Tap and Die Set

[Okurok]

I get US made individual taps in the sizes I need from Kodiak Cutting Tools

 

[tallPercshooter]

I needed a 3/8 tap for a percussion drum. Found just what I needed, with the proper drill bit, packaged together at my hardware store. Don't need a lot of taps I'll never use.

 

[user 34300]

I have been fighting cheap chinese dies. They usually put a taper on both side which is no good for my use. Solid hex dies are made for chasing threads. Split dies are for making new threads. Good dies cost. Cheap dies make a mess.

I do not use oversized tap drills. But, it you do not need full thread for the whole length of the hole, I do make a stepped tap drill section for ease of starting the threads straight.

 

[TrophyGuy]

I'm a hobbyist, not a machinist, but being a mechanical engineer I claim a bit of knowledge about this stuff. Most of our needs for tap and die sets are confined to chasing or renewing old threads, so the correct size and care means more than having the best T&D sets. My most important tool is a thread gauge to figure out what I have, but this comes from working on English motorcycles with four different thread standards, sometimes all on the same machine. Using cheap Harbor Freight T&D sets vs. expensive U.S. made machinists grade stuff is not nearly as important as proceeding with exquisite caution. It's not the arrow, but the Indian.