What are folks using to tap bobbins?

[kevinT]

I'd be interested in hearing what you're using. I'm thinking I could make life easier if I did this rather then just screwing in the polepieces. I'm sure the covers would align better.

[Spence]

I tap 'em with one of these. I don't think it does anything but the pickup fairies at the bottom of the garden insist on it..........

[the great waldo]

Hi Spence

Looks like the fairies have nicked your thumbnails.

Cheers
Andrew

I tap 'em with one of these. I don't think it does anything but the pickup fairies at the bottom of the garden insist on it..........

[David Schwab]

Hi Spence

Looks like the fairies have nicked your thumbnails.

Cheers
Andrew

I see his thumbnails.

I just lube the screws with a little soap or wax and screw them in. That's an old wood workers trick.

[Spence]

I see his thumbnails.

I just lube the screws with a little soap or wax and screw them in. That's an old wood workers trick.

Now if Pinocchio had listened to his father Geppetto, ( another old wood worker ), he wouldn't have got all those splinters while leafing through Vanity Fair.

[kevinT]

I was actually thinking about these taps. Will the garden fairies do a jig for us?

[JGundry]

Search Dremel Driver. It is not made anymore but is perfect for driving in pole screws without tapping.

[David Schwab]

Will the garden fairies do a jig for us?

The fae are bad news. If you see them, run away!

[jason lollar]

I use something called a sensitive drill press that they made back in the 30's 40's and 50's - youll see one on ebay once in a while. I have three of them. you can get the modern equivalent here
TAPMATIC #90X TAPPING ATTACHMENT w/ 3MT SHANK - eBay (item 130401489329 end time Jun-24-10 16:46:22 PDT)

but the old machines are a stand alone unit the size of a small drill press and they are wonderfull, press dowen than the tap turns, release pressure and it stops immediately, pull the tap back outr and the direction reverses. Makes quick work of tapping hundreds of bucker bobbins and P-90's. I never paid more than $250 for one- thats machine, motor and stand

[David Schwab]

I have a tapping attachment that mounts in a drill press and then you turn it by hand. The drill press keeps it nice and straight.

[Bruce Johnson]

The device that Jason is talking about is called a tapping head in the world of machinery. If you have a lot of holes to tap, that's the way to go. It's essentially a small planetary transmission and clutch unit that mounts to a drill press, in place of the usual drill chuck. There are also special drill presses that have tapping heads built into them. With a tapping head, it typically takes 1-2 seconds to tap a hole in metal or plastic.

Here's how it works: The head has three modes, forward, neutral and reverse. It normally runs in neutral, and will automatically change into forward or reverse based on the pressure applied to the tap. When you pull down on the drill press handle, pushing the tap down against the workpiece, the head goes into forward, driving the tap down into the hole cutting threads all the way. When you reach the bottom of the hole, you let up on the handle and the head kicks into reverse almost instantly, and the tap spins back up out of the hole. Reverse is actually twice the speed of forward. Once out of the hole, the head shifts back into neutral, ready for the next one. It's a little scary the first time you try it, because it all happens so fast. Surprisingly enough, you're generally less likely to break the tap using a tapping head, than you are when tapping by hand.

Note: You need to use a Spiral Point Tap (also called a Gun Tap) in a tapping head, not a common Hand Tap. The Spiral Point Tap is ground in a special way at the tip to cause the cut shaving to curl and push out ahead of the tap, so that it can be driven into the hole in a continuous motion. A Hand Tap is made to be turned by hand in an interrupted motion; forward one or two turns, back off a half turn, etc.

Tapping heads are available in different sizes and types. Procunier and Tapmatic are the two best known brands, but there are others. New, they cost $500-$1000, but used ones are available on ebay for cheap. I paid $35 for a nice small German made one that works fine. The one I use most often is a Procunier #1 head attached to one of the small import tabletop drill presses. I paid $125 for the head and drill press together. I've power tapped thousands of 10-32 holes in brass parts with that machine. It's a huge timesaver.

There are different ways that tapping heads can mount to a drill press. Some heads are equipped with a straight spindle shank, which you clamp in the drill chuck as if it were a drill bit. Others have a Morse Taper shank (MT1, MT2, or MT3), which fits directly into the spindle of the drill press, in place of the drill chuck. Some heads hang freely, with an anti-rotation bar that rides against the drill press column. Others are made to clamp right to the drill press head casting. You have use some care in selecting a tapping head to fit the drill press that you have.

For pickup size threads (2-56 to 10-32), you want a small tapping head. The No.0 and No.1 size heads are usually made for threads up to 1/4". Jason was being funny linking to that Tapmatic #90X head......That head is made for threads from 1/2" up to 1 1/8" (yes, that's diameter!) and requires several horsepower to drive it.

[David Schwab]

That tapping head looks real handy. I think I'm going to pick one up.

[salvarsan]

ENCO's tapping heads (Tapmatic,Procunier) start around $400.
SHARS has some tapping heads for ~$190.
These look about the right size for pickup bobbins.

https://shars.com/product_categories...h=tapping+head

-drh

[jason lollar]

heres a photo of one of my tapping machines- I bought two at around $250 each- the tapmatic would have been almost as much so I just bought two stand alones.
Bruces decription is excellent- its so fast and clean you wont believe it.

[Bruce Johnson]

That's a sweet old machine, Jason. That's a 1940's vintage (?) Sensitive Tapping Machine. It's a specialized variant of a drill press made for delicate tapping. You could probably power tap #0-80 threads with it. Note that it's all friction drive.

Attached are some pictures of my tapping heads. The first shot (crowded in among a bunch of other machines!) is the small import drill press fitted with the Procunier No.1 tapping head. This is the style of tapping head that has an MT1 input shaft and the housing clamps directly to the spindle of the drill press. It'll handle up to 1/4" taps. I've used it for tapping as small as 4-40 with no problems. I normally keep it set up with a 10-32 tap for all of my truss rod parts and brass neck bars. As I said, I bought the whole machine as it is for $125 on ebay, and picked it up locally. The Procunier head alone costs about $600 new.

The second picture is the MBI brand (German) tapping head that I bought on ebay for $35. This is the size and type of tapping head that most of you would want for occasional power tapping use in your existing drill press. Note the straight spindle shank and the anti-rotation bar. In the third picture, I quickly stuck the MBI head in one of my other drill presses so you can see how it's used. The spindle gets chucked in the drill press chuck, the bar rides against the drill press column, and it's ready to use.