Wayne Coe
Forum Owner - Moderator
A week ago or so there was discussion about tapping holes. One post suggested a tool at www.use-enco.com. I hadn't been to Enco's site in quite a while so checked it out. I saw that they have combination drill/taps so ordered the ones I needed. 1/4 20 and 1/2 13. Today I used the 1/4 20 to tap 64 holes in less than an hour. The taps have spiral flutes and expel the chips better than straight flutes. I messed around for a while trying to use the tap chuck that I also got from Enco for use in a drill press. I was drilling the holes to be tapped with the drill/tap and accidentally got into the tap area. Amazingly it worked just fine and did not break the tap. I have the drill press set on it's slowest speed. So I was thinking, this is great, but a problem backing the tap out. Then I thought about my Mill/Drill (which has a reverse). I set it on it's slowest speed and drilled and tapped out all of the rest of the holes for that run. I really recommend these drill/taps after working with them today. They guarantee that you are using the correct size drill and both the drill and taps are really sharp. This is not a "speed tap" but sure was better than anything else I have tried.
Of course, this may not work for those tiny holes and taps you folder makers use but for my Grinder Kits it seems perfect.
Of course, this may not work for those tiny holes and taps you folder makers use but for my Grinder Kits it seems perfect.