Before I do something dumb

[StoneHeartFarm]

Before I do something dumb, I want some input from you guys. Every now and then I need a screw extractor or have to use a tap to rethread holes. Usually, the handle that comes with the tap set is too flimsy to hold the tap and the darn thing just turns. The good handle is a little better but not much. I know they make taps with hex ends on them but I'm too cheap to buy a set. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

So, here's my dumb idea and I want to know if anyone else has done this before I bugger up a perfectly good set of taps. I've got a bunch of small sockets laying around, picked up at yard sales and left over from cheap socket sets that have lost all the major sizes. I'm thinking that if I drive a socket on the end of a tap and give it a hit with the welder, I'll have a tap that you snap onto a 1/4" ratchet. An adaptor made from an old 1/4" extension would allow me to still use the original handle if I want.

Whatcha think. Is it a good idea? Or am I missing something.

SHF

 

[hazmat]

SHF,

Sears sells a socket set for taps Item number 47764 price $49.99 Do a search for the item number on their web page

 

[GaryM]

Would probably work OK. Do you plan to put a socket on each tap. Maybe you'll run out of sockets. Sears used to sell eight point sockets for square head bolts and nuts. if you bought one or two sockets to fit the taps, you wouldn't have to weld them on. Looking in my SEARS tool catalog, I don't seem to find them. Maybe I'm showing my age.

Instead of welding on a socket, why not just weld on a nut?

 

[rdln]

The eight points come with socket sets from crapsman, they are for drain plugs, No?

In a pinch I have used a socket wrench for easy-outs and taps, I felt that some balance and feel for the breaking point of the tap is lost when the leverage is so far to one side.

 

[bnixon]

rdln,

"socket sets from crapsman,..."

Is this just a typo or are there some deep issues that you have with the craftsman name?

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue> felt that some balance and feel for the breaking point of the tap is lost when the leverage is so far to one side.</font color=blue>

Valid point. I don't have the sockets for my taps, heck I can count on one hand the amount of times I've used my tap & die set.

If you are worried about breaking taps, you could always use a ratchet type torque wrench so you'd know how much force you are driving them with. Of course this means you'd have to figure out the proper torque to use. Maybe Machinery Handbook has some info. Or you could do some destructive testing on an old set /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[livincountry]

Just my experience but when I hand tap I thread in the tap and back if off a touch, thread in some more and back it off. Not practical if you need to set the direction of the ratchet all the time. This clears the chips off the thread being cut & keeps the tap from jamming and breaking. I think that you need even torque and a "feel" that a two handed handle gives you. Am I missing soemthing?

 

[rdln]

Naw, no issues just being a smart ash, most of my tools are shrapnelman, cant beat the warranty. I specifically look for the name at flea markets/garage sales.


backing out occasionally, thats the way I was taught.

 

[RJohnson]

SHF
I would not recommend hitting it with the welder. Both the tap and the socket are alloy steel, what that means is that they tend to crack, have very hard heat affected zones from welding and will break. If you want to attach them so they won't come apart I would look at some of the Loctite products listed as thread lockers. If you want something more mechanical, then I would look at brazing the joint (less heat input than welding). Whatever you do be safe.

Randy

 

[winchman]

If I understand right, the tap wrenches are your problem. Buy a set of Starret tap wrenches or the size wrench that covers the tap sizes which you most commonly use. You will break the tap before they slip. When tapping steel you should always use a cutting oil on the tap and twist in a couple turns, then back out a turn to break the chip.

winchman

 

[Kodiak]

Instead of welding ( as mentioned in an earlier post they will become brittle ) This sounds like a job for the famous JB Weld.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Hey, thanks guys. I knew there was a reason I didn't want to fire up the welder this afternoon! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.

SHF

 

[bgott]

I inherited my uncle's tools, or what was left after my aunt lent them to the neighbors after he died. He spent his life working on the Cats they used on the ranches around Modesto, CA. until they saved enough to buy an almond orchard. Most of his taps have a nut hammered onto the end of the tap with a spot weld securing them. I've used them a lot and never had a problem with them. The reason you want to run the tap in and out is to break the chip and keep it from being run back between the tap and threads and screwing up the fresh threads. Or so I've been told.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

A nut would work just as well. The only reason I thought of Sockets is because I have a small quanity of the little ones and figured it would make switching tools a little quicker since they would all fit a 1/4" ratchet. With nuts, you probably wouldn't be able to use the same size for all of the taps.

SHF

 

[bgott]

My old Italian uncle was, as they say, thrifty. Nuts, even if the sockets were free, are cheaper. He'd have figured he could use the sockets for making something he couldn't use the nuts for. Those nuts he welded on were probably used.

 

[Kevin_in_Mi]

If I,m not mistaken. aren't the drive ends of most taps square? If so, then you could use a 12 point socket of the approiate size. the square would fit perfectly into the right size 12 pt socket and you could then use a wrachet to drive.
I,ve also chucked the tap in my drill press and used a long rod where your chuck key goes to drive the tap. downward pressure and perfect alignment can also be achieved