I also have a Tapmatic reversing tapping tool. This is a marvelous tool. You lower the tap into the pilot hole and it slowly taps the threads. You release it and it reverses direction backing out of the hole. For most tapping operations it is a joy to use. I have only tapped relatively thin aluminum and sometimes fairly thick Delrin where it is elegant. It has a 1/2" shaft which fits in the 5/8" drill chuck and works just fine. There is supposedly an MT3 arbor that accepts a 1/2" shaft and likely is held in place by a nut or lock screw.
I have just put the 1/2" shaft in the drill chuck until now, but using an arbor reduces the vertical clearance required and may have better concentricity. Am I imagining such an adapter? I am not finding it on Amazon.
Mr. Cramer,
ReplyDeleteCheck places like Travers, Littlemachineshop.com, MSC, McMaster-Carr. Also, I can't say when drill presses make the jump to the next size of taper, but it could be Morse 2. Worth double checking.
Thinking about it a little more, you might be able to remove the shaft from the Tapmatic and find the arbor with a taper/diameter that will fit in the Tapmatic. Another option would be to buy an arbor blank and drill/bore to fit the Tapmatic and secure with loctite or a set screw. I know from experience littlemachineshop has the blank arbors. Be careful, they are surface hardened.
ReplyDeleteLike this?
ReplyDeletehttps://smithy.com/products/mt3-end-mill-adapter-1-2
Yes.
Delete