Tap & Die sets - Bay Area

eystein

eystein

Well-known member
I am traveling to Palo Alto Ca next week on business and would like to bring home a good quality set of NF taps and dies, as inch tools are not easy to get in Norway where I am living.

Can anybody recommend any good machinist supply store not too far from Palo Alto Ca? I am looking for a bit better selection than what I would find at Orchard Supply and Home Depot.
 
A tip: Orchard Supply sells reinforced neoprene sheet in various thicknesses, by the square foot. The stuff is excellent for making body shims. I occasionally visit the Bay Area, and a couple of times I visited OSH just to get some (rubber sheet, that is).

Doug
 
Regardless of where you buy them, get 2-flute gun taps (3-flute in larger sizes). They're also called "spiral point taps". They throw the chip in front of the tool, so there's no backing out to clear the tap. Once you have a set of these, you'll never go back to standard straight-flute taps.

With open holes, I rarely even use a tap handle. Just chuck it up in a variable-speed reversable drill, use the proper cutting fluid, and go (Rapid-Tap for steel and A-9 for aluminum). For blind holes, they make a bottoming version, which you back out once just before the bottom of the hole in order to clear the chips that collect in the hole, not the tap.

You'll pay about double per tap, they don't come in sets (that I know of), but guess what? You're likely to wear one out before breaking it, so they're actually cheaper to own.

I often get "yeah, right" when I tell people about these, so I did a quick search, which turned up of a video of a gun tap in action. I usually run them a bit slower in steel, but the speed in the video is about right for aluminum and brass.
 
Don't forget about Sears, Mac and Snap-on. When are you coming over as I live in the bay area and might be able to give you a hand. just shoot me a PM.

Mike
 
Anybody able to give me the name or address of a good shop for buying taps and dies in the SF bay area ? (Preferably on the west side)
 
I bought mine from Sears. I was working in Las Vegas. The company gave Sears gift certificates for safety awards. This was back in the eighties. You could deposit the gift certificates in your bank account or spend them on Sears stuff. I bought Sears biggest tap and die set. I have used it a lot more than I thought I would. No bottom taps.

I worked for other companies that had safety awards. You had to order stuff out of a special catalog. The stuff was real junk. I would give my safety bucks to other employees because I did not need junk tools. I talked to the safety department and they said they expected the safety dollars to set around and be thrown away and save the company money. Thanks Swinerton
 
Several years ago I was shopping for a set. I looked at Harbor Freight, not serious about the china junk, but was pleasantly surprised to find a very large comprehensive set that was of Japanese manufacture. The quality was very good. Doubt they sell them any more, but worth a look.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top