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Posted: 12/8/2004 3:09:09 PM EDT
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am I ever pissed, I was threading the rear trunnion of my AMD kit and all is going well untill SNAP! broken tap its too deep to grab with pliers, and I've tried moving it with a scribe to no avail any ideas? |
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I have a broken tap removal tool made by Walton Company P.O. Box 330815 West Harford, CT 06133. It is a "#10 (5mm) 4-flute tap extractor", 10104, 054808101041. Walton Company tap extractors I broke a 10-32NF tap in the rear trunnion. It worked for me. |
how much did that thing cost? where did you get it? |
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The size of the tap and the type of metal it is stuck in make a big difference in all of this. Mostly, I take a punch and hammer and just knock the heck out of it until it comes out, and then run a new tap in. How to prevent this in the future: clean your tap between every hole. Use tap magic, cool tool, or some good lube. Go slow. Now power tapping. If you feel a click or snap, stop and back it out. If it sticks, back it out. Reverse the tap at least every full turn to clean and break the removed material. Use a good tap handle, keep it tight. A tap has a limited life. They just fail. Being able to feel the point when they will fail is an art, not a science. Use the correct tap drill. Check and double check. Chamfer or at least de-burr the holes before tapping. Use high quality taps, double, triple, quad flutes, etc, application specific to the material you are tapping. Do it right or have a pro do it for you. I would add that a tap breaks most often by an obstruction in the flutes, quite often the obstruction is a chipped tooth of said tap. Clean, high pressure air, well lighted and magnified inspection may set you free......... |
They are made to be harder than the metal you are tapping. Murphy (Murphy"s Law) is what makes them shatter for no reason. Tap enough holes, a tap will shatter on you at the worst possible and most expensive time. |
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If all else fails, a diamond burr in a Dremel will get it out eventually. Just cut the core out of it and the flutes will fall out on their own, practically. Try removing a broken tap from a BLIND hole sometime!  Especially if it's broken in a veryexpensive part made on a government contract, and no hole repair devices or methods are allowed under any circumstances! No inserted threads, no helicoils, not even welding up and remachining! It's......fun. CJ |
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the technique I was using had me make a 1/2 rotation then back it out one quarter, cut 1/2, back 1/4 and so forth I was using tap oil, and a good handle as well. I did hear it click once, and then I guess that was the warning I should have heeded. and this was the first hole the tap went down into. oh yeah, and as far as blind holes go, thats all you my man, I'll leave that to the masochists of the world |
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