drill press tapping tool

[Fossil]

Hello all,

I just thought I would share a couple of pics of a tool I made up this afternoon. I have quite a few plates to tap tomorrow for a machine that I am building, so I bit the bullet and made the tool.

Tonight I tapped 8 holes in to 10mm steel plate with a 3/8" bsb tap using this tool in the drill press, and I can say it is fantastic. I should have made one years ago.
The ring is made from 1045 steel, and the handles are from 1/2" 1040 (hardened after machining, then cleaned up). The knurled knobs are from mild steel scrap, which I pinned to the 1/2" bars prior to knurling. The whole jobbie mounts on the the drill press chuck, and is held there by screwing in the handles which protrude 1/6" inside the OD when done up tight.

It isn't my design... I picked up the idea years ago from a web site somewhere.
I would recommend anyone who has the means, to make this tool. It really makes life easier, and jobs quicker.

[Stringy]

Hey Fossil,

does this clamp the chuck and then you turn it by hand, presumably with the drive belt removed. I like this especially when the tap has to be dead straight!

Taped thread inserts into a 2 stroke bike barrel freehand many years ago and they were a whisker from square, yep one striped the thread out of the Al:doh:.

[Fossil]

Hi Stringy.

Yes it clamps on to the chuck. I didn't see the need to remove belts. The quill turns quite nicely with the belts still on.

The squareness of the tap is just one advantage. Another is the fact that you can start the tap so easily with downward pressure on the quill.

[joe greiner]

I don't remember what kind of handle I've used, but I found it easiest to disengage the return spring for the quill, and use gravity assist as in dedicated tapping machines. Leaving the drive belt on lets the motor act as a flywheel of sorts. Are you able to isolate the spring return? And if so, how?

Joe

[Bodgy]

That looks really nice Fossil.

Ever made a die holder for the lathe? I just melted down my attempt cause it didn't work worth a ***

[damian]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/YUASA-TAPPING-HEAD-TAPMATIC-CHUCK-JACOBS_W0QQitemZ260250601426QQihZ016QQcategoryZ58229QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HERBERT-COVENTRY-DIEHEAD-Manual-NEW-Thread-Chasers_W0QQitemZ350069441017QQihZ022QQcategoryZ92083QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I realise there is satisfaction in doing it yourself, and probably a $ saving, but these are an alternative...

I personally love coventry die chasers. I did a lot of work in stainless years ago and they saved me a LOT of work...:)

[Fossil]

I don't remember what kind of handle I've used, but I found it easiest to disengage the return spring for the quill, and use gravity assist as in dedicated tapping machines. Leaving the drive belt on lets the motor act as a flywheel of sorts. Are you able to isolate the spring return? And if so, how?Hi Joe,

I looked at that this morning. The spring is mounted laterally to the quill as shown in the first two photos. I intend to take up your idea, and make up some sort of mechanism that will allow for easy slackening and then re-tensioning of the spring, to allow for easy transition between tapping and drilling tasks.
One little tip for anyone attempting to make one of these little tapping assistant tools..... I made mine up with longer handles than shown in the finished tool. The handles fowled on the drill press down feed handle, so I had to shorten them. :rolleyes:
The third pic shows that I now have a little clearance.


That looks really nice Fossil.

Ever made a die holder for the lathe? I just melted down my attempt cause it didn't work worth a ***Thanks for the kind words Bodgy. :)

A tailstock die holder was one of the first tools I made, after getting the old lathe operational. That tool is probably one of the most handy tools as well, and it gets used often. I made it up with a brass bush for the ID, to allow for use of my two sizes of dies.

Anyway...... Time for me to have a tidy up of the workshop. After cutting all that cast iron the other day, and the spit episode, my play space is getting rather depressing.

[BobL]

I don't remember what kind of handle I've used, but I found it easiest to disengage the return spring for the quill, and use gravity assist as in dedicated tapping machines. Leaving the drive belt on lets the motor act as a flywheel of sorts. Are you able to isolate the spring return? And if so, how?

Joe

Good job Fossil. I must make something dedicated like that myself some time. What I have been using is steel rod that fits into the chuck key holes - but that's starting to round out the holes.

One problem I find with using the DP to tap is it's not as easy to feel the resistance to cutting the thread and I find I still break the odd small tap.

I have been using a battery powered drill with a clutch mainly to tap into ally or brass. Set the clutch to about a 4 setting for a 1/4" tap and drive in until the clutch acts then back out, then back in etc. Using proper thread cutting lube, ~ three in/outs gets you through a 1/4" plate. Of course such a setup is not as good at getting the thread square in the hole as a DP. What would be really useful would be a smaller clutched chuck that fits into a DP chuck. Has anyone taken apart a clutched hand drill and been able to leave the clutch attached?

Joe; When it's too awkward to isolate the return spring I have wound an ocky strap around the quill winding lever and hooked it back behind the DP.

[Fossil]

Joe; When it's too awkward to isolate the return spring I have wound an ocky strap around the quill winding lever and hooked it back behind the DP.


Thanks for the kind words Bob.

I used to do the battery drill tapping thing too. In fact, It may have been you that gave me the idea a few years back. :)

This afternoon, I have been working on a mechanism for releasing and tensioning the spring. I might have it finished tonight, so I'll post a couple of piccies when it's done. When I started drawing it up, I thought it was going to be a complex little job, but all seems to have worked out well.

Thanks for pointing out the issue in the first instance Joe.
It has been a fair bit of work, but should be well worth it. :)

[joe greiner]

Restoring the spring force can be facilitated somewhat by marking the housing and the frame to get it back in the right position; still not much fun, though. A mechanism to enable release and restoration would be a major contribution to the art IMHO.

Now that I ponder a bit, I probably used the pulley on the open transmission housing as a handwheel for tapping. This was OK for small threads, with the return spring disengaged, but would be inadequate for something more substantial, so your handle device would be most helpful. On other occasions where the downfeed handle presented interference, I've been able to remove the offending handle and use other handles for the downfeed. For tapping, with the spring released, all of the downfeed handles can be removed.

Joe

[Fossil]

Well the spring adjustment part is now finished and works very well. It took a few hours work, but for convenience sake, I think it was well worth it.

Some piccies of the finished setup below.

I do have one issue with the tapping handle, which is lack of grip.... hardened steel bolt ends, trying to grip on to hardened drill chuck. This isn't an issue with smaller taps, but becomes annoying with 1/2 bsw tapping, which was what I was doing yesterday. I think I will turn up some little brass buttons to mount on the end of the handle bolts.

Does anyone have a better suggestion??

[malb]

If the threads don't need to run too deep Fossil, you might find that it is possible to run longer tapping handles by removing 2 of the the drill feed handles and setting up so the remaining one is at about 4 oclock when the tap enters the hole. This way the remaining one is there to control the quill when the tap is clear, and you should be able to tap at least 12mm deep before it winds around enough to interfere. Would probably try it with the return spring working initially to counterbalance the weight of the spindle etc just in case a hand slips with the lever in the 'push away" handle position.

[joe greiner]

The spring adjustment looks good, Fossil. In the original arrangement, it seems to need about three tools and four hands. Restoration of the original spring force probably isn't too important; as the DP ages, some adjustment is needed anyway to accommodate wear.

Brass buttons sound ideal for enhancing purchase. I'd also consider shaping the ends of the bars to a cone of about 150 degrees for embedment in the buttons. Lead buttons might work too - very cheap and easily replaceable, but might be a bear to remove.

Joe

[Fossil]

Thanks guys. :)



Brass buttons sound ideal for enhancing purchase. I'd also consider shaping the ends of the bars to a cone of about 150 degrees for embedment in the buttons.

That's a good idea Joe. I will do just that when I get some more shed time. Play time is over now. 10 days straight at work for me. :-