help making a tap

[Fasttrack]

I'll keep that in mind if i ever *need* a funky tap. Right now, i'd just be making them to show off. (Which in reality means taking perfectly good drill rod and turning it into junk... )

[John Stevenson]

Looking thru some pictures tonight and found this drawing which shows the relationship of the ball end mill to the tap for a 5 flute cutter to get the hook.
As they say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.
BTW it shows a LH tap.



.

[Timleech]

Looking thru some pictures tonight and found this drawing which shows the relationship of the ball end mill to the tap for a 5 flute cutter to get the hook.
As they say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.
BTW it shows a LH tap.



.

Strangest LH tap I ever saw


Tim

[John Stevenson]

You were quick, I was editing it as soon as I saw the copy paste was three pages behind.

Anyway it's a nice project to make a tap wrench to fit this.

[lynnl]

How do you achieve that taper on the end (the first two or three threads)?
File them down after the fact?
..or turn them down after threading the tap?

[gzig5]

Are the following statements generally true for making taps?

Is it true that for cutting SAE660 or aluminum bronze, I would want to have a flat tooth face with no hook? This would be for an acme leadscrew nut.

In steel and aluminum the tap would work better with a bit of hook, as shown in John's drawing?
Greg

[Mcgyver]

update.

scrapped the old taps. hardened them and tried but they're garbage. made new ones as per advise here, like Rich and John pointed out I had too much thread. here's some some shots of the new ones

lynn, I turned the taper in the lathe prior to threading.
greg , that's what i do, based on the logic rake is rake and different metals like different rakes

before heat treating



finished product, will be the nut for a turnbuckle for a finger brake



i was going to get fancy and grind the flute, but turns out theres no need, worked well with a bit of stoning. i used soap with the heat treating, sort of stopped some scale.

thanks again guys for the help on this, couldn't have done it otherwise