Holy Tapmatic Batman !

bladegrinder

bladegrinder

Well-Known Member
After breaking countless 0-80 taps making folders, and starting on two more last week, there I went buying a couple more taps. after the second hole the tap started binding and squeeking. here we go again I thought. after those two sets of liners and what seemed like at least an hour I decided it's time for a tapmatic. so I got a killer deal on ebay for one that looks to be brand new. after reading up on these gadgets I tested it with a 4-40 tap on 8 holes. I got to say I was floored on how this thing works and believe it may have extended my life expectancy.
I only have this to say..if anyone here is still hand tapping, for the price of a small skinner you can buy for one of these and I guarantee you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner.
In my case just with the price of broken taps it should pay for itself in no time.
 
bladegrinder said:
After breaking countless 0-80 taps making folders, and starting on two more last week, there I went buying a couple more taps. after the second hole the tap started binding and squeeking. here we go again I thought. after those two sets of liners and what seemed like at least an hour I decided it's time for a tapmatic. so I got a killer deal on ebay for one that looks to be brand new. after reading up on these gadgets I tested it with a 4-40 tap on 8 holes. I got to say I was floored on how this thing works and believe it may have extended my life expectancy.
I only have this to say..if anyone here is still hand tapping, for the price of a small skinner you can buy for one of these and I guarantee you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner.
In my case just with the price of broken taps it should pay for itself in no time.
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Steve,
My Tapmatic is the closest thing to MAGIC in my shop,it's an amazing tool. I can tap 6 ,0-80 holes in titanium in less than 15 seconds!
 
Alright, Gentlemen, you've peaked my interest. I've broken my fair share of taps while tapping 0-80 holes in titanium. I recently found a tapping lubricant that helps our tremendously, but I still break a tap on occasion. So the question is, what's a Tapmatic and where do I get one?
 
AMEN! A tapmatic one of the best tooling additions I ever made to my shop. I even purchased a dedicated drill press for it. For those who haven't used one, you will no longer break taps.....you will wear them out (think about that). The other part of the equation is that with a tapmatic it takes less time to tap a hole, then it does to drill it.

The only part of a tapmatic that could even be considered remotely "tricky" is setting the clutch. With my particular model, I found that adjusting the clutch to the specific mark for a given size, then backing it off about 1/4 turn does the trick.
 
Agreed. I got mine on ebay for $70! Couldn't be happier. And like Calvin mentioned, I can tap 15 in holes in titanium in under a minute. I couldn't get by without one. And also like Ed mentioned, mine is in a dedicated drill press that I got at a garage sale for $50. So my whole setup is $120.
 
I have taped literally thousands of 0 X 80 holes by hand and end up throwing out the dull taps before they break because I feel how they cut., The secret is to get a $20 tool that aligns the tape and has a spindle that fits in your drill press. You turn the body by hand. These are available in two styles . Online from Midwest Knifemaker and one from KMS Tools.Yes, I did finally get a self reversing taping machine new for $260. I have since tapped several hundred holes and have used two 0 X 80 taps. My right wrist tells me it was a good move .
Frank
 
Hi guys everybody talks about tapmatic which grade do you use, what i can find is Tapmatic 1 for steel and Tapmatic 2 for alliminium can anybody help
Francois
 
Can someone show their model, or link to which one you recommend? I found on eBay ones from $80 to $1300!! I dont tap a lot of holes, but I am a little Bear fisted, and snap of my taps... A lot!
 
PierreR said:
Can someone show their model, or link to which one you recommend? I found on eBay ones from $80 to $1300!! I dont tap a lot of holes, but I am a little Bear fisted, and snap of my taps... A lot!
Click to expand...

Im not in the shop today and won't be back there untill Tuesday of next week. If no one has responded by then I'll git the info for you.
 
Here is the one I got, it's a R3, 0 to 1/4" -2000 rpm max.with a 4-40 test tap I ran it about 740 rpm and it worked smooth like butter thru 1/8" steel. it seems the more common one found is a 30X. this one is a little bigger and supposed to be beefed up a little more inside, who knows. but what you want for folders is 0 to 1/4" some of them take bigger taps, you don't want that model unless your making gigantic folders that take screws bigger than 1/4". also make sure it's a reversible model, I think there maybe some odd ball models that aren't reversible.
IMG_01022_zpsb328b2e5.jpg
 
The receiving end in this model is a JT-33 so it would fit right on a most standard drill presses, but it came with a new JT-33 X R8 shank
And I have it in my milling machine now. the shanks can be replaced, like JT-33 X R8, JT-33 X 1/2" for installing into a chuck or
JT-33 X morse taper.
 
Hey I better introduce myself first, I am a knifemaker from South Africa as you can see i joined the forum in 2011 just hung arround and never posted. I make only linerlock folders.
When i saw this thread I thought you guys were talking about tapping fluid, could you please tell me which type of tapping fluid you use, like someone else said being bearfisted is proberbly the best discription, I hand tap with a guide.
Francois
 
I can't recommend a tapping fluid for hand tapping, since it seemed like I broke taps no matter what I used, but when I bought this tapmatic gizmo I started researching tapping fluids and found that "Castrol Moly Dee" is one of the top fluids I read about so I bought a bottle of that. it seems like it's kind of hard to find but I ended up finding it at a store about 3 miles from me.
 
Until I can afford to buy a tapmatic, I have found that if you use a metric drill bit the size just larger than 3/64, use beeswax on the tap and use a small cordless driver, I can get some liner lock liners made. Dan
 
I used to struggle to get three holes out of a tap and would often break them. I used to spend hours tapping holes and removing broken taps and dreaded tapping titanium.

Faced with about 320 holes to tap in 1/8 inch titanium I bought a tapmatic head and a couple of very expensive taps. I did the whole lot, all 320 holes, with one tap and it took a couple of hours at most.

It paid for itself the first time I used it - possibly the best bit of kit I have ever bought.
 
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