How to Lap a Hole like a Pro - Tool & Diemaker's Guide

[@aeroearth]

If I may, The basis of lapping is using a soft material which embeds with the lapping compound and that abrades the harder material. I use diamond paste as that being the hardest material known to Mankind, cuts for longer before the lap needs recharging with fresh abrasive. 20 micron, equivalent to ~ 1,000 grit The lapping process generates "swarf" which, as it lies between the lap and the part needs to be frequently washed away. I use WD 40 to do that. The "swarf" appears as a blackness in the WD 40. When the lap produces noticeably less "swarf" and upon expanding the lap does not increase the amount of "swarf", then time to recharge the lap with fresh abrasive. I lap mostly hardened steel and cast iron in my work and use aluminium laps, both male and female. To lap aluminium I make laps out of phenolic material (Micarta, Tufnol) I assume the mild steel stock, cap screwed to the die block is to guide the lap and eliminate bell mouthing of the lapped hole. Measuring a hole size using a gauge pin has limitations. Using a Mitutoyo (and others) Intrimik internal micrometer will tell you the actual size and at different depths of the hole. Horrendously expensive though to cover a range of hole sizes. Little known benefit of lapping is that it will remove any lobing that may be present.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

I appreciate your input. The plate screwed to the frame is a material guide for the die . Thank you for watching the channel.😀

[@Fenderak]

This is what I needed to read

[@nobodynoone2500]

There are several compounds harder than diamond, but the rest of your comment is right on.

[@ced3098]

That a Pratt and Whittney old lap tool , nice video , if you want to avoid taper viscosity of the compound is important , shall be fluid enought to run beteween the lap tool and the bore and also use always two size abrasive size grain , make a first rought cut and go to fine grain size as the finisg will be better and the final dims easier to reach , normally that allow to reach 0.001 mm easy with a bit of skill Anneal red copper is better than brass as that softer and able to keep abrasive on the surface Great video thanks , old tools are still alive

[@ToolanderEngineering]

👍

[@gordon6029]

Dude, watched all your videos. We need more content like this. That said, I’m amazed how you can do such accurate work with so much care one moment and then use a janky drill press the next of sand blast a part with such high tolerances. Kinda makes me smile as I can use my favourite drill press even when I hone in on tight tolerances. Found an Edm sinker system for $1200 not too long ago, didn’t pull the trigger and am now regretting it.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Every machine has its own purpose. Some need to be accurate and some don't as you know. We could use a nicer bead blaster...lol..but it does the job.

[@brl3900]

Nice fit, thanks for showing how it's done.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Your Welcome...Thank you for watching the channel.

[@MannoMax]

What kind of applications do you use a fit that exact in ? I'm in large press tooling (OEM autobody) and we usually don't go beyond your basic ISO fits scale, and those are noticeably higher tolerance than what youre doing. Also, obviously, you don't need lapping for ISO fits, since they are usually either turned/bored or made with a reamer

[@ToolanderEngineering]

That hole is used to locate the material guide on the frame. I could not use a reamer, because the guide had to be set up after heat treat to properly center it .It was cut undersize by one of our wire machines and I didn’t want to put it back in the machine to potentially cut it too large so I just decided to lap it.

[@CarbonKevin]

...had to check which site I was on, great vid!

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.

[@ken481959]

Yeah, there are other websites that could use the same video description...🤐

[@lohikarhu734]

Where does one get this kind of tool? I understand how it works, I guess that one could make a tool like this on a lathe?

[@ToolanderEngineering]

We purchase them at Mcmaster Carr. You can make your own custom lapping tool, but I have never done it.

[@justtim9767]

Nicely done.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

I appreciate it. Thank you for watching.

[@bobmartin6055]

Very helpful!

[@ToolanderEngineering]

I’m glad you found it helpful. Thank you for watching.

[@brianlowder8117]

What is the proper way to lap a blind hole ? - can it be done with similar type laps ? I’m interested in trying to make bullet swaging dies .

[@ToolanderEngineering]

I have no experience lapping a blind hole, but you can purchase lapping tools made specially for this.

[@paulmeynell8866]

How does heat affect things when working to such small Tolerances ?

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Heat is a factor. For example when surface grinding. The hotter the part gets the more the part warps, and the more you have to trim off later. Even the outside temperature can affect this.

[@MgBaggg]

That's a great fit

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Thank you....sometimes you get lucky...lol

[@ianmoone2359]

I definitely shoulda gone to spec savers! Coulda swore the title read “how to lick a hole like a pro!” until after I’d already clicked on it! 😜😂😂😉

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Too funny...lol..you got me laughing.

[@thomcarr7021]

Nice informative video. But needing a hammer to insert the pin would suggest it is undersized.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Dowel pins used for location should be a press fit and would need a hammer. Thank you for watching.

[@WilliamVG]

Link to website doesn't work.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

@WilliamVG toolander.com

[@TheSunshineRequiem]

this appear to be too much of work for mass production, do manufactures just do honing for large quantities?

[@ToolanderEngineering]

I am not familiar with mass production for this type of operation.

[@andrewnelson3714]

Netflix: are you still watching? 1:57

[@geminisduerme5266]

Why wouldnt you just ream the hole? Are u lapping to achieve a better surface finish? ...I've never lapped before that's why I'm asking.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

The material guides had to be mounted and properly set up on the frame after heat treat. The holes were wire cut. However, the holes turned out just slightly undersize so they could have been rewire cut, but I was afraid that they would be made too large so I decided to lap the holes. I didn’t need a better surface finish. The surface finish was quite irrelevant for what I was doing.

[@geminisduerme5266]

@@ToolanderEngineering ah ok that makes sense! Very cool I enjoyed watching ur process

[@ToolanderEngineering]

@@geminisduerme5266 👍 thank you for watching

[@peteroleary9447]

Lapping is usually done to enlarge a hole in hardened steel -- a reamer won't work for that.

[@ken481959]

This is the equivalent of precision grinding, only for the inside. Check out some videos on that subject as well. Dumore makes/made tool post grinders for such work, and they are still needed today for such things as precision grinding a bearing race after installation on a crankshaft pinion.

[@lryng]

Wher I can buy this lap tool?

[@ToolanderEngineering]

We purchase them at McMaster Carr

[@klazzera]

i need to call her..

[@lephtovermeet]

Seeing as to how you said you'll answer ALL of my questions, how can I fix my marriage?

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Flowers and date night every week.

[@michaelallen1432]

You gotta lap the hole like a pro. Just like the title says.

[@lephtovermeet]

@@michaelallen1432 pretty solid advice NGL

[@ToolanderEngineering]

@@michaelallen1432lol

[@SolarMillUSA]

@@michaelallen1432 this had me howling

[@TaylorTheOtter]

So many jokes I shouldn't make...

[@ToolanderEngineering]

Go for it don’t hold back…lol

[@michaelsohocki1573]

but....what is a LAP???

[@ToolanderEngineering]

It’s basically just a tool used for opening up a hole a very small amount. It can be also used to create a very polished surface finish.

[@geraldf.1222]

And, there might be an ABRASIVE PASTE involved.

[@machinemaker2248]

Once around the track, or back and forth in the swimming pool.

[@louf7178]

Just browsing...isn't this reaming?

[@ToolanderEngineering]

They’re kind of similar, but no, this is not reaming

[@louf7178]

Found explanations consistent with your answer: Lapping: abrasive used. Reaming: tool makes the cut.

[@highlandermachineworks5795]

"Lapping is not made to take off alot of material"😂😂😂 I disagree.... If I don't grease the pins on my backhoe, they'll self lap out lots of material. Trust me. And it happens faster then you think.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

how much is a lot ?

[@highlandermachineworks5795]

@ToolanderEngineering Well, I'd say .050 in 20 hours. Dirt in those pivot points is terrible. Especially when you're working in sandy soil. Lucky for me I'm gonna make new pins and bushings. So it'll save me thousands of dollars. Besides its shop time. And I love shop time.

[@ToolanderEngineering]

@@highlandermachineworks5795 .050 in 20 hours, that’s quite a bit. Lapping .050 in hardened tool steel would sure take a long time and a lot of effort. Thanks for watching.

[@dsfs17987]

@@ToolanderEngineering just few days ago had to open up a 25.95mm so a 26.00 pin passes through, it was a repair job, RC60 and interrupted cut (grease port), 50mm depth through hole, so it was pretty impossible to bore out to size, hardmilling was out of price range, reamer too expensive, so a quick aluminum piece was turned, total length maybe 60mm, first 1/3 of the length was 25.6 tapering up to 26.00 (the taper will wear, ended up tapering from 1/3 to 2/3 up the total length when the job was done), rest cylindrical, used angle grinder with a cutoff wheel to create "flutes" for abrasive, then the coarsest diamond I could find in my drawer, it was as much as lapping as drilling, as all it needed was a straight round hole for the 26mm pin so - yes, you can remove a lot of material quickly, 5-10min to make the aluminum "lap" and another 20min to "drill" using diamond, afair 40 micron, and don't use paste, that is pretty much tumbling action only, use thinner oil to wash out swarf, preferably some suspended diamond/carbide to aid the action and it will try to grab when the work piece and taper start to match, so care needs to be taken, don't tighten the chuck that holds the reamer too much so it slips once it grabs, punch/tap it out when it does grab and restart

[@ToolanderEngineering]

I’ve never actually made my own lap. It’s something I should learn. Thanks for sharing.