I just wanted to say thanks for making your work available and also for co-ordinating a GB! Very generous of you and much appreciated.
That is an awesome tip. Why have I never thought of that?
It's honestly a piece of cake no need for drill press. You'd have to some sought of serious disability not to be able to do this by hand.
I think for most people it's fear of the unknown that stops people from trying something new.
I have indeed done it by hand any number of times - there's always a way to get a better result though! I like the drill press idea as it ensures a perfectly orthogonal tapping, as well as a tidier result
Yes I have also done the drill press - thought of it myself many years ago, also thought it was a great idea at the time but after you actually get to trying it you realise the drill press method is much slower and tedious, as well as you lose the feel of the tap starting to bind up, which is important to not break the tap.
It does come in handy some times when you are having a problem getting a hole started but if you're doing 20 holes it usually much simpler and faster just using the T handle on the tap.
The only tip I would give is use some lubricant (wd40/kerosene/any other light oil type of lube) it makes things go much smoother and easier.
Best of luck.
Agreed, it's fun to do it yourself. I've been tapping hundreds of holes and just once the tap broke. But then you have a serious problem, I wasn't able to get it out.
I use isopropyl alcohol ( isopropanol) as lubricant, it smells so sweet
The way most machine shops remove broken taps is to break or crack the broken tap. You not be able to drill it out, it is too hard. With small taps as you say it is almost impossible without damaging the materiel itself.
I use WD40, and this is a good tip. I drill with a drill press, but tap using a cordless screwdriver set on 3-4lbs torque (I think that's what it means) to it will stop before tightening that up. Buzzforb taught me that one.
But this is never something I enjoy. Not really.
Agreed, it's fun to do it yourself. I've been tapping hundreds of holes and just once the tap broke. But then you have a serious problem, I wasn't able to get it out.
I use isopropyl alcohol ( isopropanol) as lubricant, it smells so sweet
+1 It works a treat on alluminium.
I do the majority of my tapping in a Jet vertical mill (which mainly sees use as a beefy drill press), but I use a spring-loaded lathe center in the chuck. The part to be tapped goes in a vice, or some sort of hold-down, then the spring center in the chuck/head is lowered onto the tap to both put a slight bit of pressure on it and keep it centered. I still turn the tap by hand (t-handle) as normal so I can feel if it's binding, tightening, what have you, but I don't have to worry about it flopping around. This, along with using oil, has always worked for me, never broken a tap.
The same technique would work in a regular drill press if you have one available to you. I just use a relatively cheap live center from MSC (I think roughly $40), it's a little sloppy, but no need to spend hundreds on a precision lathe center just for tapping holes.
Just my 2 cents
The same technique would work in a regular drill press if you have one available to you. I just use a relatively cheap live center from MSC (I think roughly $40), it's a little sloppy, but no need to spend hundreds on a precision lathe center just for tapping holes.
Just my 2 cents
There's a youtube video showing how to do this (probably more than one) - the guy drills/taps four holes in some ridiculously short period of time.
My first time I built the entire chassis from 1/8 inch aluminum, angle aluminum and the heatsinks. Lots of drilling and tapping, had never done it before and all went well. I hated all the aluminum curly chips were everywhere.
I wuss out and use the store chassis now, pre drilled and tapped, so nice.
Russells
I bought enough parts for four channels, I'll get a pair of your boards and if the other boards ever re-appear, I'll get a pair of those as well.
Last edited:
Tapping is quite easy, anyone that has doubts in their mind, don't worry it's easy! Just do it! Another option is to drill the PCB (assuming you're lucky and there are no traces)...
Moving on from tapping...!!!
I'm collecting parts together to build an M2. I already have a B1 buffer but I am wondering - is unity voltage gain is enough for the M2? I should think it's ok right?
Cheers
Moving on from tapping...!!!
I'm collecting parts together to build an M2. I already have a B1 buffer but I am wondering - is unity voltage gain is enough for the M2? I should think it's ok right?
Cheers
Last edited: