Making a Tap Question???

[TomG]

(06-24-2012, 04:19 PM)TomG Wrote: Any suggestions on how best to cut the flutes with a positive rake? I was thinking about using an endmill to make the initial cuts and then swapping to a small ball endmill since that's all I got. Would three flutes be better than four for wood or will that matter much?

Thanks for the replies!

Depending on how small your ball end mill is, you might need more than four flutes for a 1" tap. I would make one flute complete and then see how many would fit around the circumference of the tap. To get positive rake, all you need to do is shift the side of your end mill past center a bit when you cut the flutes.

Here's pic of a tap I made for my Steven's project. It has four flutes, but then it's only a #12. It also has neutral rake.

Tom