Making a Tapping Head

[J Tiers]

Dang.... folks punking the dude for wanting to do a project. Like the project isn't "worthy" enough.

Talk about scaring off the newcomers.......

And that deal about how much time, etc.... When we have Pensioner and Bruno Mueller making machines and machine parts and sub assemblies.

Yeah, both of those guys have years of experience. So? Nothing like making things to get the experience. Those guys were not born knowing everything, they learned, and so can others. And they learned by doing as much or more than by theory and book work.

If the OP wants to make a tapping head, I say go for it. The worst that can happen (if he works safely) is he learns a lot doing it.

I've made tooling before, and sometimes it has been used like 4 times and sat ever since. Another one I made recently, and then got a nice commercial one that is better before I ever got the chance to use what I made. OK, so what?

[754]

We gave him some guesses as to hours to make, he said he dud not want to invest so much time, then we offered a simple alternative, and he got offered a few tapping heads. . It's not like we told him to go away.. we just discussed it with him.,

[DR]

That sounds somewhat similar to the Hardinge TT tapping heads in operation. The TT taping head is extremely simple and wouldn't be hard to build. The OP might want to look at the design of the TT heads and do something similar. They work well in lathe or mill.

Hmmmm.... have you actually used the Hardinge tapping head in a mill? I have a TT, but never tried in the mill. I'm not arguing, just curious. Likewise, I've been curious if a Tapmatic reversing head can be used in a lathe, I kinda doubt it, never tried though.

Some releasing tapping heads like my B&S are similar internally to the TT and must be mounted in the lathe oriented such that the stamped marking "UP" is facing upward. It's been awhile since I had any of my releasing heads apart, there's definitely a reliance on the pawl system with some that would not work with the heads rotating.

As far as making a releasing tapping head, it's fairly simple. A releasing and auto reversing head is quite a bit more complicated.

For homemade by far the simplest to make is a tension-compression tap holder.

[Sparky_NY]

Hmmmm.... have you actually used the Hardinge tapping head in a mill? I have a TT, but never tried in the mill. I'm not arguing, just curious. Likewise, I've been curious if a Tapmatic reversing head can be used in a lathe, I kinda doubt it, never tried though.

Some releasing tapping heads like my B&S are similar internally to the TT and must be mounted in the lathe oriented such that the stamped marking "UP" is facing upward. It's been awhile since I had any of my releasing heads apart, there's definitely a reliance on the pawl system with some that would not work with the heads rotating.

As far as making a releasing tapping head, it's fairly simple. A releasing and auto reversing head is quite a bit more complicated.

For homemade by far the simplest to make is a tension-compression tap holder.

Yes, I have used it in the cnc bridgeport. Made a fixture plate once with 100 holes 5/16-18 it never missed a beat.

[dian]

whatever you end up doing, make provisions for enough axial compensation.

[oxford]

Dang.... folks punking the dude for wanting to do a project. Like the project isn't "worthy" enough.

Talk about scaring off the newcomers.......

And that deal about how much time, etc.... When we have Pensioner and Bruno Mueller making machines and machine parts and sub assemblies.

Yeah, both of those guys have years of experience. So? Nothing like making things to get the experience. Those guys were not born knowing everything, they learned, and so can others. And they learned by doing as much or more than by theory and book work.

If the OP wants to make a tapping head, I say go for it. The worst that can happen (if he works safely) is he learns a lot doing it.

I've made tooling before, and sometimes it has been used like 4 times and sat ever since. Another one I made recently, and then got a nice commercial one that is better before I ever got the chance to use what I made. OK, so what?

People can make whatever they want, no one here is trying to scare them off. People here have some input on how much “value” a tapping head has to them and tried to pass it on.

OP can make whatever he wants, I know I have personally put a bunch of time and effort into things where the input wasn’t really worth the output. It doesn’t make it wrong.

I personally think there would be some other shop items that could be more useful to put the effort into rather than a tapping head. If the OP does decide to make one I would love to see some pictures of the process and what he comes up with.

[J Tiers]

People can make whatever they want, no one here is trying to scare them off. ............

Perhaps not, and it seems you all did not succeed in the mission of getting rid of the OP anyway.

But it is a perfect example of what has been said many times..... this forum (similar to many others) tends to chase away people, especially new folks. The immediate challenge response of essentially "do you have any clue how long that will take you?" was about as welcoming as the bear in the cave. Less so, if the bear is hungry.

It might have been rather better to make the same statement in different terms, while accepting it as a valid project. As Doozer (!) recently said, "words matter".

I'm not taking back even one word of what I said.

[lovemesomemachines]

J Tiers...Thank you for your response. Indeed, I was just looking for a project that I could try, derive some enjoyment from working on and actually learn something from in the process. Now watch someone post about trying a different project instead. In the end, I might even have a tool that actually works that I could use sometime. I knew that I was going to receive all of the commentary that has been posted as I researched my question prior to submitting. In the end, as in my original post, I was just looking for some plans that I haven't been able to find online. As well, I thought the YouTube video link I posted was a nice project.

[Doozer]

Make an offset boring head.
Much more useful.

-D

[Doozer]

So I went back and looked for the link you posted, Love me some...
The guy is developing a slip clutch tapping head with a few neat ideas.
I believe the notches on the tap holder control how much tension the
springs have on the release clutch. I can't quite figure it out, is it the
deeper the notches, the less spring force? I think he only did a few notches
on some holders, not sure, maybe you can watch and get a better idea
how this thing works. But not the typical tapping head. Some thought
went into this. I take it all back. A tapping head like this would be handy.

[lovemesomemachines]

Doozer...if you find a set of plans for it, let me know. I thought it would be fun to build and yes, handy. It might even be nice if it used an ER20 collet holder.

[dian]

doozer, i think the balls exit axially, so the deeper the pocket the smaller the force they have to deal with.

[plunger]

Is this just acting as a clutch and then he is rewinding the spindle to allow the tap to reverse?I didn't get how the newton meter setting is done. He is talking of adjusting something by machining it What is he machining to get torque adjustment?

[Doozer]

The depth of the pockets in the back of the tap holder part.

-D