Drill America 3/8-16 UNC High Speed Steel Tap Set

These are great 2-56 taps. Im using them in aluminum. A little tap magic and going slow is all you need.

Item not as described and pictured, TWICE! First order received was in a small damaged plastic flip lid box with 3 compartments but only a single PLUG tap. Requested replacement. Received second shipment in 2 days to Amazons credit but again it was wrong! This time i received a similar 3 compartment plastic flip top box with an identical label on it that contained 3 IDENTICAL spiral point taps none of which should have been included in this set!!! Attempted a second replacement request only to have system tell me that amazon could not accept my request at this time!! This is not rocket science. 1 SET of taps as pictured and described = PLUG TAP, BOTTOM TAP, TAPER TAP. There is a reason for each of these taps and thats why i was ordering this item. Can we get it right folks? Clearly whoever is packaging these items doesnt have a clue what the difference is. If you are confused, look at the pictures posted in the listing and compare the items with those pictures.

These tap are marked HSS and seem to be well made. Im threading in Bakelite so they should last awhile.

All three styles of taps are included in this purchase.

I needed 1/4-28 taps to refresh threads for stainless steel hardware on my boat. The hardware used 1/4-28 set screws to hold pieces of railing together. The box I received indicated 1/4-28 taps. After re-tapping the holes, I found that the set screws would no longer go in all the way. Then I checked the taps themselves. All 3 were 1/4-20 taps, not 1/4-28. Horrors, after I had already used them.

Great for the money.

The cheap sets you get at mass retailers are okay, but theres no substitute for having a taper tap, a regular tap, and a bottoming tap all in the same size for some jobs, and the cheap sets you see usually only have regular taps. I still use my cheap taps, but when Im, working on something special like a steam engine kit, I order up one of these sets in each size Im going to need.

One of the taps (the bottoming tap) fell out of the box some time before it got put into the bubble-bag for shipping. If I had _really_ needed the bottom tap I would have raised an issue with the seller but the other two taps did the job for me (it was a through-hole that I ended up using in both cases). Perhaps they could make sure that all of the tap boxes are taped before shipping.... NOTE: You do NOT have to send me a replacement tap!!! This is the first time in my life that Ive needed a 4-48 tap. (for storage spots for the little flat & ball-ended tips of a dial indicator and a little electronic height gauge)

I used this set to tap threads into a 1 deep hole that bottomed out in a piece of stainless steel. Used all three taps starting with the taper and ending with the bottom tap. All three cut through the hard stainless steel with relative ease and achieved smooth threads all the way to the very end of the hole. So far have done just the one hole and taps look pristine and ready for more. The plastic case they come in is also handy for storage.

havent used them much but they work as expected and have not broken yet.