Air tap ratchet

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I tap a LOT of NPT holes by hand. For smaller taps I have a Tapmatic that works like magic. But these 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 NPT taps take some muscle.The other day we started bouncing ideas... the air ratchet was discussed as a possibility. Today I modified it. It's not perfect but it will certainly save me a ton of time.I ordered some Lisle tap sockets today that will retain the tap better.I could have (or should have) made the entire part but I figured it could be modified faster. Picture 1: Disassemble the ratchet and pull out the selector switch, this will be modified to go into a standard tap wrench guide. Ideally, the guide would have been longer but I already had the guide.Picture 2: Face the switch flat.Picture 3: Chamfer a piece of 3/4 bar stock.Picture 4: Bring the two parts together to be welded.Picture 5: Weld the two parts together. Attached Images
Reply:Picture 6: Turn down the weld.Picture 7:  Flip the part around and take the diameter down to 5/8" to mate with the tap guide.Picture 8: Test fit of guide.Picture 9: I flipped the part again and turned the entire body down and knurled the body. Picture 10: Re-assemble the ratchet. This photo shows the open section for the switch pin. Attached Images
Reply:This is a video of the tap ratchet in action:http://home.lewiscounty.com/~forhire/tap_ratchet.wmv
Reply:Dude that is slick!!!!!!!  Now the boss can't yell at ya for spending time for building it.Lincoln 300 Vantage 2008300 Commander 1999SA250 1999SA200 1968Miller Syncrowave 200XMT350MPA/S-52E/xr-15Xtreme 12vs Millermatic 251 w/30A  Millermatic 251 Dialarc 250 Hypertherm 1250 GEKA & Bantom Ironwokers
Reply:I couldn't figure out why you were modifying that side of the ratchet until I saw the video. Looks good. My only thought is if that's 1/4", that ratchet may bog down with the bigger 1/2" or 3/4" taps..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:ForHire, when I worked at the local boat factory as a deck rigger we has a pnuematic tap gun that had a reversing clutch that would reverse the tap and screw it out if you released the trigger, and pulled against it and retriggered it.  When we were drawing our stage tools from the tool room we would ask for a tap gun and thats what they would give us.  The nose was set up for a standard tap square drive and had a locking collar like an air fitting to retain the tap.  So exactly what you want is available, just cant remember what the name on it was.  Look around on the net and I am sure you will find it pretty easy.BobI'm spending my Kids inheritance, I dont like him that much anyway!!!!!!Enuff tools to do the job, enough sense to use em.Anybody got a spare set of kidneys?  Trade?
Reply:Originally Posted by Xtreme FabricationDude that is slick!!!!!!!  Now the boss can't yell at ya for spending time for building it.
Reply:Sweet, let us know what you end up doing.
Reply:Quick question, maybe a stupid one but oh well...   What if you put the tap in the mill and run the speed down super slow on the mill and go in and power down and reverse it back out?Please dont mistake my enthusiasm for talent!
Reply:If the tap binds, the air ratchet will probably stall out.  The mill probably won't stall and OH SNAP. You then cuss loudly and try to figure out if you can get the remaining pieces of the tap out of the hole.Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:Forhire:I like you  modification to the 3/8 air ratchet. I will have to check that out closer (read that as consider doing it myself). Nice work.I have a 1/2inch Milwaukee electric drill with variable speed that I have had for about 20 years that I use for doing serious tap work. I've done up to 5/8 no problem. Never tried it with 3/4 but I suspect that it will do it. I always use the side handle with it because if not it will give you severe wrist sprain when it tries to flip you over.I tapped literally thousands of holes. We used to make our own 19 inch equipment racks which are tapped to 10/32 so I got real used to using the Milwaukee as a tap gun. The big trick in all of it is to drill the hole to 75% of the tap size. Any more and the threads strip, any less and the tap breaks.Cheers.Sign on East Texas payphone: Calls to God 40 cents......it's a local call...
Reply:I like it,nothing more tedious than tapping a bunch of holes,screw in a little,back out a little,back in a little more,ETC..............Maxus Pro-125 MigChicago Electric 90 amp DC flux-coreLincoln Electric AC 225 tombstoneO/A torchM/O mini-torch10 acres of flatland15 acres of holler
Reply:Originally Posted by Pontiac FreakQuick question, maybe a stupid one but oh well...   What if you put the tap in the mill and run the speed down super slow on the mill and go in and power down and reverse it back out?
Reply:Here are the results tapping aluminum today. Tapped 39 1/8 NPT holes, worked perfectly. Very fast. Tapped a 3/8 NPT hole with good results, no lag. The 3/4 NPT hole required some muscle to keep the ratchet going. I'll be tapping more 3/8" NPT and 3/4" NPT tomorrow so well see. I looks like the 3/4 will require a larger ratchet. Still better than the wrench.
Reply:We had a big ole radial arm drill press at work that had a tap feature.  No clutch, but we just used an old drill chuck.  With the hard jaws and hard tap it would usually slip if things got bound up.  Anyways, the drill ran in reverse until you pressed the "tap" button.  When you released the button the drill would reverse again and back the tap out.  We did many 5/8"-1" holes and it was slick.  Wish I had it at home.  Right now I use the air ratchet like you, but handheld and a set of mac sockets.  I think they are the same as the lisle ones.  I do like the irwin ones though and may have to get a set.My name's not Jim....
Reply:Boostinjdm, Sounds like quite the drill press. I've been keeping my eyes open for a large radial arm drill press myself... I'll add a tap feature to my wish list The Lisle sockets work ok. The tap is held in place with an o-ring. I'd prefer they had a small magnet or set screw... the taps fall out now and again. Maybe a thicker o-ring might work. I'm using normal sockets on the large taps until I can figure something else out. I'm about a third done with this job. The tap ratchet is working better than the old way
Reply:That's pretty spif.  Now re-design it from the ground up and patent that bad boy --Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:I've been working on the an alternative for the larger 3/4 NPT tap. The ratchet doesn't have enough power to tap it without assistance. It's still better the the center and wrench method. As an alternative I decided to try thread milling... so I ordered one. In the end it has been a journey to get my controller to pull it off. My cnc controller lacks helical interpolation so as a work around I broke the arcs into lines. I also discovered that the tool diameter compensation (g41) will only work on the xy plane. Argh!  I ended up using absolute coordinates. It took a couple test cuts and the code is long and ugly but it works. Very slick.I uploaded couple of photos. I never imagined my old cnc could pull off thread milling  Attached Images