what size drill bit?

[ian45662]

What size drill bit do I use to drill and tap for a lock bolt that is 8-32 and do they have taps at a place like lowes or home depot?

 

[reddog]

#29,,,A good hardware store might be better.

 

[Jim-Iowa]

Yes they have taps & dies at Lowes and Home Depot.
I have two tap & die sets from Lowes.
But if you only want the one size you would do better at a hardware store.
Neither of my sets had a tap for 4-40 which I wanted to change to over the #3 in my trigger kit.
I got 4( they were small I thought they might be easily broken, and it being 30 miles to Des Moines spares save that in fuel) at a price of $1.99 ea at Bob's Tools compared to $8.95 for 1 at Hobby Haven.

 

[Mountainman56]

I buy mine at Napa. They have just what you want and you can buy them in singles. Also they know what bit is required for each tap.

 

[billk]

Napa auto parts?
Billk

 

[dlemaster]

You will also need a #19 drill bit for the clearence to drill through the side plate (if you have one) and the stock to the surface of the lock plate.

regards, Dave

 

[44-henry]

I tend to purchase all the drill bits and taps, along with end mills and lathe bits that we use in our university lab from Enco.

 

[paope]

here is a link to a handy chart for tap & die drill bit sizes

Tap and Die Chart Wikipedia version

 

[Birddog6]

One suggestion, get a tap long enough you can tap the lock screw hole in the plate by putting the tap thru the rifle from the sideplate to the lock, with the lock & sideplate in place. This insures the threads will be lined up to the hole & makes installing the lock screws allot easier in the future when ya take the lock of for cleaning.
:thumbsup:

 

[davy]

I was just in Ace Hardware yesterday, and I noticed they had a good selection of tap & die elements in the one I was in! So you mite check them out in your area .. or at least call them! :thumbsup:

Davy

 

[ian45662]

Ya I will have to check them out today or tomrrow and see what I can come up with. What is the best way about doing this should I drill the lock first then with the hole I drilled as a guide drill through the stock and the tap the lock with the 8-32 tap? Or is there a better way?

 

[ricklandes]

Birddog is right on target always tap this way to avoid the headaches of improper alinement. Also 1/4 to 1/2 turn on the tap and a turn back to clear the chips...repeat...takes a bit more time but a bunch less than removing a snapped off tap! :wink:

 

[bob243]

I usually get all my taps, bits, endmills, etc from MSC or J&L. ( Thay are now the same company, but it helps to look at both sites.

 

[bioprof]

What is the best way about doing this should I drill the lock first then with the hole I drilled as a guide drill through the stock and the tap the lock with the 8-32 tap? Or is there a better way?

That's the way I do it. Let the hole in the lock guide your drill. That way everything lines up. The advice that others gave was good too. Tap through the hole in the stock into the lock plate so that everything lines up properly. It's easier than it sounds. :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

I would drill it using a drillpoint jig to insure proper allignment of the screws. Drill a 1/8" pilot hole in the lockplate where ya want the bolt to come out. Put the Lockplate & sideplate in place, clamp them & then center punch the center of the sideplate holes, then put it all in the drill press & drill the hole. Drill 1/2 way, turn it over & drill 1/2 way til they meet. Then take that tap drill size out & put the clearance drill in & drill from the sideplate to the lockplate but Not into the lockplate.
Now take that all off & put the tap in & tap the lockplate. Take the tap out & put the screw in til it holds the sideplate.

Now do the rear lockscrew hole the same way.

I always do Both holes with the barrel in & pinned in place. On the rear hole I drill til I hit & mark the tang, turn it over & do same, take the barrel out & then drill thru the sideplate with my clearance drill bit to the lockplate, then remove the drill & tap that hole.

Then I drill the tang & put the barrel back in & insure the rear screw has clearance on that screw so I can easily put it in & out. without it binding on the tang lug or breeechplug lug, whatever ya want to call it.

:thumbsup:

 

[ian45662]

What is that thing that sticks up from the bottom of your press? Where do I get one or how do I make one?

 

[Ian Pratt]

It's a nail pinched in a vise. Good way to line things up. If you want to get fancy or don't own any nails you can make a pointy rod, thread it on the opposite end, drill and tap a plate to screw it in to. Or use a drill chuck and bolt it from underneath the table of your press so the chuck faces upward, put whatever point you want in it.
I usually clamp it down to the table so it won't move any while I'm drilling.

 

[Birddog6]

You can use basically anything with a point on it. And the spike works as well as anything else, as long as the point & the drill are in alignment & neither one moves. In my photo, it is a spike, but a long pointed centerpunch will work or a large nail. The tall spike makes it easier when ya do the tang bolt holes as it gets the rifle up off the vice so when you tilt the rifle it doesn't hit on the bench or vice.. The vice is clamped to the drillpress table.

 

[Zonie]

Folks using one of these "locater's" to establish the lower holes location need to know where the tip of the drill bit is at all times.

I know of one person who forgot where the tip of the drill was and he was having so much fun drilling the hole that he ran the drill right into the lower locator's tip. :redface:

The idea here is to drill almost thru, then remove the gun from the lower locater, then using the partially drilled hole as a guide, finish drilling the thru hole.
zonie

 

[Packdog]

Here is the one I made that bolts to the platform on my drill press.