Gaaah! I hate bad threading taps!

[svenakela]

I broke a tap tonight. Tough ****, now I have to get the crap out.
Then, I broke another one! Double tough ****...

I HATE BAD THREADING TAPS!

Ahh.. Feels so much better now.

[paulC]

Hard luck.
Being a bit of a novice. How exactly do you remove a broken tap.
I have heard using edm is best, but not every one has access to one of these.
Paul

[mxtras]

Anything smaller than about 5MM is a real pain to remove with any other method other than burning it out (EDM).

Larger than 6MM - I have always had success breaking it out with a small punch and patience. If it's buried, you are likely screwed (pun intended) without an EDM.

Tap extractors are available, but I have never really had enough success with them to warrant their cost.

Scott

[klysons]

Edm?

[SORCHEROR]

believe it or not,i usually can carbide them out with patience,i hold the quill down on the stop and dial up the knee thou or two at a time with a steady blast of air on it,lifting the quill to release the frags,ive removed as small as
4-40 and 6-32 this way,but i have a large selection of cutters,i have edm also but faster for me to carbide it out,the really small ones i have a buddy do it in his hole popper,when carbiding them out air blast is key,when carbide gets hot it breaks easy
steve

[SORCHEROR]

klysons,

edm=electrical discharge machine
just fyi

[svenakela]

If I'm lucky I can turn it out with a thin tong, but usually it's punch'n'pick that works. Like mxtras says, patience = time consuming = irritating.

[SORCHEROR]

your from sweden,nice,i have family there,my father is swedish and mother is danish,i was born and raised in usa in new york

[svenakela]

I got some pieces out, but the wholes are deeper than needed so in the and I punched the crap down in the bottom. Now it's threaded as it should be.

Yep, I'm Swedish. Been a lot in Denmark too, good surfing.

[davereagan]

Best not to break them. Spiral point if through hole, spiral flute if blind hole. Tap Magic with EP really works well in steel and aluminum. Their heavier formula worls well on 316 SS and 4140 HT. Most taps I've broken were from using a poor flood coolant instead of Tap Magic or other tapping oil. The other reasons are small taps which have a larger percentage of diameter being cut. 6-32 taps are easy to break using the #36 drill the chart recommends. Having said that, I am way too good at endmilling out broken taps on my CNC mill with a centercutting carbide endmill. I use incredibly slow feedrates. Example: 3/8"-16 tap broken because I wanted to save 20 seconds and not oil the tap. An hour later, I have it out. 5/16" carbide endmill. .000020" feed per tooth. That's right, 20 millionths!!! 2 tenths of one tenth!!!! At 1000 rpm, with tap magic in there to flush out the grit, your' traveling at a blistering .080" per minute. Compared to all my other ideas, this is hauling ass. That means I can cover a half inch in six minutes. At the end of the 6 minutes, it feels like you've dug the Erie Canal. Have fun. I am impressed with the steady hand the guy must have to do this on a Bridgeport without breaking endmills.

Dave

[SORCHEROR]

the trick is not to just feed it down,you do and cutter break,the quill is against the stop,i retract it to clear chips ,with one hand i keep pressure on the quill and the other i dail up the knee .001 thou at a time,the cnc is much better for this as the spindle is solid and it wont mess up on the process,when i lift the quill to clear chips i dont dial up the knee unturn the quill is back against the stop,i would use the cnc,but it is usually running 7 days aweek on production,i hate to inturupt the cash register so to speak
steve