Metric tap and die set

[Paul AinsworthParticipant @paulainsworth93685]

Gentle folk of the model making world, would you kindly supply me with a few names of decent metric tap and die sets please. My Aldi set is just not up to O1 tool steel and Stainless has just killed it completely.

Thanking you in advance.

[Paul AinsworthParticipant @paulainsworth93685]

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Much used question & the standard answer is buy 'quality' [Dormer, Guhring, Titex etc. etc] threading tools as & when you need them. Try Arc Eurotrade, Cutwel, Cromwell tools, RS to start with.

Tony

[Mike ClarkeParticipant @mikeclarke87958]

In addition to the suppliers mentioned above, all of which I have used in the past and would use again…….I have been very pleased with the quality and price of taps/dies from "Avon Tap Die".

Cheers,

Mike

[Raymond AndersonParticipant @raymondanderson34407]

If doing a lot of tapping in O1 and Stainless Either.. Walter Titex Eco plus or Advance taps or from Emuge Franken either VA or A-HCUT.  Titex and Emuge Franken don't do dies [ or sets ] i'm afraid. I'm not sure if Guhring do sets or only individual. Guhring is not as spendy as the first 2 I think Dormer do sets. and would be a reasonable price for the hobbyist. The first 2 might seem ott for hobby use but … if you are frequently threading the materials mentioned, you can expect long tool life and top notch threads.

Edited By Raymond Anderson on 19/09/2019 17:07:59

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

When it comes to hand tapping difficult materials I'm impressed by serial taps. The cutting goes easier and less risk of breaking things.

No comprehensive sets around so best to buy when you need as they aren't cheap. I get mine off E-Bay from DavetheTools over at Pulborough. He sells the Vogel brand.

Realistically the sensible option is probably to get known brand mid range taps for the main set and supplement with serial ones when something difficult comes along before you wear out your general purpose ones. Thats more or less what I'm doing in supplementing my decent good collection of mid range ones although, given the choice, I power tap with industrial rated breeds.

Concentrating on comprehensive sets rather than what you actually need can leave you with alot of (expensive) unused tooling.

Clive

[Paul AinsworthParticipant @paulainsworth93685]

I can get away with 5 or 6 sizes so can splash on them. I've been given a mountain of dormer etc imperial but no metric. *light bulb moment* use good imperial taps and dies even though I'm working in metric.

Thanks for input fellas, I'll reply with results.

[Bill Davies 2Participant @billdavies2]

I've used Dormer in my engineering days, and they were always very good. However, I'm surprised by the price of these:

https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/cutting-tools/metric-iso529-hss-gt-threading-sets/39350204#

I bought a Volkel set and they have been fine. One difference is that the dies were not split, but finish to size.

Bill

[Stuart BridgerParticipant @stuartbridger82290]

+1 for the Volkel set, but somewhat surprised that the price is nearly double what I paid, but it was a few years ago.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Make sure you get split dies and the correct diestock for them.

I believe Arc do serial taps in sets of three.

In the legacy left to the museum, was a box of metric taps and drills with the Parkside logo, which is from Lidl. I tried out a couple and they were better than expected.

[Steve CrowParticipant @stevecrow46066]

I've got a M2 to M6 set from Tap and Die Co. Made from HQS ( don't ask – just search the forum).

I use the (split) dies mainly on silver steel and they do a fine job. Nice box too.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Tracy Tools. Good quality. Reasonable price.

**LINK**

[JuddyParticipant @juddy]

I've used Presto which I found to be very good and durable: **LINK**

and as others have said the Volkel brand as well: **LINK**

Over the years I have tried a number of no brand or cheap taps & dies, some have been good some have been rubbish. Pot luck on the cheaper scale for what you get.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

I would have suspected a set of taps from Aldi would have trouble cutting a thread in butter 😁

I use Sutton or P&N here in OZ but have used yamakawa(i think that is right ) and goliath (uk made) and was happy with these .

I think Jason used some of the ARC gear in one of his articles recently so they may be worth a look .

[Paul AinsworthParticipant @paulainsworth93685]

After much deliberation I opted for the HSS set from Tracy tools.

Now to bung my repeat sizes of Presto and Dormer imperial taps on ebay.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

I would keep my Dormer and Presto tooling! It should be good quality, and useful back up if you ever have the bad luck to break a tap!

But much prefer HSS to Carbon Steel. That should provoke an argument!

Howard

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