Who has actually used on of these tapping tools ?

[brian777999]

Has anybody actually used one of these tapping tools ?

 

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/info_41126001.html

 

 

1. What did you think of it ?

 

2. Who makes a vice that will fit those slots (60mm centre to centre) ? Chronos said that they do not have a vice that small.

 

 

[3 link]

Total waste of money, I just use a pin vice and hold the work in a normal smooth jawed vice.

 

Martyn.

[JeffP]

just put the tap in a pillar drill and turn it by hand.

[Wizard of the Moor]

I've got one and think that it's great. Does what it says on the tin. As well as tapping, it's good for light sensitive drilling, pressing axles into wheels and the like.

 

I use a variety of vices with it, simply clamped down with step clamps into the T-slots. Alternatively, I secure the work to a bit of board and clamp that down.

[Judge Dread]

That whirring noise you can hear is my school metal work teacher spinning in his grave!

[PenrithBeacon]

I don't have one, but I can see its virtues particularly if it's important to tap a thread that's square. I would have thought that for the small screw sizes used by 4mm modellers just resting the work on a pair of parallels or the top of a machine vice would do the trick.

 

I used to have a tapping block that had many clearance holes in it. If I wanted to tap a hole square that's what I would use. It seems to have disappeared over time, but it would be possible to reproduce without too much trouble. You could make one out of a piece of planned wood that would be good enough for most modellers, including me.

 

Regards

[The Bigbee Line]

In my opinion it's expensive.

 

For most tapping I have a 2/56 tap that lives permanently in a pin vice.  With a tapping sized drill at the other end (It's double ended).  Maybe a pilot hole, then the tapping drill, then the tap, keeping easing back to clear the swarf, even in styrene.  In metal always use the correct lubricant.

 

I can see a use for the gadget, but I have a large and small pillar drills.  I'd rather use the money on something else.

 

However - Thanks for sharing

[brian777999]

I should have mentioned that this was for model engineering and I will be drilling and tapping into steel, brass and aluminium ; diameters up to 1/4 inch.

[buffalo]

Whilst looking for something completely different, I came across this page showing a simple tool made from an old electric hand drill stand. Alternatively, with your newly acquired machine tools, it should be fairly easy to knock up something like the chronos example. Whilst there are always tools you need to buy, part of the fun of using machine tools is discovering how many special tools you can make.

 

Nick

 

ps. of course, a simple tapping block would be even easier to make...

[Pebbles]

I think one of the problems is I believe the chuck is a  three jaw. Trying to tap into steel with what are relatively large size taps will cause the tap to rotate (taps have square ends for use with the tap wrench). This may prevent brakeage, but it's very frustrating.

[Simond]

I made something similar years ago from some drawings in ME, I think.

 

It was extremely useful for tapping in the small sizes, but I had to pack it away, during a move and it hasn't got unpacked. I either use my lathe tail stock, or a small pillar drill, as Jeff suggested, turned by hand.

 

On this basis I'd definitely save your money for something else!

 

Best

Simon

[PatB]

I probably wouldn't buy one because, as others have pointed out, there are alternative methods of doing what this does. However, what would be useful is something similar with a threaded spindle which feeds the tap at a rate appropriate to the pitch of the thread being tapped. I haven't seen one for sale commercially, but there was an article on building one in Model Engineer's Workshop a few years ago.

[Simond]

But you would need a different lead screw for every tap...?

 

Best

Simon

[Wizard of the Moor]

Indeed. That was a key part of Harold Hall's design for his tapping stand.

 

http://www.homews.co.uk/page41.html

[Quarryscapes]

Looks like a very useful bit of kit if you don't have access to a full tool room, think Gibson wheels for a start! Does seem quite expensive, but then cheaper hand drill stands are about the same and no doubt of much more dubious quality! 

[PatB]

But you would need a different lead screw for every tap...?

 

Best

Simon

 

Indeed. That was a key part of Harold Hall's design for his tapping stand.

 

http://www.homews.co.uk/page41.html

 

Quite so, and that does make the design rather more complex (and so expensive if produced commercially), but some overlap exists between thread standards, allowing a single feed screw for some sizes of ME, Unified, Whitworth, BSC and BSP, and, similarly, a single screw for multiple ISO Metric sizes depending on whether coarse or fine. Still quite a lot of mucking about, I'll grant you, for advantages which may not be critical, depending on what you're doing.

[Simond]

I enjoyed the link to Harold Hall's workshops - very professional despite his protestations - so thanks to the Wizard for that.

 

The self-feeding tapping stand looks like a cracking bit of kit, but I'd be very surprised if they are available commercially, and I really wouldn't invest the time in making one for the amount of tapping I do.

 

Of course, screw-cutting lathes will do the same job if the workpiece is set up on the saddle - and despite having such a beast, I've never done that either!

 

I have a little Unimat, and a Proxxon bench drill on the "small" workbench, and these serve to provide guidance for taps when I need it, otherwise, go gently with a small tap wrench or a large pin chuck. I did set up the old ME tapping tool inherent garage, but it's not getting used!

 

Advice to OP remains - spend your hard-earned elsewhere!

 

Best

Simon