Tap and Die Set Suggestions

[RPCElectronics]

I have been looking at tap and die kits for a long time, but they are usually just so pricey that I keep putting it off for fear of buying junk. That brings me to my question:

Are the tap and die kits offered by Harbor Freight worth it for occasional, fairly light-medium duty work? The closest HF to me is two hours and I will be near it this weekend, so I am toying with the idea of picking both the full SAE and Metric sets up this weekend, but I want to know if they are worth it.

If not, what would you recommend in the <$100 each set price range?

Thanks for any ideas/tips, ect!

[Al_The_Man]

In my experience, anything I have purchased in the way of drills/taps that was of Asian, ROC origin etc was not worth it in the long run.
If it is VERY occasional use, Maybe.
Some of the drill sets were absolute rubbish.
My 2¢
Al.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

How much is your time worth? You may spend a lot of it removing broken taps. Taps are hard and brittle, the cheap junk taps seem to be more prone to shattering than the good ones.

Good tools are always a bit more pricey but tend to be worth the price in the long run.

Taps are PITA most of the time. I prefer using thread formers rather than cutting taps whenever possible.

Dick Z

[PriddyShiddy]

I have the two HF small sets that I got for ~$10 on sale once. haven't broken one yet out of 30 ish uses on 6061 BUT I TREAT them like HF taps. tons of fluid (manual) and always use a spring loaded tapping guide on the mill. the dyeslook like crap with burrs, but I haven't needed to try one yet. taps are good enough for light and rare use. I normally but my taps from mcmaster OAAT but the hf has saved me a few times.

on the other hand I used the 8mm to tap 8 holes in CRS yesterday while making t nuts for my new phase 2 rt and had to use a breaker bar after the first few threads. had to double check that I drilled the correct size hole because it was ROUGH. it cut all 8 threads and went back to its home without being flung against the dented wall-of-tool-shame... which has a trashcan below it.

[packrat]

For home shop use I have this set from sears; Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

As you wear out/break the taps(and you will over time) replace them with name brand two flute taps. Two flute are stronger than four flute (thicker center web).

But don't use these if your machining for a living. Then just bite the bullet and get a industrial brand.

[doorknob]

Which taps and/or dies do you really need to use right now?

If it's only a few sizes that you expect to use right away, one approach to consider is getting the HF sets to keep around and cover your bases just in case you need an oddball size in an emergency, but also buy just a few high quality taps or dies for those specific threads that you know you will need to work with often.

[RPCElectronics]

Thanks for all of the feedback and suggestions!

At this time, I do not have specific taps that I need. I want to tool up with a decent set so I will have the capability. That is why I wanted to have a nice decent set in both SAE and Metric. Something that will cover most bases and if I find myself needing something odd, I can order it from MSC or similar.

I am not looking to machine professionally. This is mostly for my own use, but I am also sharing this expense with my business since I have had similar needs in the past. I recently purchased an X2 mini mill and I am already putting that to business use as a manual mill. I plan to CNC it in the near future.

Before I went to work at NASA, I was with Motorola 2-way for 5 years. In that job I did a lot of machining-type work. Tapping, punching, custom metal work for racks, ect. The old man that I worked for was a machinist by trade and he taught me a lot of great skills that I have retained. He passed away last month and ever since I have had the metal working bug re-bite, so I am trying to tool up to do more of this work for hobby/business.

[fizzissist]

The old man that I worked for was a machinist by trade and he taught me a lot of great skills that I have retained.

Did he teach you to buy cheap tools?

My dad taught me that a cheap tool is never a bargain.

You'll find that out the first time you break off a cheap tap in an expensive part, or the first time you go to re-thread something with a cheap die and ruin it.

I love going to Harbor Freight, in winter, to practice ice driving in their parking lot. Other than that, if it isn't a good quality name brand, I'm not interested.

...reminds me of the story of a co-worker who bought a hammer there...the head literally crumbled about a week after he bought it. Good quality Chinese steel!