How to tap steel | tapping steel | ultimatehandyman

[AsiAzzy]

It's taper tap, plug tap and bottoming tap
For starting the hole, enlarging it a bit at the end of the blind hole, and finishing it with bottoming tap for full threads to the bottom.
If using a device to keep it straight (a thick plate with straight holes in it, a spring loaded center in the drill press or lathe, etc) a plug tap can be the first to be used and then the bottoming tap.
Taper taps are good for hand taping and eyeballing squareness. The taper makes it go straighter and self align.

[powaybob]

For metric taps, you can determine the tap drill size by subtracting the pitch from the diameter. In this case it is a M10-1.5 thread. 10-1.5 =8.5 no table needed.

[anton]

Wow, this is the first metal working video I've watched where you have all positive comments! You deserve a medal! A+ Thanks for the informative video.

[uzerap]

Thanks - I never quite understood about the reason for having to use the three taps as opposed to just the one. Really helpful video. Very clear explanation and demonstration.

[Jonovision]

What I use as a tapping guide to help make perfectly perpendicular holes are pre-tapped pieces of steel (done with a drill press) which I start the tap inside and align with the hole, clamp it in place if possible and start tapping the piece. This is when the piece I am tapping is too awkward to tap on the press. Give it a try and if you like the method, feel free to post a demo.

[lostorb]

if you want a reliable way to do a straight tap without using a square, you can use a squared ?"x?"x1" thick block of aluminum and drill a 10mm or 10.1mm hole in it (for a M10 x 1, 5 obviously).Then you just put the block over the hole you want tapped.I suggest this because you only checked one axis with your square (that we could see). Your tap could be off in the other axis and you wont notice it unless you check all around.Just drill all the common tap size you need on one block to save time.

[ryanwicker]

Thanks! I made my first three taps today. M6 through two 1/4” steel plates. I only had one type of that taper
so it was a great guide to get it right the first time. Now I have my foredom rotary tool attached quick change tool holder for my lathe. Cheers!

[ZacDowen]

That's the 2nd time your videos have helped me this week, thanks

[jerrycutini]

Handyman, thanks for the advice. I started out with small size bits, then moved up to the final size, I used 3 increments. It worked perfectly. To be fair, I don't think it was cast iron, I think it was just "aged" steel to make it look like that. Basically rusted. Your video and advice helped, I haven't had to tap holes for 30 years so your refresher was just what I needed.

[ingaman]

Thanks man that's just what I needed! Took me 15 minutes to figure out what an 'ole was haha!

[jaikieboy]

Tap wrench probably cracked because you were applying too much pressure when turning the tap, best to turn tap through half to three quarter turn before reversing to break off chip, especially when using smaller diameter threads.

[viperz]

I was taught the taps are called a Taper Tap for beginning and a Plug Tap for finishing and dead holes. Never seen a set with 3 taps. Good video.

[Libouh]

You are the real expert in metal works ;)..thanks for all the videos very very useful

[ThrottleJunkie]

For SAE, the body drill is the major diameter +.030". So a 1/4-20 thread= .250+.030=.280". Find a drill and tap chart either online, on your phone, consult a book(yes they still exist) find .280" and that's your drill size, in this case it's a 9/32nds. Also, if you like budget friendly tools, I'd recommend a half turn fwd, quarter turn backward and it should save some stress on the tool. Often times taps and wrenches break because the chip gets too long and gums up the hole. Thorough video thx

[Nomis]

Over here at work, trying to tap out a hole. They had me with an M24 x 3 tap with a 47/64 bit. YouTube and google to the rescue. Thanks bro

[zofie]

For metric, subtract the thread pitch from the tap size. 10M-1.5 = 8.5mm hole. 6M-1.0 = 5. So a 5mm hole for a 6mm tap ONLY works if the thread pitch is 1.0. If the thread pitch was .75, you would need a 5.25 hole for a M6-.75

[ThrottleJunkie]

The third is called a bottoming tap on this side of the pond. It's good for starting holes but also for tapping blind holes because it allows the thread to terminate at the very bottom of the hole.

[GeneralFault]

Wow, what do you use to record? The quality of this video is amazing even at 480p.

[DyM]

I sometimes just spot weld the nut on the back

[Tuffjobs]

Excellent! I’ve been struggling tapping a thread in brass 😏