TOPIC:

So a buddy of mine gave me a bunch of new taps that are kind of different looking. Was wondering if anyone has ever used one and if they liked it. They are Besly and Vega brand mainly.

Machine taps.
Nothing new.
Designed initially for automated mass production to tap holes without having to back off every couple of turns or so to clear the swarf chips.

So, machine taps - like for use in mills, lathes etc?

Can they be used by hand?

Yep we use them all the time on CNC machines. The helix serves to draw the shavings back out of the hole. Really helps when tapping blind holes on the machine. Traditional hand taps push the shavings down the hole and can lead to tap breakage if enough accumulates.

You can use those taps by hand, but they are bottom taps and wont start as easily as normal hand taps.

Are you threading new holes or just chasing out existing threads?

Usually just chasing out existing ones. Most of the time I'm doing it in aluminum too. At the current moment I'm not tapping anything....my buddy works at a machine shop and apparently the box of 30 or so random taps he gave me where going to get thrown out or something...not sure. Either way free tools for me!

Are those brands good ones? They got to be better than my harbor freight POS set, right?

Spiral flute taps, they bring the chips up like a drill would. Designed for production taping in blind holes. Best used with rigid cnc taping.

Les

Anything is better than HF unless they are dull or cracked - should be OK for chasing though.