Tapmatic Head and IH mill possible?

[Rich05]

I wanted to program in some tapping work, and some blind hole tapping. Has anyone tried this I dont want to use the quil / manual feed. Thanks

[Cruiser]

Yes, it is easy enough when using a self reversing head.

[Rich05]

the feed and retract must be absolutely perfect though correct. i might try it with some wood first. any tips? also if my motor / rpms bogg down at all during tapping then the proper feed will be lost and bad things could happen

[ksanalytical]

Rich,

I've never used a Tapmatic head, but I know IH uses one in-house. I think the critical part of your question is that you'll be tapping blind holes. Those heads are designed to reverse direction (of the tap) when the spindle begins to retract from the hole (without reversing the motor), but I'd give myself a good amount of slop at the bottom.

I'm also assuming you're not talking about rigid tapping. The tapmatic head makes this a non-issue for the most part. Most of the questions about synchronizing Z-movement with spindle revolutions have to do with this since the tap is held firmly like any other tool and the mill drives it in, then reverses the motor and Z axis to bring the tap out. At the very least, you'd need a spindle speed sensor (just an optical sensor that generates one pulse/revolution) in order to perform this type of operation safely.

Floating tap holders may be used with rigid tapping cycles to absorb some of the error in feed rates. Mine has about 0.25" compression and 0.5" extension travels. MariTool sells mine (BT30 ER16 collet chuck).

The floating chuck or tapmatic head can also be used manually by driving the mill to the correct XY location and manually feeding the quill (unlocked) into the hole. The tap will draw itself in and you'll either reverse the quill if you're using the tapmatic head or stop the motor and restart it in reverse.

That's a lot of information from a guy who doesn't know much about this stuff, but I hope it sheds a little light on the possibilities.


Ken

[Rich05]

Tommy at IH uses his tapmatic with quil, maybe he has changed that policy but thats what he told me a while back.

I just remembered something about the retract process when using the tapmatic, I usually reverse pretty dam fast when I get to the bottom of the hole, then i reverse a bit slower as I pull out. I do that that basically to get the the tap to reverse at the right time to avoid the slop, so that would mean possibly a double retract speed. My 50 TC/DC head has a significant amount of travel it needs to go before reversing.

I will calll tapmatic on monday and see what they recccomend.

[Cruiser]

When buying a new tapping head, it comes with all the information needed to calculate the programming necessary for use. It will tap deeper than what you intend so be aware of this as it is going to be governed by the time it takes for the machine to reverse directions, and limited to the over run of the tapping head. Don't try to bump the bottom of the hole, leave an allowance, and if necessary finish with a hand tap to hit bottom if this is a requirement. If you want to test it then use a similar matr'l as you intend to run and use an appropriate lube on the tap to keep it cutting free. There are some excellent lubes available that only require a few drops, but they are expensive, yet worth it !

[BobWarfield]

When buying a new tapping head, it comes with all the information needed to calculate the programming necessary for use. It will tap deeper than what you intend so be aware of this as it is going to be governed by the time it takes for the machine to reverse directions, and limited to the over run of the tapping head. Don't try to bump the bottom of the hole, leave an allowance, and if necessary finish with a hand tap to hit bottom if this is a requirement. If you want to test it then use a similar matr'l as you intend to run and use an appropriate lube on the tap to keep it cutting free. There are some excellent lubes available that only require a few drops, but they are expensive, yet worth it !

+1 on that good advice!

The overrun will kill you in a blind hole. DAMHIK, LOL.

Cheers,

BW

[Cruiser]

I have two tapping heads. The first one I bought for $300+ is a tapmatic but without self reversing. I can't use it in program or manual with my machine. So, I bought another one with reversing and now it fly's. They are great for the purpose as they also have a slip clutch which is supposed to give the force needed to drive the clutch but also slip if the tap binds or bottoms. It may be great with larger taps but with the small ones, stuff is going to happen occasionally and that point must be kept in mind when setting up to use anything.
I suppose I should sell the first unit to someone who can use it in manual mode, And I'll be willing to do a IH BRO a good deal. The square drive would be worth having if for nothing else. Tapmatic Model NSM 4, 1/2" max tap, 3/4" straight shank, two collets, never used. I don't recall if it has the settable clutch, but it does have cushioning to allow for some push pull relief. If interested make an offer and we'll see. has box and papers with it.