You can learn to weld. I'll show you exactly what to do in my affordable online welding courses at courses.timwelds.com.

Cunningham's Law states "the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer."

Another thing to consider is tap strength. Four flute taps are notorious for breaking off in the hole. I usually prefer a two flute tap, as it is far stronger. Another tap is the roll form tap. It requires a different drill size, but you can tap some softer materials, and they are hard to break.

Excellent. This is the first time I've seen the spiral flute and spiral point taps used for hand tapping. I'm sold already. I have large set of straight flute taps and now I want the others too.

Just what I needed! Thanks Tim.... And thanks to the people who pointed this out.

Good points Tim!! As a retired machinist I truly believe in buying the best tools you can afford. In my opinion OSG and EMUGE make the best taps and using a quality tapping fluid will help a lot. Tapping metal is a skill and you have to get a "feel" for it especially in the smaller thread sizes. I enjoy your videos and keep up the great content!

I started watching your channel to get some beginner welding tips but continued watching because you share a huge amount of useful information in a very accessible manner. I appreciate your channel and your attitude. Thank you so much for making these videos.

Now I know why I was never able to cut threads I was happy with in blind hopes using standard taps. Years ago I just gave up and resorted to always using my lathe to cut threads (which necessarily limits what I could cut)l but after watching the first half of your video I went out to the shed, looked through my random bits bin, found one of those spiral fluted taps, and cut a perfect set of threads on the first try (then did it again with a drill press). Threaded holes aren’t something I make often as most of my use cases call for permanent connections, but this video has still probably saved me a score of hours every year no longer having to rig up some ridiculous jig to hold a part in place on the lathe. Thanks.

Awesome !!! I will definitely benefit from knowing that info. I have always had some basic knowledge about tapping threads, but now I feel like I know enough to really do it right. SO COOL!!!! Thank you so much for your time. I am learning welding and even other stuff which will make my fabrication and projects shine!

I'm really keen on buying my first welder and I've now gone back over lots of your videos I've really enjoyed watching them and just wanted to say thanks, they're great and really informative

Your videos are the best. Your clear and concise presentation is very much appreciated.

While I have a few older straight taps still in my box, the majority of my tapping is done with machine taps or spiral taps. For thin metal I use drill-taps which incorporate a drill bit, a spiral tap and a deburr in one tool. Regardless of what style of tap you use, the most important thing is to use the right cutting fluid for the metal you are tapping.

When you switch from plug tap to the bottoming spiral tap for a blind hole use a compressed air gun/blower to clear the chips from the hole. I also like using air to clean chips from my taps between holes as it cleans and cools simultaneously. Great video. I've found the quality and wear off the tap in use to be very significant in how they perform. Covering thread percentage on a drill/tap chart may help some viewers. I generally shoot for 70-75% depending on the material I'm working with and the depth of hole.

Thanks for the video on this. I’ve been doing a bunch more tapping lately, and it can be super satisfying, but also really frustrating. I’m definitely going to pick up a set, or two of the spiral taps,

Having broken a few taps in my days as a machinist, I prefer spiral point taps even for blind holes when I'm hand tapping. They have the strongest profile of any cut tap and are way less prone to breakage than spiral flute taps. Yes, they cause the chips to bunch up in the bottom of the hole, but if you stop before they are totally impacted, they can be picked or blown out. The little extra time it takes is a lot less than breaking a tap would cost.

Thanks, I recently started considering getting a tap and die set and this was very helpful.

Excellent! I always enjoy learning more in depth. Very informative video. Thanks.

I was tought about threading holes two times. First lesson happened 40 years ago and second today.

Another great video and I learned a few things about tapping holes. Thanks for the excellent content! 👍

Thanks for the demonstration.

Wow . . . did not know this Tim . . . as a former auto tech, I found the info helpful and intriguing . . . thank you!

Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely look into some taps like those

I have been switching over to the YG-1 brand spiral flute taps with a hardslick coating and love them. I typically chamfer the hole before starting and just use the spiral bottoming tap.

Very cool video ......... never knew that there was so many types of tapers out there. Cheers Tim

i use a cordless drill with a regular straight flute plug tap for aluminum all the time

First time watching one of your videos. I'm a cnc machinist and use some pretty crazy taps everyday, I used a $150 M6 tap yesterday. This was a great video very informative. Another type of tap is roll form, they are meant for cnc machines as the hole size is more critical and they are harder to start by hand but if you have a very deep hole to tap they can be worth it as they don't make chips at all.

I have a standard set and never knew there were that many choices in styles. Thanks for the video.

We always had high speed steel spiral fluted taps in the machine shop. They’re awesome. Unfortunately it’s just far too expensive to buy a high quality tap set like this for home use, in my opinion.

Hi , I've been using the what you call the spiral point tap for most of my life and I'm 69 , I'm a Fitter & Turner and we call it a Gun Tap they are Awesome as was your demo , it was nice to see someone explain the difference's

Thanks ! Never to old to learn ! Straight Ahead ! ✌😎

Thanks Tim for sharing these new tap designs. I always dreaded tapping.

Thank you for this interesting video and demonstration!

Great advice, thanks for the video.

very good and usefull information Tim, thank for share, best regards from Venezuela

Another great video, Tim!

Thanks for the lesson 🙏👍

Very good information. Thanks

I have moved exclusively over to tap or gun taps and spiral flute taps for all but the smallest sizes. Pretty much anything larger than a #6-32 or 3mm I am using them. Also those gun taps work really well in a mill for power tapping.

AGAIN you have shown this old man a MUCH BETTER WAY! THANK YOU!

This was an education...thanks Tim

Didnt know these exested, thank you for sharing, have a blessed day América

wanted to mention, at an old machinist shop i found an old can of Tap Magic for aluminum and thought it was odd as I had never seen it before. I grabbed it but didn't think it would make much of a difference. After tapping 100+ holes in Al for some parts I was making, it makes a BIG difference and could not have finished the project without it.

Brilliant work as always. Unless you’ve gotten solid training from a real live machinist you are always a bit sketchy about tapping threads. Thanks to you, I have a much better grasp of this whole voodoo/juju subject and can proceed with less abject terror!

In Reference to tapping as an apprentice toolmaker [58 years ago] one of the Russian tradesmen took a bet and won that he could ; with a 1/2 R.H. W.W. tap cut a 1/2 L.H.W.W. . thread . That feat that I witnessed has always stuck in my head . If anyone out there wants to try and work it out I would be pleased to see your KZfaq Video. Cheers from Down under in Australia .

Thanx, I like you have never had good luck at tapping holes, I once broke a 1/4 X 20 tap backing it out of brass.

Very good video, thank you.

Wow that explains it perfectly!

Tim, good info thanks.

Excellent information.

Nice job Tim

Holy tapping, batman! Tim is right! BUY A SPIRAL-TIP TAP NOW! I ordered one in 1/4-20. my most used size, and used it today. What's wrong with this tap? There's no resistance at all--did I break it? Did I tighten the tap handle? Nope. It just slides through like I was tapping butter, instead of 1/4" thick mild steel! Thanks, man!

Whoa. Much appreciated!

Great info - Thanks 😊‼️

You saved me hours of hand tapping on a project! Thank you

perfect, thanks for this

Spiral taps are relative new for the home market, and drills that combine a tap so that it drills the correct hole are brilliant.

I have an assortment of 2-flute spiral taps now and rarely use my standard taps I've had since the 1970s. Just picked some roll forming taps and will be trying them. They work great for tapping soft materials and even wood. Standard taps were designed a 100 years ago for making threads in steel. Just a tip on using taps in a three jaw drill chuck: the shanks of taps are harder than drill bits and will tend to slip in the hardened chuck jaws. Another tip is to use a drill press with a tap follower for getting the taps lined up with the work. Glad to see you used a tap guide block plus tapping fluid.

I have 2 set of taps but only one had the die's with them. They're decent enough but I never realised the difference between the spiral flute =, etc. I think I'm going to invest in a small set to see how they work for me. Thanks for the heads up Tim mate..

Great video idea

Like the idea of using spiral taps for hand tapping although expensive to change over now and mine do need to last a lifetime.

Great educational video

I worked in a tool store for a mining workshop & the fitters always referred to the taps as a Taper, Intermediate & Plug. Maybe we’re different in Oz. Great video mate & well explained. 👍🏼😎

Blue Wizard tri wing is the only tap I use in my cordless drill. Fast and easy and lasts a long time with Cool Cut cutting oil.

Wait, are you just a chill non-judgy guy that likes to make stuff and share interesting things?! Two thumbs ups man, I dig it.

Wow, I never knew there were different type of taps. I dont do a lot of threading, but if I have to buy a new size of Tap, I know what type it will be now. Thanks!

Another tap type is a thread forming tap or roll tap. This type of tab does not make chips, so you don't have to worry about chip evacuation. The drill you use is a different size and the tap displaces the metal to form the threads. The threads are very strong because the tap work hardens them as they are formed.

Awesome information that i never knew and I do tap lot thanks :)

Damn Tim!! Thanks for sharing this 🙌 💯. The taps are super cool, but the Gator Tools Tap/Drill guide is very nice and I think I need one. Like yesterday 🤣👍!! Great episode.

Thanks for the tip. Taps are way more complicated than I realized.

I like that spiral flute tap. It just looks cool. Like if metal parts had nightmares this tap would be the content

Can also try using Moly-D cutting oil by far the best I have tried for tapping any material.

Something that I did not know until recently: Around these parts, if you go to a good hardware store and buy a good quality tap you get a pack of 3. Duplicates right? There is a trick. If you look at them closely you will notice that they are all different, the taper and the depth of teeth are different. You are supposed to use them in sequence when threading hard material.

Is there a similar variety for dyes? Love to see videos on that.

Those are quite impressive to use like that in a hand drill! I thought, those'll bind and the clutch kick in, but nope, straight through!

Very good observations. That said I rarely tap, so my cheap-ass Chinese pot metal set of taps and dyes that I got from Amazon for less than the price of a packet of cigarettes has seen me right. I use them incredibly carefully, and with oil, and they are spot on. I think good tapping tools are really the preserve of people doing it professionally and repeatedly.

Adding cutting fluid to the drilling and tapping operations will assist the cutting and increase the life of the tools. Also put a chamfer on the top and bottom of the hole to remove burrs with a countersink cutter. This will allow a lead-in for the tap and later for the screw. Buy quality taps to reduce the chance of breakage, it’s worth the expense.

I learned something new today. Now should I stop at 1 thing or keep looking for more answers?

Thanks so much for this explanation of the different taps. I too have found the plug taps to be frustratingly slow. I would like to know if the spiral tip or spiral flute taps will work on stainless steel as well , as I've found that the plug taps don't work for that.

Consider Form taps. I love them. been testing different moly products , but then tried AnchorLube. This was even better for less force needed to make thread. consider which materials you are working on. I'm a form tap person now as starting GOTO. for 3/8"-24 I go back to a cut tap from practice. No chips for form tap.

Tip if you have NO TAP for the thread you need cut: If you have an extra bolt in the same size of what you need tapped, you can cut some flutes in that extra bolt with a Dremel or other rotary tool. This saved me from having to puchase an alternator bracket. When will I learn just how to tighten only to "goodentite"‽

I would like to try the spiral flute (gold coloured) tap in aluminium, as I think its self cleaning properties would be a great advantage in that situation.

Bravo Tim for coming out with this follow up video. There is so much misinformation out there about so many things (Like quenching a part in water or oil after tempering!) that many people can’t separate out the truth from the fiction, particularly after some well known people with KZfaq channels repeat that incorrect information. Tapping is included here. One person was using the terrible Anchor Lube for tapping cast iron, which is an absolute no no. Unfortunately, Anchor Lube is also a KZfaq phenomenon that it seems all KZfaqrs have copied. It’s ok for some things, but not others, tapping included, which is why I’m mentioning it here.

I bought one titanium coated M10 spiral flute and i absolutelly love it.. instead of shoveling 3 taps and breaking chips like an i-diot, now ican screw it into hole, then break it and pull out few looong strings... and i am done :)

Nice video. Now try forming taps which don't produce any chips at all because the displace the material rather than cutting it. I love them, though they're not for every situation and certainly not for hand tapping

Good info

Machinist of 40 years he is completely correct One word of caution if your using a spiral flute tap DO NOT reverse the tap to break chips only turn left to remove the tap all of the way out of the hole. Or else they clog the hole.

My man's a genius, used the internet for good. Thanks for the knowledge now I can stop calling people who use taps in drills crazy.

Years ago as a toolmaker when doing blind hole tapping by hand I would start with a plug tap and use some cutting oil and some Ivory soap shavings to fill the holes the soap would cause the chips to come up out of the hole then go to the bottoming tap to cut the rest of the threads to the required depth. In the sixties there was a small company in the Detroit area that actually sold a soap like plug in various tap drill sizes for use in blind hole tapping we had them when I started to work at a Valentine Metals shop in late 1968 their cutter body shop used them in all the blind holes in the cutter bodies when that company went out of business Valenite attempted to duplicate the formula. Like I mentioned Ivory and cutting oil works. Use lard for tapping cast iron

What brand was your tap set? It looks like a very good brand that I use.

There are actually drill bits that have a tap at the top for drilling then the hole is the right size for the tap

How about a video on tapping small holes like 4-40 3-56 etc. Such as in gunsmithing...

I wonder what would happen if you use that down angle tap on blind hole. Would you stil need straight flute or spiral flute tap to do that?

I see you’re using a tap handle…and you taught me a lot today as you always do

Best advice I ever got when it comes to taps and dies is NEVER buy a kit of them. They all suck! I buy this stuff as I need them. This way I buy high quality USA made taps that don't bite you in the ass later. Expect to pay 20bucks for a high quality 1/2" tap for example. Now that a few years have gone by, I've collected pretty much what I need and didn't feel a thing buying them either.

Dood 100% I use the black ones with a cutting edge in a drill in stainless they are the best !

Why didn't you use any cuting oil just asking?

Nailed it

I made this leap a few weeks ago. The only drawback is that the import set of taps and dies I used for a decade cost about 50 $ but each spiral flute tap costs more like 15 $.

I'm lucky to find any taps locally anyway, this stuff comes online only anymore.

Horses for courses All trained engineers know 1st 2nd and plug Posh taps spiral or roll are mainly for cnc or special occasion like a whistle and flute