You will find all sorts of thread taps in the market. We will show you how they differ and what their applications are. We are sure that you will know what to buy after reading this.
Thread taps are used in cutting the female portion of a mating pair in metal fasteners. On the other hand, a die cuts the male part of the metal fasteners. Taps cut nuts and die-cut bolts.
There is a difference between threading and tapping. Both threading and tapping produce screw threads. However, threading produces external threads whereas tapping makes internal threads.
There are many types of thread taps including hand taps, plug taps, spiral point taps, and power taps. These are just a few out of many different thread taps.
Below is a list of ten types of thread taps for you so that you know what they are for. With the information that we arm you with, you will have the power of making informed decisions to decide what type of thread tap you need. Go to Guide on ToolsDuty.com to buy one of the best tap and die sets out there.
10 Types of Thread Taps
You can buy hand taps from your local hardware store. These are common but are not for CNC work. Compare hand tapping to that with thread taps from the store. You will see that your money was a good investment. The store-bought one performs much better.
There are two kinds of hand taps: taper tap and bottoming tap. They are the following:
Taper Tap
Taper taps are great for cutting thread. It comes with a lot of tapers so, you can ease into cutting. You can find them almost anywhere.
Bottoming Tap
Bottoming taps do not have a taper towards the end. This is because it is for threading the bottom of its reach. Bottom taps taper one to one and a half threads.
This type of tap is good for the threading of blind holes, but you should thread the hole with a taper tap before doing it with a bottoming tap.
Plug taps have three to five threads tapered. This number is more in taper taps and less in bottoming taps.
The terminology is not always the same and changes depending on where you are. In some places, the name of the bottoming tap is plug tap. On the other hand, the name of a plug tap is a second tap. That is why you should make sure to get the right one.
If you have manual matching work or CNC applications, then this is the right type of thread tap for you.
Spiral point taps have a spiral cut and also relief grooves. This is a common thread tap that looks like the hand. The difference is that the spiral angle of the cutting edges helps to let out the chips. Also, the angled edge performs outstandingly.
For power tapping, this would be the cheapest threading tap. They are faster than hand taps too. However, it’s hard to work on blind holes with it.
Spiral flute taps are like endmills in a way as they have open spirals. They are preferable for being able to eject chips out of the hole. Furthermore, this is the one that you should choose if you are dealing with blind holes.
Also, they are great for holes with interruptions in which there are features that intersect. Plus it’s easy on the hands. You will know that when you compare it with a hand tap.
There is a tooth for every other thread in an interrupted thread tap. For this reason, it extracts chips well. The chips escape easily when you use an interrupted thread tap.
Pipe taps are for pipe threads. You will find both straight pipe taps and tapered pipe taps. The right one depends on whether you want the pipe thread to be tapered or straight.
Pipe taps work hard, as drilling a tapered hole is not an option. More comes off the top and less at the bottom.
A form tap is much better than a cutting tap. Instead of cutting, forming taps cold form, meaning that the metal compresses into place and the threads that come out of it are “roll threads.”
This leads to durable taps and strong threads. As there is no cutting, there is no chip to remove. Form taps need speeds, feed, and starting hole sizes that vary.
Most people use this type of tap on soft material such as aluminum. However, you can use it on hard material, too. It can deal with 36 HRC or 340 BHN, so you can use it on many types of steel and other material too.
Extension taps have long shanks. This allows you to get to hard to reach holes. “Long shark tap” is another name of this thread tap.
This thread tap uses the technology of Audi and Emuge that allows tapping cycle time to fall 75%. It’s a great tool to have for your thread tapping needs.
Taps and dies are tools that people use to make screw threads. The process is called threading. A tap cuts the female part of the mating pair. On the other hand, a die cuts the male part of the mating pair. In other words, the tap cuts nuts, and the die cuts bolts.
The whole process of the thread forming and cutting is “tapping.” And using a die is called “threading.”
You have many options to choose from when it comes to thread taps. Each thread tap design is for specific functions. Some are good with soft material whereas others can handle hard material.
Now that you know about the different types of thread taps, buy the right one for the task at hand.
With so many kinds of tap and die sets on the market, it’s obvious the choice is not that easy to make. Luckily, here’s an informative article which contains all-encompassing top tap and die sets brands analysis.
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