39 #6-32 #36 #8-32 #29 #10-24 #25 #12-24 #17 1/4-20 #7 INCH SIZES - NATIONAL FINE ---------------------------TAP DRILL SIZE SIZE ---------------------------#0-80 3/64" #1-72 #53 #2-64 #50 #3-56 #46 #4-48 #42 #5-44 #37 #6-40 #33 #8-36 #29 #10-32 #21 #12-28 #15

5/16-18 F 3/8-16 5/16 7/16-14 U 1/2-13 27/64 9/16-12 31/64 5/8-11 17/32 3/4-10 21/32 7/8-9 49/64 1"-8 7/8 1-1/8-7 63/64 1-1/4-7 1-7/64 1-1/2-6 1-11/32 1-3/4-5 1-35/64 2"-4-1/2 1-25/32 ---------------------------TAPER PIPE SIZES - NPT ---------------------------TAP DRILL SIZE SIZE ---------------------------1/8-27 R 1/4-18 7/16 3/8-18 37/64 1/2-14 23/32 3/4-14 59/64 1"-11-1/2 1-5/32 1-1/4-11-1/2 1-1/2 1-1/2-11-1/2 1-47/64 2"-11-1/2 2-7/32 2-1/2-8 2-5/8 3"-8 3-1/4 3-1/2-8 3-3/4 4"-8 4-1/4 ----------------------------

1/4-28 #3 5/16-24 I 3/8-24 Q 7/16-20 W 1/2-20 29/64 9/16-18 33/64 5/8-18 37/64 3/4-16 11/16 7/8-14 13/16 1"-14 15/16 1-1/8-12 1-3/64 1-1/4-12 1-11/64 1-1/2-12 1-27/64 1-3/4-12 1-43/64 2"-12 1-59/64 ---------------------------STRAIGHT PIPE SIZES - NPS ---------------------------TAP DRILL SIZE SIZE ---------------------------1/8-27 S 1/4-18 29/64 3/8-18 19/32 1/2-14 47/64 3/4-14 15/16 1"-11-1/2 1-3/16 1-1/4-11-1/2 1-33/64 1-1/2-11-1/2 1-3/4 2"-11-1/2 2-7/32 2-1/2-8 2-21/32 3"-8 3-9/32 3-1/2-8 3-25/32 4"-8 4-9/32 ----------------------------

METRIC TAP DRILL SIZES Recommended tap drill sizes (for approx. 75% thread)
METRIC COARSE SIZES ---------------------------TAP DRILL SIZE SIZE ---------------------------1mm x .25 .75mm 1.1 x .25 .85 1.2 x .25 .95 1.4 x .3 1.1 1.6 x .35 1.25 1.7 x .35 1.3 1.8 x .35 1.45 2 x .4 1.6 2.2 x .45 1.75 2.5 x .45 2.05 3 x .5 2.5 3.5 x .6 2.9 4 x .7 3.3 METRIC FINE SIZES ---------------------------TAP DRILL SIZE SIZE ---------------------------4 mm x .35 3.6mm 4 x .5 3.5 5 x .5 4.5 6 x .5 5.5 6 x .75 5.25 7 x .75 6.25 8 x .5 7.5 8 x .75 7.25 8 x 1 7 9 x 1 8 10 x .75 9.25 10 x 1 9 10 x 1.25 8.8

4.5 x .75 3.7 5 x .8 4.2 6 x 1 5 7 x 1 6 8 x 1.25 6.8 9 x 1.25 7.8 10 x 1.5 8.5 11 x 1.5 9.5 12 x 1.75 10.2 14 x 2 12 16 x 2 14 18 x 2.5 15.5 20 x 2.5 17.5 22 x 2.5 19.5 24 x 3 21 27 x 3 24 30 x 3.5 26.5 33 x 3.5 29.5 36 x 4 32 39 x 4 35 ----------------------------

11 x 1 10 12 x .75 11.25 12 x 1 11 12 x 1.5 10.5 14 x 1 13 14 x 1.25 12.8 14 x 1.5 12.5 16 x 1 15 16 x 1.5 14.5 18 x 1 17 18 x 2 16 20 x 1 19 20 x 1.5 18.5 20 x 2 18 22 x 1 21 22 x 1.5 20.5 22 x 2 20 24 x 1.5 22.5 24 x 2 22 26 x 1.5 24.5 27 x 1.5 25.5 27 x 2 25 28 x 1.5 26.5 30 x 1.5 28.5 30 x 2 28 33 x 2 31 36 x 3 33 39 x 3 36 ----------------------------

Handy Helpers! Tap Drill Sizes (inch) for a 75% Thread

In general, you can find the tap-drill for any size 60 degree thread, subtract one pitch length from the major diameter. Formula: Major Dia. minus One Pitch Length equals tap-drill size English Example for 3/8-16 thread: .375 - .0625 = .3125 tap-drill (5/16) Metric Example for M6 X 1 thread: 6mm - 1mm = 5mm tap-drill