Tapping fluids

[Doc Highwall]

Whenever I drill and tap for a hole in my Bridgeport I have the table X and Y locked and then put a spring loaded center in the chuck to hold the tap wrench. Sometimes this requires me to lower the table, but I set the Z axis so I can return and finish machining.

[Cactus Farmer]

*Here is the page on the Enco site that shows the #6 to 5/8" tapping machine I have. It has cut my tap breakage to nearly zero and has paid for itself many times over. If you have a lot of tapping to do it is worth buying it when they put it on sale as they do periodically. I can't praise it enough.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?P...MITEM=893-1275

I can't get the link to work....but I too, have a hand tapper from the "Chinese Tool Store". I got it off the closeout table for
$5.00. They said it was missing some parts. I didn't find anything missing.....
I used it just yesterday to replace a 1911 grip bushing with an oversized one.........the owner gorilla thinks the grip screws need to lugnut tight, and the grips need to be removed to clean it. I love my job!!!!

I use a Castrol product that comes in a grease tube,very waxy. Black sulfur is my go to lube for most things,I just love the smell!

[alrighty]

When I first started out in a job shop "tap magic" worked as well as anything.We had to buy our own , but it was worth it.Then sometime in the late 80's perhaps early 90's the gooberment decided that tap magic was unsafe.The new formula while still good wasn't what it once was.
I have used about everything and have found what works well for me.A product called "drilling and tapping fluid" catchy name eh?It is marketed by Union Butterfield and is about $10.00 for a 16 ounce squeeze bottle.It is clear , thick ,and messy but it works decent on everything.Makes a good finish on aluminum and lasts longer than most when drilling tough materials like D2.Due to the maple syrup viscosity it is not much waste.I can lay a bead on the cutters of a tap before I start and never have to add more.
Now the bad , it is not the best for drilling large holes.I prefer a wax type like the castrol stick wax for that or a soluble lube.Also the Union Butterfield will cause some carbon steels to rust if not cleaned properly.It isn't bad but you must remember to clean your vise and parallels when you are finished.It will not rust overnight but it does need to be mentioned especially for small shop owners and gunsmiths.People who might run a mill today but not use it again for a week or so.This fluid isn't the best on anything but it works good on everything and is very economical.A 16 ounce bottle will last a very long time.
http://toolnsupply.com/products/3848...ng-fluids.aspx

[W.R.Buchanan]

I use WD-40 almost exclusively for aluminum. For steels and stainless I use Citgo 130 which is the same machining oil I use in my Lathes. When I fill the oil cup I usually add some Rapid Tap which makes it smell better.

If I have something that is really critical and I can't FU then I use some black looking snot I have had for many years. I think it was Moly Dee originally. 4 oz has lasted for 25 years so you can see I don't use it much.

I just tapped 1000+ holes in aluminum a month or so ago. I used a roll tap for the whole show and with roll taps I like more lubricity so I used the oil from the lathes. I tapped over 1000 holes with a used tap! And it is still good.

With aluminum any thing slippery will work. The older now Outlawed Tapping fluids all had 111 triclorethane in them and that stuff actully attacks the surface tension of the metal and makes it easier for the tool to impinge on it. Great stuff, no longer available. It was always cool when you put the regular apple/cinnimon flavored Rapid Tap on aluminum and it started to burn the aluminum. Loved the smell.

Randy

[max range]

I recently finish reamed two M-1 Garands and I used Ridgid pipe treading oil which worked superbly. It is available a very reasonable price for a quart at your local chain store, home center.

[Flinchrock]

Mobilmet 426 is a very good general purpose cutting/tapping oil.



"It's good for aluminum, brass screw stocks, general machining of nickel, tin, bronze alloys,and free machining steels.
For severe cutting operations of nonferrous alloys including silicon copper, silicon bronze, and copper nickel.

Since Mobilemet 426 is formulated as a dual or tri purpose cutting oil for automatic screw machines, it may be used a cutting oil, a lubricating oil, and in moderate duty hydraulic systems and airline oilers, it does not contain active sulfur and is chlorine free"

Its a transparent oil that doesn't scum up your machinery and cleans up easily.

I started using this a while back as a much less expensive replacement for A9.
I do a lot of form tapping of deep, blind, holes in aluminum (deep enough to need a 1/2" deep .257 counterbore), using an R5 tapmatic with a special made tap holder. I run the machine at 700 rpm.

A9 runs about 12-13 dollars/qt, 426 is about 18 dollars a gallon from McMaster. I have been quite pleased with it overall.

I put this in here because the thread sorta drifted from substitutes to recommendations.

edit: I seems like I have bought this from Encos hot deals flyer for 11.00/gal, but I haven't seen it there lately.

[Casting Timmy]

I like to use the tapping fluids, but in a pinch will use other liquids that are available. If I'm tapping where the tapping fluid can't stay put very well I will use some bullet lube on the tap. Typically this is a situation where you are tapping horizontally or upside down on something you can't move.

I think 2 and 3 flute taps leave a lot more room for chips than the 4 flute taps. I do like to use spiral flute taps when tapping blind hole in aluminum. On really hard materials or deep holes I will drill the hole size larger, Machinery's Handbook has suggested hole sizes as compared to the diameter/depth of the hole. Actually I will also drill the holes oversize a little for quick and easy tapping for when the tapped holes aren't really needing to hold anything with any strength, how much holding power do you need for a plastic lens to be held onto the steel plate?

[Ragnarok]

My machinest had to come over to my shop to do some work....he sent me to town for some 'Tap-Magic'..and was succesful on a rather ugly heavy-duty diesel engine tapping job...

I really do think the machinest's success was more a matter of skill than the tapping fluid...however Tap Magic was what he insisted on...and it was easy enough to find.

[shotman4]

the atf is as good as any But use the Type F its a bit thicker and dont run off and it also is made for higher heat. If you want it thinner hit with Kroil
We use the type F in place of the pipe cutting oil as its not as messy

[theperfessor]

A story I once heard about an unusual tapping fluid goes like this:

During WWII the new plastic canopies and window pieces were proving to be difficult to drill and tap. The plastic would flex away from the tool and then rub and overheat drills and gum up taps. The tapping fluids in use for metal just didn't work very well. In frustration a drill press operator who had just come back from lunch threw the remainders of a carton of buttermilk he was drinking on the part being tapped. It worked wonderfully, the butterfat content was the perfect lubricant.
Lunchroom supplies of buttermilk were confiscated and hauled to the shop floor...

Don't know if this story is true or not but I have tried butter as a tapping fluid for plastic and on some of the softer grades it works pretty well.

[smokeywolf]

I really like the story perfessor, and it is absolutely believable.

I've used soluble and have used pink lotion hand soap mixed 50-50 with water for drilling and tapping poly-carbonate and acrylic. Both worked pretty well.

Like you, other than express or thread forming taps, I use spiral point 2 and 3 flute taps for through holes and for blind holes, mostly use helical flute taps.

Nightmare job: tapping a couple of hundred 6-32 blind holes in Hastelloy C.

smokeywolf

[Willbird]

If I ever use up the quart of "do drill" I got from Brownells I will come back to this thread and see what the latest and greatest is . The "do-drill" is just your average black sulfur cutting oil I think...same as the hardware store uses in their pipe threading machine ??

Bill