The Trick to Tapping on a Bridgeport without a Tapping Head

Don Bailey demonstrates a method to tap on a Bridgeport without a tapping head that will help avoid breaking the tap. Visit our web store www.subtool.com

[@paulaitchison4912]

As a fellow toolmaker nothing wakes up your senses faster than tapping in high gear accidentally.

[@1935Ron1]

Don, my dad taught me to power tap in the Bridgeport that exact same way, I feel funny say this but probably close to 50 years ago. I just turned 63, and I sure do miss him, he was my go to guy for everything especially around the shop,thanks for all your videos.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Thank you for watching.

[@Dyna78]

I'd just like to add one more thing to this, if I may...before starting the tap, make sure the quill stop is down far enough to allow the tap to come down into the part. If you do run out of quill travel after you've started tapping (due to the stop being set too high, or for any other reason), ideally the tap will slip, but if it doesn't it will either pull your part up/out of the vise or the tap will break, or possibly both.

[@mer58lin]

Thank you Sir, I've tapped that way on Bridgeports,a Marena,and my own Index 40H and South Bend Model 60. With the High School Shop machinery being put out to pasture not near enough kids know to look for what you offer here on your channel. I'll make sure the grandson knows to watch! Thanks.

[@lumpygasinavacuum8449]

Don I will buy something from your company. Not sure what yet but it is my way of saying thanks for you taking the time to put out the videos.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

James Hertzog Thank You for the kind words James.

[@rescobar8572]

The Don of Don's! Thank you Señor Don!

[@danfarris135]

I tap 2mm through holes in 6mm thick O-1 and 4148 steel all the time on my Bridgeport without a tapping head. I use good cobalt TiAln or just Tin coated 2 or 3 flute spiral taps and Tap Majic oil. Works great and I never leave them loose. Oddly enough I worry more about larger taps. I still keep the tap tight in the chuck or collet depending on the job. I leave the drive belt real loose to create slip if I think I will need it. But this method only works on step pulley heads.

[@CleaveMountaineering]

Great tip, I never thought to purposefully let it slip. I frequently (for a home shop hobbyist) tap in the drill press, usually cranking the belt by hand forward and reverse. Occasionally I'll flip the switch on and off real fast then hand crank back out, but there's real risk of bottoming the tap in the hole and snapping the tap....

[@DontWatchProductions]

Wow! I had to watch this video out of curiosity. My buddy used that soap trick on wood screws. I had a job back in the mid 80s, and I used that same tapping technique. I'd tap hundred of holes so I needed a fast way of doing it. Never thought of trying a 2 fluted bit though.

[@buddylineman]

Hey Don. Thanks for the tip on tapping, I have an old Tree milling machine and I am always having to tap holes on things that I am working on. All my taps are 4 flute so I will have to find some 2 flute and try that. Also the soap on the threads is something my grandfather showed me when I was a little boy and I have never for got that. I have just started watching your videos and I am learning a lot. Thanks for doing them and I am sure I will have a lot of questions. Buddy

[@jaketank3217]

Thanks.

[@johannesvanhoek9080]

Once again ,,Thank you sir !

[@freon500]

Thank you Don all this great information is a godsend, it is very helpful with my work and my projects.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

You are very welcome

[@pc7082]

Very cool. Thank you ! I am learning everytime I watch these videos.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Great, thank you for watching.

[@michaeljechon6139]

Letting the tap in the Jacobs chuck mimic a floating collet. Neat trick!

[@creamshop]

i put an AC drive on my Wells Index, i can tap at 5 rpm if i wish too and reverse the rotation at will with the switch of a button, works great

[@CalvinEdmonson]

We called it power tapping. Works well with larger taps. Anything smaller than 10-32 and I use a small finger twist tap holder that slides on a pin.

[@lilo2469]

Don your so smooth 👍

[@fazerville]

Nice tip and interesting to share. I would like to suggest that this may not work in a key-less chuck (such as Vertex) where the tap would start to automatically tighten up rather than continue to slip. So be sure to use a keyed chuck as mentioned here. Also consider a spiral point or better still a spiral flute tap. Also take care not to scar the shank of the tap when it slips inside of the jaws.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Thank you for sharing, it is appreciated; and thanks again for watching!

[@ransomwright5784]

Way to go brother.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Thank you!

[@Irgndwos]

Don, thank you for sharing your tips and tricks. I have learned much on this channel. But I'm not sure, if i'm going to use that one. It can't be good for the drill chuck, if a tap or a drill slips under pressure...

[@SuburbanToolInc]

You are welcome

[@Jworonow]

What was the tapping speed?

[@gutpileman]

I use this technique often

[@SertEngineering]

Thanks for tips

[@Mikeishere1st]

For cast iron, aluminum and LCS I'm not so timid, I skip the chuck and put em' in tight in a collet. Lined up perfect with a machine going into a lubed hole, if the tap is sharp it just isn't going to break. (Assuming the luxury that no one else is using your taps so you're sure the one you're using isn't cracked but then even a slipping chuck might not save you from busting a cracked one...)

[@ChimeraActual]

The soap trick also works when you want to put a wood screw into oak or similar hardwoods, after predrilling of course. My Dad showed me that when I was a child, and he said that he had learned it from his Dad. I wonder how far back it goes.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Me too! It's always crazy to hear what's been passed down through generations.

[@kellysampson5984]

Hi Don, Great tapping lesson on the bridgeport.Thanks a bunch!!!!!! When you used the lube to tap your 1/4 20 thread,you said thats sticky stuff. Just wondering have you ever used a Lubricant from Perkins Products called PERDRAW 2722-X for tapping? If not give it a try. It works great and a little goes a long way!!!!!!!!!! Yes it is also VERY VERY Sticky Thanks again for all the vedeo's you and your team give us M.K.S.

[@jmh8743]

err, good channel.

[@bigbob1699]

High quality HSS 2 flute gun taps is money well spent

[@Eggsr2bcrushed]

If you do a lot of work like this on a Bridgeport I would recommend foot pedals for forward and reverse.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Not a bad recommendation!

[@petem6291]

Hey Don , My father use to soap wood screws before he drove them in , this was years before the screw gun was invented . he would also drag his fingers across a dry bar of soap before he did certain jobs . this way after the job he would wash his hands and there would be no grease/dirt under his finger nails also long before any man worth his salt wore gloves ..today were I work every body wears gloves ..

[@Copesthetic-Aesthetic]

Biggest thing to take away is the tap selection. More flutes the tap has the weaker it gets. 4 flute taps are dicy in application under 1/2" Also use a 60 degree center drill, or spot drill, it's the same as tap, and should start easier, and leave alot less burr. I never let them slip. In fact, I try and find a tap specific collet instead of chuck to hold the tap.

[@TheMetalButcher]

Hi Don. Good video. Have you ever used a spiral flute tap, and are they better for machine tapping?

[@SuburbanToolInc]

justfakeit888 Yes. I have, and I highly recommend them

[@TheMetalButcher]

Interesting. The general consensus I saw on various internet forums is that they break to easily except for blind angled holes.

[@lemoncide]

justfakeit888 I know a bunch of knife makers who use them in a hand drill to tap 2-56 or smaller.

[@markrichardson239]

justfakeit888 Spirals are nice. But, I don't try to prove anything with them. I am a master of removing broken taps. That pretty much means I don't have to do it very much anymore. I, Like Don... kinda lean to the best quality plug or taper taps in the 2 flute. More sectional density that way. I have absolutely nothing to prove. I am just lazy by nature. Try a 000 thread sometime in alloy steel. You will appreciate it... Mark

[@Mikeishere1st]

+justfakeit888 - I use them for blind holes in cast iron to help get the chips and powder out. Good for bronze too. ( DoAll )

[@harviecz]

Maybe you can reuse slip clutch from old broken cordless drill. That way you'll be even able to set the amount of slipping.

[@freebird1ification]

i never liked letting anything slip in my chuck cause of the wear it causes in the jaws ir i didnt use a taphead i would put it in neutral and grab the chuck with my hand and turn it while letting the quil down with my other hand and always liked using molly d for the lube always hated the smaller taps like 10-32 and smaller even on alluminum but them was the good old days

[@Nobody-ld7mk]

I leave the belt as loose as it will go to get insure slippage.

[@Bigwingrider1800]

IT SLIPS IT WILL WRECK THE CHUCK JAWS. WE HAVE MANY CHUCKS OUT OF ROUND,OR WILL NOT GO TO "0"

[@Dr.Stein99]

At 5:30 you can skip over the small talk about honey-doo & also how to drill a plain hole into a steel block.

[@normcook9335]

I accidentally stumbled on this method years ago, while using a chuck with worn jaws. My keyless chuck isn't a great options for some tapping.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Thanks for watching!

[@frankstaff5132]

I've done this before without the Jacob's Chuck. I don't trust them to hold a tap firmly enough with all of the force generated during the tapping process.

[@TheTomcory]

Cool..... I taught myself right. Lol

[@Stephen1455]

Ummmm, I think that is center drill?

[@jamiestobbs3945]

+Stephen Hodge The larger diameter of a centre drill does chamfer the outside of the hole though, provided your next drill is not greater than this diameter of course.

[@samterian7694]

why don't you let Glenn do it ? after all you are the boss.

[@markrichardson239]

sam terian Don deserves the glory... without Don, Glen would have to work for Penthouse or just something awful.

[@markrichardson239]

Oh Gee.... I almost went blind on this one. Ok, kid. First: Never... I mean Never Ever allow your jaws to slip on anything you plan to keep. Forget it. Or throw it out. Then, be bold. If it goes, it goes. If it blows, it blows. I learned this tapping 2-1/2" holes on the horizontal boring mill. No guts, no glory. I live tap, hard chucked in series II Bridgeport 5 HP almost daily. Uncountable thousands of holes. Either hard tap, tight as hell in the drill chuck you think you might want to keep for paying work... Second: I bought a set of tap driving sockets from snap-on. I chuck whichever one... and then there is a bit of float. I shove the tap in all the way, take a felt marker, go around it. Then I know the buried length, and can see it. I follow the tap down, and run from it up. On the bigger stuff, like 1-1/2 " pipe, I chuck up a short ratchet extension, find whatever socket fits... pretty much do the same., Don, I am sure you respect the jaws. And by golley... glad I can send some love back. Love your Vids. Mark

[@rickh1106]

for safety sake, why is this man wearing a watch on his wrist and a ring on his left hand,that is a real safety risk to himself. NEVER wear any jewellry while working on power spindle machines.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Thanks for the feedback, I don't spend as much time in the plant as I used to and sometimes forget to remove them.