probably a new kinda cheese…….

only buy HSS, even the Chinese versions are better than the carbon sort…

It's a real thing, or rather a family of alloys. In short:

• The first HSS was a Tungsten Steel. Later alloys also containing Cobalt, Chromium, Molybdenum and Vanadium were found to provide even better combinations of heat resistance and hardness. There are at least 40 'High Speed Steel' alloys with properties that can be used to fine tune production, but many of them have been nudged into history by carbides and nitrides etc.
• Although Tungsten steel is inferior to modern HSS in a production setting, it's good for hand taps because it's tougher & less brittle than other types, and is somewhat cheaper.

As always, simple descriptions like 'HSS' or 'Tungsten Steel' are often pretty meaningless. If it really matters you need to see a proper specification. Brand names and broad generalisations are often abused by salesmen or misunderstood by customers. But it's likely that Chinese Tungsten Steel taps will outperform Carbon Steel taps, and they may be much better value used manually than much more expensive HSS types.

Dave

I have personally found that even the el cheapo, carbon steel taps/dies are excellent from tracy's tools. Definitely a good supplier of that kind of stuff.

The teeth seem very sharp, a cut above the set variety. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael-w on 02/09/2018 18:27:25

I have three sets of their t' n' d's…Metric/UNFUNC etc…served me well, although I managed to break an M12 die….It is undersized for the job at an Inch in diameter…

My BA set is from Tracy tools, another set from RDG as well as ME sizes from them too…Then I have the odd HSS sizes gifted to me…

I bought an unused 45 piece "tungsten steel" tap and die set made by HILKA from the boot a fortnight ago for a fiver. I have only used the 8mm tap once in a lump of MS by hand and it threaded the hole as well as a DORMER HSS would have. However, I would not expect it to stay as sharp for as long as a top quality HSS version.

Rik