www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi, I'm after buying a tap and die set, I want a good quality set and want the large tap and dies - the sets up to m24

I found this set on ebay, this is what im looking for.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

I'm just wondering how strong 58-61 HRC is, I will mainly be using them for aluminium, brass, mild steel, and possibly bright/carbon steel. Would these be suitable and stay sharp.

thanks

In my experience, marksman branded products are pretty crap. That set looks rubbish, okay for cleaning a few threads, perhaps cutting a few in soft stock, but i doubt it would stay sharp if used on steel.


The best taps/dies will usually be HSS.

That said, you'd pay that for an m24 die alone in hss.

Perhaps get it, and slowly upgrade as required?

I did a little more research into these tools and yes marksman tools seem to be very bad quality.

I usually go for HSS but theyre so expensive for such large taps and dies such as the ones I'm wanting. My trouble is that I have no die holder for this size of die - I thought buying a set would be easier. My neighbour has large sets like these but I hate borrowing them all the time, I shall ask him where he got his from.

I'm from UK. Could you suggest any sets like this that are good for all round thread cutting, preferably able to cut medium carbon steels. The set needs to be under £100 due to me being a student.

thanks

What are you going to be doing with them, I can't see the average home owner wanting am m24 tap ever.

What would be an average use, once a year, once a week or once a lifetime

The tap and die I'm really wanting is M22 2.5mm. I will be using it aproximately once a week, threading about 4" of mild steel at a time and of course using high quality cutting lubricant, its one of those things though - may use it every day or maybe even once a month. I have coped with carbon tap and dies before but sometimes I want to thread bright steel and it just totally ruins them.

I would look at buying good quality ones on an need for basis in that case. as Hitch suggested.

Could be worth looking around the car boot sales for good holders.

I think I will do that, thats what my neighbour does and gets loads of high quality stuff cheap.

I have come across many sets ranging from £50 to £200 and there all the same grade of material - tungsten steel, I have never used anything else apart from cheap carbon steel and HSS.

I have managed to find HSS M22 tap and die for £25, I dont think that the die holder will be too expensive and there easy to find - I can always make one, the die is 55mm which I find slightly unusual not 51mm (2").

You can easily spot the toy tap & die sets.

Single tap for each size, not the set of three — taper, second and bottom.

Non-split die, so you can't adjust how tight the fit is.

In my experience you get what you pay for. Cheap taps & dies will tear the thread; you need expensive ones to cut a bright thread.

I have plenty of experience with cheap tools. First tap and die set was carbon steel, ok for some threads but mainly useless + lot of heat generated due to them being blunt - lots of thread tearing.

I try to stick to HSS and brands like Dormer.

I was unsure about the set I asked about, they were all split which made me think they were good, but the price made me a little suspicious. I spent ages trying to find out how 58-61HRC compared to HSS, but I suppose it doesnt matter if there not sharp.

I found a company on ebay that does cheap tools but good qualtity, just £10 for a HSS M22 2.5mm die. I can get a dormer hss m22 tap for £15. I will keep looking though.

One thing, are you tapping a through hole or a stopped hole?

If a through hole you can get away with a '1st' tap with a taper to make starting a thread easier.

If a stopped hole you would need a '1st' tap to start the hole then a 'plug' tap with a full thread at the end to ensure you get full threads at the bottom of the hole.

In terns of hardness, 58 - 61 HRC is about the same hardness of a decent camping knife - hard enough to cut wood etc. without chipping but still soft enough to sharpen up by hand 'in the field'

I'd imagine you'd want something harder for routine cutting of metal?