Which tap and die set should I get from Amazon?

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Given the frequency by which I have to unbork threads or drill and tap **** I think I need this.

Opinionasauruses please.

 

Don't buy the cheap ones. Shitty taps/dies aka Harbor Freight aka damn near anything from China will fail almost immediately. Tap two holes and they're shot. That sounds dirty.

 

And your recommendation is?

BTW where in VA do you live and what's going on with your car now?

 

The Irwin's are nice. I picked up a set of Cobalt's from Lowe's and they have worked out well. Been away from the car a little. It's running very well with the exception of the WI that keeps blowing fuses... Been working on other projects, trying to design my super garage, etc. Really want to get the garage built to make my 45 year old frame enjoy the process a bit more. Getting too damn old to be crawling on the concrete floor under jackstands. New garage will be 1600-2000 SF, 16 foot ceiling, two lifts, room for lots of drill presses and milling machines! Also room for the next few car projects that will include a beetle, 80's 911, and a old Mercedes diesel not necessarily in that order. I'm down in Tidewater.

 

Definitely worth spending the money on a nice set.

Even craftsman sets are good quality if your on a budget.

 

Stay away from cheap taps. They're often softer than the material you're trying to tap threads into, and either won't work, or will take so much effort to make them work you won't want to use them. The cheap sets come with cheap handles too that strip out.

Best tap set I've used was an older one from MAC.

 

One thing I've recently learned about is the wide variety of thread types.

BSP MSP threads per inch etc...

I guess that machine shops have 300 piece tap sets???

 

I bought a cheap set from HF and a bunch of the pieces weren't even labeled right It went back a couple days later. Thankfully their return policy is 2nd to none!

Instead I've been buying Irwin as I need them, which actually hasn't been that often, even on my rustbucket.

 

I have a set of HF tap & dies... works perfectly fine when I need it. I guess I'm lucky I don't f up my stuff when removing or screwing them back in.

 

intro thread right meow!


As far as tap and die sets, once apon a time when i work for Yamaha. They supplied us with a huge snap on set, it seemed to be of good quality and I never had a problem with them snaping or anthing of that matter...

 

Since I was dragged in here by a moronic noob...

Most shops pic one set and stick to it. As in SAE or metric. Or both. I know the company I used to work for lost an order because we couldn't make a metric version of this:


At my shop, we had probably around 200 sizes, after you include metric, pipe, SAE, and any other forms. Some are ordered in bulk, some only one or two at a time. After a certain size threads are cut on a lathe.

Try a thread file before anything, they can clean up OD threads surprisingly well.

 

Hmm well I borked the threads in my valve cover. That is what is called straight thread metric right?

 

Yes. You need an M6x1.xx I forget what the thread count is. Bring the bolt to a hardware store or ask someone here. That is a VERY good tap to have, get a decent quality one. Along with the valve cover, 99% of the small bolts are that size. From dash components, water pump pulley, oil pan, oil pump pick up, rear main seal, hood release, bumper, engine guard, etc, etc, they're all that size.

 

M6x1 apparently