what tap and die brand to choose

[powderblast]

Hi all,

I started of with a aldi special buy tap and die set which im wanting to slowly replace with a good quality set.

I have been looking online and the 2 brands that are sticking out are presto and rennie tool co both are made in the uk and you buy them as a set of three instead of a hobby style set (m6-m12 style set)

i want to pick a good quality brand what is known for good stuff and these two brands i can easily buy of ebay and slowly build the set up. There is a couple of quid different presto been slightly dearer.

Has anyone got any of these brands and what do you all think?

cheers

 

[MattF]

Not sure if some of these brands still exist, but: Presto, Dormer, Warrior & LAL are all ones I've got/used, and have no problems with. Going for HSS over carbon steel taps is a sound choice too.

 

[powderblast]

Not sure if some of these brands still exist, but: Presto, Dormer, Warrior & LAL are all ones I've got/used, and have no problems with. Going for HSS over carbon steel taps is a sound choice too.

yeah i thought of presto but found this other company rennie tool co who make there own stuff and your buying direct from them were as the presto your just buying of a supplier??

 

[Hood]

I use Machine taps, spiral point for through holes and spiral flute for blind. Would never consider buying hand taps again as the machine taps are awesome in comparison even when using by hand. Having said that I don't even really do much hand tapping in the true sense as I nearly always use the cordless drill when "hand" tapping.
YG taps are my usual choice now, last well and work well.

 

[Richard.]

On eBay as new easy to obtain items I’d say presto and dormer are your best bet.
There are literally thousands of the things under those two brands

 

[powderblast]

I use Machine taps, spiral point for through holes and spiral flute for blind. Would never consider buying hand taps again as the machine taps are awesome in comparison even when using by hand. Having said that I don't even really do much hand tapping in the true sense as I nearly always use the cordless drill when "hand" tapping.
YG taps are my usual choice now, last well and work well.

whats the difference with machine taps they both brands say machine/hand taps

 

[MattF]

Spiral instead of straight.

 

[Hood]

Hand taps usually come in a set of three, first second and plug. Machine taps are just singles. Spiral point pushes the cuttings in front of the tap so no issues with flutes choking up or re-cutting the swarf.
I have a vid showing how spiral point taps work, just in delrin but shows it pushing the swarf ahead of the tap, will post it when I find it.

 

[Hood]

BTW spiral point has straight flutes and just has a grind on the end that shoves the swarf in front.

 

[powderblast]

Hand taps usually come in a set of three, first second and plug. Machine taps are just singles. Spiral point pushes the cuttings in front of the tap so no issues with flutes choking up or re-cutting the swarf.
I have a vid showing how spiral point taps work, just in delrin but shows it pushing the swarf ahead of the tap, will post it when I find it.

thanks send us a link

 

[Hood]

If you look at the tapping (second half of the vid) you will see the swarf being pushed out the bottom of the threaded hole.

 

[MattF]

BTW spiral point has straight flutes and just has a grind on the end that shoves the swarf in front.

Just done a search on those. Hadn't realised those were what's referred to as spiral point.

 

[Hood]

Just done a search on those. Hadn't realised those were what's referred to as spiral point.

Yes, the name is a bit confusing as you expect to see a spiral on them but it is only referring to the point grind. They are superb and often I use them in blind holes if I am not going full depth of the hole or if I am I will back out and clear a couple of times with an air blast.
Spiral flutes are meant for blind holes and the swarf is drawn up like a drill but when backing out it can get caught up in the retraction and can be re-cut slightly marring the thread if not careful.

 

[Hood]

Another good thing about machine taps, especially spiral points, is they tend to self align, especially when compared to hand taps

 

[MattF]

Another good thing about machine taps, especially spiral points, is they tend to self align, especially when compared to hand taps

Always a good thing, when one considers how many times they've had to eyeball and adjust alignment of a tap when starting a thread by hand.

 

[Hood]

Here is a spiral flute tap being used, sadly the coolant flow doesn't really show the swarf clearly but on occasions you can just about see it spiraling out of the hole.

 

[winchman]

Whilst I have an Aldi set and cant fault it I also have a good assortment of other makes and if I was buying new it would be Presto for me, but I usually buy second hand, sold a full set of Metric spares only last week!

 

[Allthegearnoidea]

I agree with what everyone says regarding good quality taps and die etc and I have annoying large collection with every one but the one needed for the next job at hand. I did however buy a very cheap set from draper must be 15 years ago when first starting my tool collecting obsession. These are just plain carbon steel and must have been used many times over the years. Admittedly I use them most for restoring existing threads but they have cut many new threads as well. I am not necessarily advocating carbon over HSS there is sometimes little difference in cost. I am just saying don’t discount cheap die sets etc. Depends on what your doing and being realistic about how much use they will get.

PS: I normally buy presto dorman and heller. But many good chinesium HSS available these days.

I actually think the tap wrench is a much neglected and is just as important as the tap.

Anyway just to add some controversy

Regards Chris

 

[Hood]

Carbon taps are good if a decent brand, they don't work as well on stuff like stainless and don't last as long.
I do thousands of holes before a tap gets blunt, mainly is 316 stainless which can be hard on the taps. Most people doing tapping for a hobby will not wear out a tap whether HSS or Carbon.

As for buying second hand, personally I won't do that as quite often they are for sale is because they are blunt. Sometimes a slight stone up the flute can bring them back to life but more often they are finished.

 

[winchman]

Never thought of them being blunt?
We have a very large collection but have had no issues with blunt ones, found the odd snapped ones though, we couldn't afford or justify the collection we have if we had to buy it new.