tap and die set

[Zach England]

Sorry for posting so many dumb beginner questions in the past several days, but...

I need a tap and die set. I want one that contains common SAE and metric sizes, but I don't really need the larger ones. I mostly want it for building jigs and such and general household use. I don't work on cars. Does anyone have a recommendation? I am thinking one of the following two:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/60-pc-HSS-Tap-Die-Set-Inch-Metric/G9770

http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-26376-Combination-76-Piece/dp/B0000EI9AW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1245905772&sr=8-4

I like the grizzly because it is HSS, but I like the Irwin because I like all my other Irwin hand tools. By the time you include shipping on the grizzly they are the same price. Other sets?
Any advice?

Thanks.

[Curt Harms]

to complement a Hanson SAE set made years ago. It appears Irwin bought out Hanson. The Irwin set from Amazon was made in USA and appears to be good quality. I can't comment on the Grizzly set.

HTH

Curt

[Phil Phelps]

Check out Grainger.

[Larry Edgerton]

my brother has an automotive repair facility and race shop and has found that the ones at Sears are as good as they get for the dollar. Better than Mac or SnapOn. Stay away from the cheap Chinese, too brittle.

[Matt Day]

I bought both the metric and SAE sets from Harbor Freight. They've worked like a charm for me. I use them for bicycle, motorcycle, and woodworking stuff. For instance I had to make some threaded holes in my old table saw to install a new fence - worked great.

[Rob Cunningham]

You can also look at MSC. Taps and dies are available individually, you don't have to buy a set, just the ones you need. Greenfield, OSG, and Sossner are all top quality tools.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm

[george wilson]

Chinese HSS tools are most definitely too brittle. I have used a lot of Chinese milling cutters over the last 25 years. I don't know why,but they are brittle. They may or may not be fully sharpened,either. You don't want to break off a tap in a hole where you can't get it out.

Chinese metal is also well known for being of unpredictable in quality control. Machinists have found ball bearings and other things embedded in bare of their metal. It's much like their plywood,where some things like pieces of soccer balls have been found,etc..

[David G Baker]

I have been using a Craftsman tap & die set for the past 40 years and all of the taps and dies are still in great shape. I use a lot of cutting oil when I use them and clean them well after each use. Home Depot may have a set that will work for you but check them out to see if they are made in USA .

[Frank Trinkle]

I have been using a Kobalt metric set from Lowe's very happily, and a Neiko 40-piece set of SAE from Amazon with happy results as well.

Have no issues with either, and I've used them both regularly. (Decent prices on both too)

Amazon Links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012AQNXA

http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Grade-METRIC-40-Piece-TITANIUM-Hexagon/dp/B000I40QZW

You can buy both of the Neiko SAE and Metric sets together on Amazon for $59.94

[Mike Heidrick]

Do a search on Gear wrench Tap and die. It is a very nice tool for what I need it for. I have the little 5 piece set and just buy the pieces I need.

Craftsman Club has sales on their set a couple times a year.

[Andrew Whitson]

I have broken 3 Kobalt (Lowe's brand) taps so far (bought a kit), all of them shattered into many many pieces. The worst failure of any brand tap I've used to date. One in cast iron, one in steel, one in aluminum. All were replaced with Irwin from ACE, and no issues since (the replacements were used to complete the same jobs). FWIW.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Bob Wingard]

While I've not been a big Craftsman fan for many years now, if the taps & dies are marked CRAFTSMAN, I think they still come with their lifetime warranty. Makes it pretty hard to beat. Make sure you also buy all of the appropriate drill bits you'll need for all of those taps. Several of them will require letter or number drills for proper thread depths.

I have a pretty good selection of taps, and I have separate tubes for each size. The tube contains the proper drill bit, a starter tap, plug tap, & bottom tap for each size. When I need a tapped hole, I just grab the right tube and go to work without hunting for the correct drill bit.

<<<__ Bøb __>>>

[Paul Ryan]

Zach, it really depends how much you want to spend. I have a vermont american set that is about 15 years old. I paid $200 for it back then. It has all of your metric sizes to 12mm and SAE to 1/2. Vermont makes very very good drill bits and taps/dies if you buy the good stuff. The set I have has a life time warranty on them. Over the years working in the automotive industry I have broke my fair share and they have always been covered. If you want a good set of drill bits to go along buy their 29 piece cobalt set it will run about $300 but again life time warranty, even on drill bits. Nice tools, they will last you the rest of your life no matter if you are young or old now.

[Barry Vabeach]

Zach, the best thing you can do, IMHO, is not buy a set. I have bought a few sets, but the truth is , at most you will use 5 or so sizes, the rest will sit unused. I highly recommend spiral point taps over the regular bottoming taps if you think you are mostly going to be making through holes. Buy both if you want to thread holes that won't go all the way through the material. Buy the better quality HSS taps because they work much better than the chinese imports. If you just have to have a set on hand, buy a cheap set from Harbor Freight, and while you are there pick up their numbered drill set, that will come in handy also. I predrill the hole with a smaller diameter bit of better quality, then finish with the HF. I would suggest you see what common size scerws you can get locally and buy the same sized taps - you can probably get by with sizes 8/32 and 10/ 24 and 1/4 -20 in both spiral and bottoming. Also get a tap wrench, http://www.victornet.com/tools/Tap-and-Die-Holders/212.html?gclid=CN_huvHeppsCFQRM5QodH12_Dg
the ones with the cheap sets can be a pain to use. MSC, Grainger, or Victornet should get you started for under $20.

[Bill Huber]

I will go with DON'T buy a set, I bought a cheap set a long time ago, they were really bad, not clean cutting and would snap off in a heart beat.

I still have most of them because I never used them but the ones I use are all new ones I have bought at ACE Hardware and they are very good.

10-32, 1/4-20, 5/16-18, 3/8-16 are the ones I use the most.
If I have a hole I want to tap and don't have a good tap I buy a set at ACE that has the tape and the correct drill size together and then store them together for the next time.

[george wilson]

Why buy a set from HF? So he can try to get the broken taps out of holes?

Go on Ebay to collectible tools category. Find an OLD set of taps and dies,preferably in a wooden box,so you know they are old. I've gotten a few nice sets that way. One was a $350.00 set,never used,with adjustable dies,for about $75.00. You can also find old sets at flea markets reasonably. I've gotten them that way too.

My first set of taps and dies were Craftsman,too. I got them in 1964,and still have them. They have adjustable dies,which newer sets (unless very expensive) don't have. I have been satisfied with my old Craftsman set,BUT it was made in an entirely different era,quality wise.

You can tell adjustable dies because they have a slit in 1 side,so you can make their threads tighter or looser by adjusting a set screw. Only a few thousanths of an inch of adjustment is enough.

[Peter Quinn]

I'm with Bill and others on this. Cheap sets sill make you real mad when they fail at the worst time. And good sets are expensive. I bough a decent wrench and some Tap Magic tapping fluid from Mcmaster, and a few basic sizes of taps. I pick up the taps I need at my local True value, Irwin I think, as i need them. If I were opening a machine shop my strategy might be different. Also, a good set if center drill is invaluable in the tapping process.

[Wes Grass]

+100 on spiral points. They'll work fine in blind holes, they'll just pack the chips in the bottom and you'll have to pick them out. Best thing about these is that you can go all the way to full depth in one shot. None of this annoying 1/4 turn and back it off BS.

If you really want to splurge, a set of spiral points for thru holes, and a set of spiral flute for blind is the way to go. Spiral flute cut really nice, but they're weaker than the spiral point and more expensive. They have their place in a production environment, along with form taps, for blind holes.

For a home shop, picking the chips out of the holes isn't that big a deal.

[Chris Barnett]

Sears has very very good tap wrenches in medium and large. Will not use the cheap Chinese sets that I have when the threads must be right, only taps and dies from Sears or other quality sources, bought one by one for the size needed when needed. Went through a real ordeal finding a quality die stock when Sears did not have. Ended up with a Grizzly die stock which appears to be cast. I still need to find a quality forged die stock although my new Grizzly did work ok. Better the wrench or stock break than the tap, which can really ruin your day.

[harry strasil]

there are 3 types of taps, tapered, plug and bottoming, and then there are Turbo taps with flutes like a drill bit in a spiral.

One of the most important things about tap and die life and failure, is the cutting oil, the new clear cutting oil will bind the tap in the hole, the best is the dark cutting oil, or buttercut, or tap magic.

[Zach England]

Thanks, everyone. i ended up ordering the irwin set. Now to find the oil...

[Wes Grass]

Cheap house brand 'pipe thread cutting oil' at your local hardware store.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

..
I need a tap and die set.

Right out of the gate I'm going to say stop right there.

I have never seen a "set" that is worth a tinker's damn which was available conventional VIA retail channels .
I've seen some sold for automotive use all of which I regarded as garbage not worth the trouble of using and probably meant for cleaning old damaged threads up.

You are much better off finding an industrial supply and buying 'em individually.

Greenfield tap & die products are available through places like MSC industrial supply online but the "sets will set you back a lot of money.

So plug in the exact size you want as in "1/4-20 TAP"
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000099839332

or "1/4-20 DIE"
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000099839510
Etc.