Broken springs and snapped off taps,but I love it.

Jaeger kit saga continues. I must be a sucker for punishment, I busted my mainspring using vice grips as a cramp but I replaced it with success. Then I drilled and tapped the holes in the lockplate for the two lock screws and broke the tap off in the second hole just as I was about to finish! I had to take it to a local machine shop to have it removed($28 bucks). I am chalking this all up to experience of course. Now for a question. I will install a touch hole liner instead of just drilling a vent hole and I need to know how far down to tap. I know where to locate it. Ihave the drill bit and proper tap size for my liner but I don't think I should tap all the way through do I? By the way, thank you Birddog6 for giving me the confidence to begin the drillpress work for the lock screw installation, it went just fine. This weekend I will attempt the tang screw to trigger plate chore. Wish me luck folks! P.S. When this rifle is finished it will sure mean a lot more to me than a factory finished one, I'm having a blast but I need to slow down and take more time.

 

[Zonie]

Most of the taps available are called "taper taps". This is because they have a long area at the "start" where the threads are ground away to permit easy starting in the hole.

In order to have the full threads you will need to install the vent plug you will have no choice except to run the tap in quite a long way.

If you want a shallow tapped hole, your choice is to either grind off a tap to remove this tapered area or buy a "bottoming tap". (These are usually only available thru major industrial suppliers).

The only place I have found it necessary to use a bottoming tap is when machining the nipple hole threads in a percussion drum. For a Flintlock, I just tap on thru the barrel wall far enough to permit a easy installation of the vent plug.

Don't forget to back off the tap 1/2 turn for every 1 turn (or less) you screw it in to clear the chips from the flutes (I'm sure you knew this, but some readers may not be aware of the need to do this).

Maybe I will write a follow-up to FILING 101 called TAPPING 101. It might help someone someday.