Please tell me which is the best buy for a tap & die set: (Harbor Freight)

Carbon Steel: $12.99
Tungsten Alloy: $24.99
Tungsten Steel: $69.99
TiN coated Tungsten Steel: $79.99


Joe



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86 IROC TPI 305
700-R4
K&N Air filters
Dyno-Max cat-back
Summit tranny cooler
CEI throttle enhancer chip
Trans-go shift kit

 

What Do you plan to use it For, and How often Do you plan to Use it ?


You get what you Pay For, Im not metalurgical expert, but Tungsten Is where its at




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60 Ranchero - Project ( Money Hole )
85 Sport Coupe LG4 - Daily Driver
Reader's ride -> My Ride

Just another Hot Rod kid, or thats what they all tell me.
Livin' the Stereotype

 

Correct, Tungsten is the best, but you can make an educated guess as to how much you will be using it. Once in a while Tungsten alloy. Lots Tungsten steel. Forget the other 2.

 

Another thing to think about is what will you be using it for. If you break a cheap tap in an inoppurtune place it can cost you a lot more down the road. Getting out a broken tap is lots of fun.
...ed

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Ed Maher - Moderator @ The Carb Board
92 Z28 Convertible - Quasar blue / Tan top
LB9 4L60 GU2 G80 - stock, soon to be sleeper
-=ICON Motorsports=-

- Definitely prototypes, high powered mutants of some kind. Too weird to live, too cool to die

 

I will be using them for automotive purposes, strictly. I figure its good to have a tap & die set around. If I never need them, at least they are good for cleaning up dirty threads. And of course, you always need the tap & die set when you dont have one!

If I ever have to tap a hole, it would be in Aluminum. For threads, just your run-of-the-mill bolt.

I figure on buying the Tungsten Alloy set. I basically wanted to know if that's a good quality. Now I know the carbon-steel is crap.

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86 IROC TPI 305
700-R4
K&N Air filters
Dyno-Max cat-back
Summit tranny cooler
CEI throttle enhancer chip
Trans-go shift kit

[This message has been edited by JoeIROC (edited May 09, 2001).]

 

Joe, I thought of you this weekend when I was at Home Depot.. I thought "Hey! I wonder how much a tap & die set is here!" Of course, I couldn't find any sets... HD had one or two taps, and 3 or four dies... figures.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Thanks, TomP...

So what's your verdict on the sets listed above? I haven't purchased one yet.

Joe


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86 IROC TPI 305
700-R4 with Trans-go shift kit
K&N Air filters
Dyno-Max cat-back
Summit tranny cooler
CEI throttle enhancer chip

 

I am a machinest and carbon steel(tool steel) is the best bang for the buck as long as you don't need to tap hardened steels. Eather will break under this condition. the coating (TIN titanium niride) is comonly thought to help in keeping sharp....wrong this coting just helps in chip evacuation(dosn't let chips bind up and break the tap. Myself I just use tool steel taps. If you know how to use a tap then the tap won't ever break on you. You just have to take it easy with any tap and let to tool do the cuting and not try to force it too much.

I would buy the carbon steel.

 

Poncho, say you're tapping a hole, and the tap stops, and won't budge. Instead of forcing it, do you back it out, and try again? Just curious!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

If you're tapping a hole by hand, once you have it started, you need to back the tap off after about a 1/2 of turn until you feel the chips inside release, then go again to where it starts cutting again, do abut a 1/2 turn, then back off agin till the chips release.

Use some cutting oil/fluid, etc, I use lard oil, stinks like crazy, but is dirt cheap and makes the cut well...soluble oil mixed with water is good too.

The proper technique as well as drilling the correct size hole and using a cutting oil, should keep you out of trouble.

Use the HF taps and dies gently or just as thread chasers, to make'em last.

As mentioned before, getting a broken tap out of a hole (even the most least expensive one) is usually a real PIA.