Thread: Drill Press Puzzle

Originally Posted by blackhole

I used to work in a place where I would tap a couple of hundred holes in a day and we used a cordless drill. The secret is to use plenty of cutting paste.

I tap just about all my brass and ally threads this way. When starting I set the clutch on about 4 for < 5 mm threads, 6 for 5 - 10mm and 8 for >10 mm.
I then carefully start the thread on a slow positive feed, when the clutch kicks in I reverse and clear the swarf, repeat until there is a decent length of thread established and then crank the clutch up a couple of notches and go for it. Oh yeah use cutting paste on the brass and meths in a spray pack for ally - much cleaner than the paste. I know there are drills with built in taps out there for ally that will do it all in one pass