Instructions on setting up and operating a reversable tapping head.

Frank Niro

KNIFE MAKER
I sure would appreciate any help on how to set up and operate a reversible tapping head. Thanks loads for any and all help ! Frank
 
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Hi Frank!

I have my "tapper" setup on a ryobi 10" drill press. The chuck taper is a 33, so I purchase the tapper to match. The only thing I had to add was a bracket for the reversing handle on the tapper.....I took a piece of 1/8" barstock and cut a slot in it....then split a piece of pipe and mounted it to the drill press post. The "tricky" part about these tappers is setting the clutch. Mine has a knurled ring at the top, with a set screw, and numbers around the tapper body from 1 through 10.....each is suppose to correspond to the size screw.....but that only gets you in the neighborhood....personally I wanted the clutch to slip WAY before the tap breaks...so I had to experiment with some old taps, breaking a couple before getting the clutch set where I wanted it.



 
Well that's a great start for me , Ed. I'm sure pleased you came in to help. I will be looking at the same or very close on the press. I have no idea what happens though. Do you start the drill press and bring the tap down into the holeand slowly continue the down feed. I have read that I must control the drill speed as well. When does the tap reverse or how is that done ? I've got absolutely nothing here to help. Frank
 
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When you feed down, its just like drilling. Let the tap catch and let the threads feed it down. Before you bottom out, let up on the handle and then the pressure is off it will reverse.

If it clicks when you let off, you are not letting off fast enough.

the dial thing around the bottom is the torque setting. Set it to about the # screw you are using. If you are using a 2-56, set it to 2, for example.

If it stops before you are though, let it back out a little and come down on it again. I never try to make entry with a tap twice, so I try to never come all the way out till its all the way done. But if you do it will work.

that dial has a set screw in it (I think)

There is a set screw in the collet that will lock up the tap but I never set it. I like to let it float a little so that it can take the patch of least resistance.

I broke a tap in mine a few hundred holes ago, and kept of tapping with the broken tap, heck it was still half there.

These things are like magic, they are worth every single penny of the brand new price! If you have ever cussed a tap, you will love this!
 
Do you usually use a rolled thread tap? OR a plain old cutting tap? How fast can the drill press run - RPM wise?

Those things do sound like magic.

Ken H>
 
Thank you Les. That's a real helper too. I ended up doing today another 36 holes by hand . I am going to approach this new tool with care I want to get it working right to begin with even if as seems to happen , I break off a few taps in the learning.
Other makers out there I will welcome your input as well. Frank
 
I run mine really slow, like the slowest speed my drill press has. The factory calls for it to run MUCH faster, I just started using it slow and since I got it working I didn't change anything...

i use only roll taps. I drill a 5/64 hole for a 2-56 thread. Thread forming taps require more torque and a bigger hole than a cutting tap.

I don't know how long it took you to do 36 holes Frank, but on the tapmatic it would have taken about 2-3 min to do them all. That ain't no fish story either! :)
 
Thank you on that speed info. I will use that too. There will be more done today by hand. I've decided to get a separate drill press for this. I pretty much figured on that. Frank
 
Les.....after reading your posts, it dawned on me that it seems that we're always learning new stuff with these tappers...... Like you, I use mostly cutting taps, but recently on the suggestion of a mutual friend, I tried thread forming taps. From my experience I have to say that I prefer cutting taps too.

I've also found that I have much better success drilling holes based on the material type I'm tapping. For steel I used the most commonly recommeded hole sized, but when tapping Ti, I go one or two sizes larger then the charts recommend.....one size larger for thin Ti, and sometimes as far as a #47 for really thick Ti (like the .156" I use on flippers).
 
I use only roll taps, and I get 800 plus holes on average. There are charts for the drill sizes for thread forming taps, they are different than cutting taps. Let me go find one....
 
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