Lawnmowerboy
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More than likely just re badged carbon steel from China. Have used Chinese taps before and they can be cutting wildly under or over size.
- Thread starter mangocrazy
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mangocrazy
Italian V-twin nutjob
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I happened to be in Aldi on Saturday and what do you know? They had tap and die sets on offer for £17 covering all the sizes I need, and in a metal case. So it seemed rather rude not to take them up on their kind offer. Quality certainly seems adequate for the use I'll be putting it to.
Windy Miller
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Sorry to p155 on your chips here, but if its the same one that I bought, then it's likely to be pretty poor quality. Worked ok for cleaning up threads, but useless for cutting new ones.
After using the m8 tap for about a minute, i could feel it all going Pete Tong, and I had visions of it breaking off in the hole. The only good thing about it is the case really
Unless you're cutting a thread on cheese strings of course - would probably be ok for that!
Windy Miller
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Not sure about Sealey ones are like, but the other day I had a sudden need for some die nuts. All I could get in a hurry was a set of Draper ones. Glancing at the back of the packaging, I was amused to see that they recommend using them with a standard die holder, and they even suggested suitable Draper part numbers. Thinking that maybe I'd somehow missed something, I googled the part numbers, and sure enough they were standard die holders!
So there we have it - conclusive proof that you can successfully hold hexagonal die nuts in a normal circular die holder! Make sure you NEVER use a spanner again!
mangocrazy
Italian V-twin nutjob
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Yes, I'm prepared for that. It's very rare that I actually need to cut a thread from scratch, it's normally just cleaning up skanky threads. But if it does all go Pete Tong, I've lost £17. I'd probably keep the case, and fill it with individual taps/dies from Tracy Tools as I need them.Sorry to p155 on your chips here, but if its the same one that I bought, then it's likely to be pretty poor quality. Worked ok for cleaning up threads, but useless for cutting new ones.
After using the m8 tap for about a minute, i could feel it all going Pete Tong, and I had visions of it breaking off in the hole. The only good thing about it is the case really
Unless you're cutting a thread on cheese strings of course - would probably be ok for that!
brightspark
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as said id rather pay good money for a tap than shag an expensive engine up or something u have just spent a day making for a few quid extra
Tman
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Some times it has taken me longer to get a snapped tap or easy out removed than it would take to rebuild an engine
ronan
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I seen a gizmo in the cromwell tool catalogue that has "fingers" for want of a better term , that are connected to a central body, you put the fingers down the flutes of the broken tap and screw it out that way. But edm machines were just made to burn out broken taps.
brightspark
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cant realy say i have a spark eroder and would cost a fair few bob to have one removed
Tman
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Best way I found is the Bosch multi construction Tct drill bits they eat them and at £2 cheaper than a spark eroder
mangocrazy
Italian V-twin nutjob
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That's a bit of an extreme case, don't you think? In my experience (and I've been fixing and riding bikes since 1966) it's not the oily bits inside an engine that generally need threads cleaning up, it's the cycle parts outside that are subject to corrosion etc. And I take your point about applying force - as soon as I feel resistance I rewind and gently try again, and proceed in that manner. And on bikes, most of the the female threads you're cleaning up are aluminium anyway, and even indifferent Aldi steel should be able to manage that.
I'm also on very good terms with a chap who has 2 or 3 spark erosion machines, not that I'd want to call on his services for something like that...
Tman
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May be bit over top don't do a lot of bikes manly rusty old but I have had some chew when I've snapped cheap taps.
The worst I think was on a Landy td5. the starting motor bolt that is described on the Landy forum as the "nut from hell"
What a place to put a nut then it snapped the stud. So drilled it out cheap tap then that snapped. Took about 4 hours in total to get a simple job done. Would have taken 30 min with quality tap. Most quality taps are pre drilled down the centre so you can get it out with an easy out.
Wish I had a mate with a spark eroder. would have saved the nice well spoken gentleman in a suit come to pick up his Landy from listening to me call his car a **** *** ******* ******
mangocrazy
Italian V-twin nutjob
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Yeah, rusty old Landys are a whole different ball game. And inevitably the stuck solid nut you want to remove is in the worst possible place, with the worst possible access. The guy I know with the spark eroder lives between Sheffield and Barnsley. It's a bit of a trek from Durham, though.
MattF
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They'll be fine for what you want them for. If you can manage to snap one just cleaning out threads, you're a ham fisted beggar. 
Even with cheap stuff, you can still feel when something is going beyond its comfort point. Back off and try again instead of trying to push it further straight away, and you should be fine.
Even with cheap stuff, you can still feel when something is going beyond its comfort point. Back off and try again instead of trying to push it further straight away, and you should be fine.
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Unless you find it's stuck fast when you try to back it out, it's going to break which ever way you turn it!
MattF
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I've either been extremely lucky all these years else I'm just too damned good for my own good, but I've never yet pushed a tap hard enough to either jam it or snap it. Surely frequent backing off, which is the method I always use, makes it nigh on impossible to jam a tap?
but I've never yet pushed a tap hard enough to either jam it or snap it. Surely frequent backing off, which is the method I always use, makes it nigh on impossible to jam a tap?
