Houghen vs BDS mag drills for tapping threads?

[Ingenuity]

I have to drill a bunch of small diameter holes to 1/2" thick carbon steel plate and then tap threads to 1/2"-13. 4 holes per plate, and more than 20 plates.

The holes are not the problem, but I don't feel like manually tapping the holes.

I have two Houghen mag drills but neither have tapping capabilities so looking to purchase a new annular cutter with tapping capabilities.

Looking at one of two choices:

Houghen HMD2MT:



or:

BDS MAB 485:



Both of the above are #2 Morse Tapers drills. The BDS may have a better pedigree and probably more $ but I have been very pleased with my Houghen's to date.

Any one have an opinion on the above for tapping threads?

[jpump5]

Seems like tapping threads at 250 rpm might require some
close attention and quick reactions.

[TJS]

Here in the states for what you pay for one of them you can find a used Bpt. Mill. With that you can set up some vice stops and be done in an hour. Just saying. I know we all have limitations on shop space.

[tapwelder]

will you be in the hole, if you purchase a mag drill to tap 80 holes? cordless clutched drill works well.

[farmersammm]

I, personally, don't really like a Morse Taper. I've had the evil experience of stalling a bit, then pulling out to restart, and there sits the bit and arbor, pretty as ya please, still in the hole. There's a reason they use R8 tool holding.

IIRC, my Houghen has a positive restraint arbor, so there's no problem with stuff working loose on retraction.

[farmersammm]

It's a sad sad thing when ya pull out, and leave it behind

[Larrysmachine]

I run a Milwaukee 4210-1 when I am in the field, it does a good job, I think the mag drill list for $1700-1800 that I am using. Check with your local machine shop, If that job walked in my door I would run it for $20.00 a plate, with my Louisiana math that would be $400 for your project. A lot less than a good mag drill, unless you are looking at putting a new tool in the shop, nothing wrong with that either.

Larry

[E T]

I, personally, don't really like a Morse Taper. I've had the evil experience of stalling a bit, then pulling out to restart, and there sits the bit and arbor, pretty as ya please, still in the hole.

Was that with a belt driven or gear driven spindle? With my belt driven drill press i've never had the arbor come out when the bit stalls. the spindle justt stalls with it and the belt slips.
Switch of, reverse the bit out and start over. If your arbor comes out it might be due to damaged/dirty/rusty taper.

[farmersammm]

Was that with a belt driven or gear driven spindle? With my belt driven drill press i've never had the arbor come out when the bit stalls. the spindle justt stalls with it and the belt slips.
Switch of, reverse the bit out and start over. If your arbor comes out it might be due to damaged/dirty/rusty taper.

It's a belt driven spindle.

The bit stalls, the belts slip. But the bit still has enough bite in the metal so that you can't just lift the quill without pulling the arbor out sometimes. I've found that I can shut the drill off, then manually turn the chuck, and reverse it out of the hole. PITA.

It's an old HF bench model drill. 16spd. I bought it originally when I was building the loader. I needed to widen the eyes on the cylinder rods, and used it to drill the holes out when I added a couple of inches on either side of the original eye. The little drill just about had a heart attack trying to drill 1" holes I never had a good setup until I bought my mill many years later, and could use annular cutters, or a boring head. HELL...………..I was still cutting holes with 6011 rod back then (you can use that stuff like a torch ya know)

If you look close, you can see how I widened the eyes...……..same pic that was in the "new forks" thread.

I had no idea that I could have bought some DOM in a larger size for this...……...so I welded a piece of round solid stock to one side, used the eye as a guide,, drilled thru it, then added the other piece of round stock, and drilled back the other direction using what I had previously drilled as a guide for that operation. WOW what a chore 1' hole, MT2 arbor, 3/4hp drill press

The drill still works good. Has a squeaky bearing if the belts are too tight, but still drills fine. Nowdays, it never sees a bit larger than 1/2"

[farmersammm]

Back then, all I had was an old AC buzzbox, power pole, and a little plywood top table. Built the crane when it all became too heavy to move by hand

20yrs ago I was younger. I wouldn't even attempt some of the silly stuff I did back than.











Hell, I didn't even have a digital camera back in those days...……..let alone a computer

[idacal]

thats only 80 holes I would buy a couple of spiral point good taps and jig it so the tap runs strait and use an impact gun shouldn't be more than a minute a hole. but if I had a decent drill press I would get one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/TAPMATIC-70...ty!83709!US!-1

[FlaJoe]

It's a sad sad thing when ya pull out, and leave it behind

That's what happens when you put too much lube on your spindle.

[Ingenuity]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

I may go the impact-wrench tap route: Anyone used SPEEDTAPS?



The TapMatic is nice. Thanks idacal. I notice that Houghen have a TapMatic attachment for some of their mag drill models, just not my models. Grrr!

[M J D]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

I may go the impact-wrench tap route: Anyone used SPEEDTAPS?



The TapMatic is nice. Thanks idacal. I notice that Houghen have a TapMatic attachment for some of their mag drill models, just not my models. Grrr!

That looks like a pretty good way to go. The thickness your tapping may be an issue, anyway worth a try. I would like to hear what results you have.

[tapwelder]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

I may go the impact-wrench tap route: Anyone used SPEEDTAPS?



The TapMatic is nice. Thanks idacal. I notice that Houghen have a TapMatic attachment for some of their mag drill models, just not my models. Grrr!

If interested in a tapping head for your mag drill, then it would be worth contacting hougen and asking why the find sale an adapter for yours. If it is just an arbor issue, then it might be worth contacting a machinist to fab one for a Tapping head. I bought a new in box Tapmatic 50x off eBay for less than 200 buck. Hadn't considered using it on my mag drill.

[gtermini]

Was that with a belt driven or gear driven spindle? With my belt driven drill press i've never had the arbor come out when the bit stalls. the spindle justt stalls with it and the belt slips.
Switch of, reverse the bit out and start over. If your arbor comes out it might be due to damaged/dirty/rusty taper.

I'll second that. You just need a stouter drill press...





Morse taper tap collets are good to have too. They positively drive on the square of the tap

If interested in a tapping head for your mag drill, then it would be worth contacting hougen and asking why the find sale an adapter for yours.

You should be able to get any brand of tapping head set up for a straight 3/4 arbor to use the same as a rotobroach. Many of the heads will have a Jacobs taper for arbor mounting, and can simply be paired with the correct arbor. A standard arbor will be ignorantly long. Don't be afraid to cut it off to a shorter length with a suicide wheel.

I personally see no need for a tapping head. I've tapped thousands of holes with my Milwaukee mag drill by just hitting the reverse switch it like you would on a mill or drill press. The taps were held in the chuck just tight enough so they slip if they bottom out in the hole.

The key factor here will be the taps. DON'T BUY CHEAP ONES!!!!! You need spiral point machine taps. My preference in the machine shop is OSG, but there are many other good brands. You want USA or Western Euro made taps. Mineral lard oil is my standard cutting oil for everything, and works well for tapping too.

[tapwelder]

Perhaps, if a drill has reverse the tapping head would be redundant?

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

[E T]

Perhaps, if a drill has reverse the tapping head would be redundant?

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

Too much inertia in a drill press. Can't stop it quick enough.

[Ingenuity]

...mag drill by just hitting the reverse switch it like you would on a mill or drill press...

Unfortunately, my Houghen HMD505 does not have reserve.

[idacal]

you can also use those 8 point sockets that always came with craftsman tool sets to run taps too
there are taps designed to break the chip without being reversed in through hole tapping so the hole can be threaded in one pass without backing up
its either the spiral point or the spiral flute taps

[Ries]

I have a friend who just tapped a few hundred holes for a blast window for a distillery- he bought a new Metabo cordless tapper for the job- around $400, maybe a bit less if you shop around. Chucks to fit taps, and auto reverse of direction. He says it will do up to 1/2" threads, and it works really well. I would look at one of those.

https://www.metabo.com/us/enus/tools...apping%2Bdrill