Small tap wrench

I've an M2 tap, the size of the end is 2mm across flats. Anybody know where I can get a tap wrench small enough to accept the tap.

I would have thought that a TAP WRENCH was overkill leading to tap breakage etc.

Suggest that the smallest pin chuck that is big enough is a better choice and gives a much better "aim" to ensure squareness.

john

Hi eric

An Eclipse 160 tap wrench will do it. It comes with three collets. The smallest handles 0 to 0.75 mm, the next 0.75 to 1.5mm and the largest 1.5 to 2.5mm

( You will also need a very steady hand!)

Cheers

Norman

Edited By NJH on 14/03/2014 16:27:57

A small toolmaker's clamp will also work as an emergency tap wrench if nothing else is to hand, though it's less than elegant.

A pin vice will do fine but I remember from school using a adjustible round grip (about 4 cm diameter) tap wrench for small taps. I would like to have one but never seen them for sale . Niko.

When you get that small it is worth thinking about making your own tap wrench. Nothing special just a knurled ring the hole through the centre the diameter of the tap, with a shoulder at the top big enough to fit a grubscrew in to tighten against the shaft of the tap (= ignore the square). The ring can be as small as 3/4" and the fact that you don't have much diameter will discourage over stressing the tap and ideally the holder should slip before the tap breaks.

You should also be looking to use something to make sure the tap stays square to the hole. A sprung loaded pointer in the jaws of a pillar drill is idea against the top of the tap: a bigger quality tap should have a female centre for doing this but the small ones have a male end so they need a female pointer, on cheaper taps you may need to use the tap holder to provide the shoulder for the pointer to work against.

I personal use a GHT UPT for tapping and would recommend one to everyone

Jo

Pin vice with a tommy bar.. way to go

George

best ones I have used on ba sizes are clock keys no overkill ian c

I had this problem a few weeks ago with an 8BA tap, I used a piece of terminal block to get me out of trouble. It worked quite well actually. I have a tiny tap wrench now.

John

Edited By John Bromley on 14/03/2014 19:06:04

M2? definitely pin vice, no tommy bar needed.

Neil

Most breakages of small taps occur by misalignment to the hole, try and set up in a guide for the first few turns to ensure that it is at right angles to the hole. I find that the smallest eclipse tap wrench fine. I am in then position that i get to dig out all the broken taps from the castings plus all the broken off screws. Best way is dont break them!

Clive

For all beginners, and others, tap wrenches are a good place to start when you first buy your lathe. Ian S C

Thanks for the link bogstandard. I knew I needed something like a pin vice but couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called.

By the way Jo , what's a GHT UPT ?

George H Thomas Universal Pillar Tool.

I use a simpler solution; an old dremel drill stand (useless for its purpose) with a bush fitted in place of the drill to take a spindle with a small chuck to hold the tap vertical. Since making that I have not broken another 12 BA tap.

Shown here being used to tap 10BA holes in a clock collet:

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 15/03/2014 09:39:44

I have a Black & Decker drill stand that I intend to convert into a tapping tool----some day. Ian S C

If you can hold the item tight, as per in a small bench vise or some such item, then you can use two hands to control one of these pin vises.

http://tinyurl.com/ngzcatg

I use one of these for tapping brass nuts for the models I make, the nuts range in size from 8 BA, 10 BA, 12 BA down to 14 BA.

When using one of these pin vises, I hold the top with the forefinger of the left hand and rotate the pin vise with my fingers and thumb of my right hand. The 12 BA is about the most popular sized square brass nut that I hand make and the 12 BA tap has done thousands of these tiny nuts. The only thing is, I have to watch where I put it down, as if it heads for the floor, then and only then will I have to replace the tap.

By using both hands, the control you have is quite good, you should try it out.

regards  Graham

Edited By Graham Green 3 on 19/03/2014 05:41:57

Here is a link to a tap holder that I found some time ago. It will go down to a very small size. I plan to make one one day.

Les.

Russel, I thought for a moment I was looking at a photo of my bench till I realised there was an owl on the coffee mug and no coffee in it!

Rick

That was on one of it's tidier days. It was also unusual that I had drunk the coffee before it got cold!

Russell.