Let's see em boys! I'm tired of tearing up my damn hands with this Irwin piece of junk! What should I buy? I want it to feel good in my hands, require little effort and NOT SLIP! No I dont wanna make one.
Nah, I have a good one out in the garage but don't feel like going out there to see what brand it is. Yeah, you set y I urself up for that one.. Lol
How big of a tap due you want to run? Considered buying a tapping head to use on your mill? Best, Kelly
Geez Jason, you got a machine shop now and some 4140 bar...... I broke an old Patience and Nicholson tap handle with some overly complex left and right hand threads and made this one instead from 4140 pre-hard bar. It has some zinc magnesium manganese plating from some online recipe that I've never been able to duplicate again. I'm going to make a big one with some 4140 1&1/4" hex bar I bought for cheap. Gear Wrench have a nice ratchet tap handle, sold under many names too:
I don't need to run enormous taps, largest I probably will do by hand is 1/2". That's a pretty slick wrench you have there Mark, I'm just being lazy and didn't want to make one.
If you do a lot of plate tapping such that you're only tapping a diameter or two, you can buy a set of tap sockets for <$30 and use a cordless drill. Instead of 4 flute hand taps best to use 2 or 3 flute taps for added strength. Spirals are recommended for continuous tapping but not necessary for through wholes that are only a diameter or two. When I'm tapping a lot holes that aren't critical, I'll use them for #10 through 3/8" and maybe 1/2" depending. Best, Kelly
Ahh.... it was Greenfield I was trying to remember. Does this look like a general all purpose wrench? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Greenfield...219568?hash=item1cf1c3b670:g:OXoAAOSw3ZRfSFDy Now Here is a TAP WRENCH!
Big tap wrenchs are good for big jobs. Back in 2000 I got fed up and built a big one. I want it foldable so it would fit in a standard toolbox drawer. I also wanted to be able to add a pipe to the handles if I wanted it bigger. This is what I came up with. it is made from 1 inch diameter 01 tool steel and heat treated. I was just a kid then. So don’t critique it too harshly (or the welds). I copied it from one that was given to me that was about 7 inches long, In the next picture. The two on the left and the one in the middle on the right are homemade. The two on the left are my favourite for smaller taps, Half inch or smaller. I personally have only made the big one I do you have two or three others in this style. this one is 18 inches long. And in one of my courses I have a bonus project of a simple tap wrench project.
