Tapping Ti 5-40

[Andy]

My challenge is to tap 5-40 Blind holes approx .25 deep. Hole can be drilled extra deep. Material It 6AL-4V. Lathe job.

I've done them in the past painstakingly one at a time in lathe by hand. Tried different recommended taps. Found I had to resharpen taps by hand frequently to have any chance at all. Looking into thread forming taps.

Any experience out there with small taps in Ti?

Thanks,

Andy

[lovell110]

Andy,

I don't have much experience in Ti but I have had great sucess in using form taps in 304,316,17PH,4140,4340,D2 etc...

I prefer form taps when I have to do the small stuff.

Just my 2

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Andy,

Have you tried using Emuge taps? Click on Emuge and it will take you right to a page that will help you select a tap based on material, hardness, through or blind hole, etc...In my experience, Emuge has provided the best performance tapping in Titanium. They are not cheap but should do an excellent job.

Hope this helps,

[ 08-10-2001: Message edited by: James Meyette ]

[Guest]

James - Great recommendation for the Emuge. Their recommendation will be for a tap with an optimized helix angle for Ti - Rekord D-Ti. The only problem may be delivery issues as some of the obscure sizes are stocked in Europe. Just give them a call and they will give the best customer support over the phone (Seems a popular trait amoung companies based in the NorthEast USA...) The other thing to remember is how the tap is held. Emuge has IMHO (and in my professional experience) the best tension and compression tappers available (they may even be the mfg source for tapmatic?? Only speculate though.)

Good to see you are back James - how was the time off?

Andrew out

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Andrew,

I had to drill and tap a bunch of 0-80 BLIND holes. Everything else sent me to the "burn-out" machine (a.k.a. EDM Drill). I tried, about 4-5 different tap mfrs, maybe I'd get 3 holes before DOH!!!!!!

Vacation was great. We were in the mountains of Southern California. Very relaxing and it was great spending lots of time with my family.

Thanks for asking,

Hope things are well with you.

[Trevor Bailey]

James,

Big BEar is a great place. I go every Sept with the family for a softball tournament there.

Did you get a chance to ride some of the Mountain Bike trails? They are great. Just be sure to wear a helmet. The downhill runs are awesome!!!!

Trevor

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Trevor,

I was going to go to Snow Summit and take a few runs on their MTB trails but my oldest son wanted to go as well and he's not ready for that so I refrained. Maybe next vacation he'll be ready. Hopefully. They sure looked fun. I heard on a tour that the record for the Top-Bottom decent is 60 seconds !!!!!! That's quite impressive! I figured it would take me at least 62 or 63 seconds. Just kidding.

Later,

[toolmann]

HELLO ANDREW, I HOPE YOU RECEIVED MY EMAIL IN REGARDS TO YOUR PROBLEM. I HOPE I WAS OF HELP, REMEMBER THAT WHEN CUTTING ANY MATERIAL, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE LUBRICANT YOU USE, IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE CUTTING TOOL YOU USE ALSO. DON'T FORGET NOT TO HEAT UP THE MATERIAL.

[Guest]

TOOLMAN - I Can almost hear the keys being hammered when you type in CAPS. LOL

But seriously - any tapping compound used in this instance must be applied to the HOLE and not on the cutting edges of the tap to give the benefit of lubricity and cooling to the entire thread length and not just the first few turns. I might also suggest some sort of injector for the lubricant applications. This wouldn't apply here (5-40 kind of small) but the coolant thru taps are a god send!

[Andy]

Thank you all,

I am ordering a few taps from Emuge and will try and see.

Also, the part does not get hot and has plenty of tap fluid.

Am tapping by hand in the manual lathe with tailstock support. Veeeery slowly.

Thanks all,

Andy