tap and Die

[Kember17]

To Peter. I am Belgian, not Dutch. A part of us Belgians speak sort of the same language , but we are definitely a different country . No offence to the Dutch intended .

Jan,

Whoops!

Assumptions...my apologies.

Hope all well - it's too cold to work outside up here.

Best

Peter

[JD-JAG66]

No apologies required Peter.
I tried working on the car the last few days but had to give up every time after less then 30 minutes because my fingers became numb. Not to mention very painful when coming back inside.
Have a great day
Jan

[Series1 Stu]

I agree with Rory. Your best friend in the garage will become a 3/8" drive single hexagon socket set. Use Imperial size sockets and spanners, not metric near-enoughs, and the job will be a lot easier.

Get something like this and it should serve you well to work on just about any car you're likely to have ( I think this one is a single hexagon).

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke- ... UrEALw_wcB

A 1/2" drive set is useful for the heavier jobs but I rebuilt my IRS using only the 3/8" drive set and a good torque wrench.

Taps and dies are very useful for cleaning up threads although you could get away with using screws with notches cut into them for that. I've even done it with a notched spark plug to clean up plug threads.

Regards

[Jeremy]

Depending on how long you plan to be around I would urge you to buy the best tools you can afford. Every time I have bought cheap tools I have regretted it, sooner or later. I bought Facom and Elora socket stuff 35 yrs ago and it's all still in service. Also got some used Snap-on spanners more recently, superb, and they will prob outlast my grandchildren, if I have any...

[MarkRado]

Absolutely right! Furthermore, there will be a moment during repair/ restoration when you need all the help you can get at least tool- wise. For example I have different spanners of the same size but of different lenght/ geometry. You might get along with little more than the orig tool kit; but working properly needs much more I am afraid. There are famous and expensive German tool manufacturers like Hazet or Gedore who have a selection of imperial size tools. And of course there is google and mailorder...

[christopher storey]

This thread seems to have gone rather far from its original purpose . The original poster is a professional technician!!

[MarkRado]

Quite right! I got many taps and dies from Namrick, and, as stated , via google.

[Kember17]

Of course it would be nice!! write me when you around!

Alessio,

Just to give you time to react. I'm in the UK at the moment and driving down to Stresa later in the month (around the 24th/25th as I have to wait to attend a funeral of a family friend).

I'd have some space in my boot and would be happy to ferry a few tools to you, if you were thinking of acquiring some in the UK. Just PM me if you are interested.

Peter

[elcinghio]

Thanks Peter!!
At present time not. But thanks. If you around that week after 24 just call me I am here!
bye

[Ianick]

I bought a little Ace-Hanson tap kit about 50 years ago - machine thread from 4-40 to 1/4-20 with drill bits and a little "T" handle.
As the years went by, I picked up taps and dies as I needed them - onesie-twosies at the local hardware store. They're all Ace Hanson or Irwin.
Today I own a complete "set" of taps and dies from 4-40 up to 1/2-20 (and everything in between.)
I have taps and dies that have never been taken out of the packages yet.

The only problem is that I don't have a fancy-schmancy box in which to store all the pieces neatly arranged by size.

I had a full 40-piece "Columbia" (TRW) metric tap & die set that I gave to a buddy of mine about 20 years ago. If I need to re-work a metric hole I'll give him a call.

Just get what you need. Pick 'em up as you go along. Sooner or later you'll have every damn one of them.



On the other hand, if you're aspiring to be a machinist when you grow up, by all means, go big and buy the whole enchilada now. Don't go cheap though - get the good stuff.

==

this eBay seller bought out a warehouse of Irwin inventory and has some good prices on drills/taps/dies (and other Irwin stuff):
https://mechanicguides.com/best-tap-and-die-set/

(I usually get 20%-25% off from him depending on how much I buy. YMMV.)