MAY 2002 / VOLUME 54 / NUMBER 5

❿ BY BILL KENNEDY, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR cover story

A look at recent advances in tap technology. What’s on Tap? Emuge

orkpiece material char- thread flank is very high. The tap has to Hill said the major variable in creating acteristics. design. contain or dispose of the chip it gener- material-specific taps is the geometry W capabili- ates while producing a thread to precise of the cutting edges. Specifically, their ties. . As with any finish size. It’s a severe environment.” rake angle and amount of hook. metalcutting operation, these basic Tap manufacturers address multiple Rake is the inclination of the cutting process elements must be considered aspects of that environment in an on- edge, and hook is its degree of radius when tapping a thread. going effort to boost productivity. or curve (Figure 1). For tough-to-ma- But Dan Gajdosik, engineering man- chine materials, rake angles and hook ager for tapmaker Besly Products Material-Specific are generally lower, to strengthen the Corp., South Beloit, Ill., said tapping The machinability of the cutting edge and counter the high is, in many respects, the “most diffi- material is probably the key determi- torque needed to cut the threads. In cult of all ” operations. nant of tapping performance. Vernon hard materials, too much hook or rake “The chip load per tooth on a tap is Hill, design engineer for The Hanson- can cause a tap to break. Furthermore, much higher than most cutting ,” Whitney Co., Windsor, Conn., said Hill said, “if you have too much hook, he explained. “The tap is almost buried tapmakers are focusing on developing it can grab and tear the threads.” in the workpiece, and contact along the tools for specific workpiece materials. On the other hand, long-chipping materials require a steeper rake angle and hook, which curl and break the chip. The more acute angles result in a weaker cutting edge. Another material-dependent geomet- ric factor is the relief angle, or the clear- ance between the tap’s flute and the ’s wall. Harder materials require more relief to reduce friction and per- Illustrations: Allen Benjamin mit coolant to reach the cutting edge. Figure 1: Rake is the inclination of the cutting edge, and hook is its degree of radius But larger relief angles offer less of a or curve. self-centering capability as the tap en- ters the hole. In soft materials, too much relief can result in oversize threads. Harder and tougher materials may require full ec- centric relief, which begins at the cut- ting edge. Con-eccentric relief, appro- priate with less-difficult-to-machine materials, features an unrelieved mar- gin behind the cutting edge followed Figure 2: Harder, tougher materials may require taps with full eccentric relief to reduce by an angle of relief (Figure 2). friction. Taps for less-difficult-to-machine can employ con-eccentric relief. Spiral-flute taps designed to thread blind holes in tough-to-machine mate- of the machine tool,” he said. carbide taps are beginning to thread rials have lower flute helix angles, to With smaller taps, the spindle speed more holes. improve structural strength. For exam- required to achieve the desired surface Carbide, traditionally, had problems ple, Hanson-Whitney’s ULTI-XT spi- speed [rpm = (sfm ✕ 3.82)/tap diameter] handling the high chip loads of tapping ral-flute taps for tougher 400-series may be beyond the spindle’s rpm ca- because the material, while very hard, stainless steels feature 15¡ flutes, while pacity. On the other hand, attaining is also more brittle than HSS. Even so, the company’s ULTI-XT 300 taps for high speeds with larger taps may re- carbide taps are proven performers in 300-series stainless have 41¡ flutes quire greater tapping torque and horse- materials such as cast iron and alu- (Figures 3a, 3b). power than the machine can provide. minum, where the main failure mecha- In addition, taps for tough-to-ma- “Where we might achieve 250 sfm nism is wear. chine materials often have a shorter with a 700-psi through-coolant tool, a Amy Haywood, general manager of thread length. This reduces the amount machine without through-coolant Allen Benjamin Inc., Tempe, Ariz., of torque required in the cut. Materials might only be capable of 150 sfm,” said: “Automotive manufacturers use with elastic memory, such as titanium, Shepherd said. “A tap, unlike most carbide for the longevity, because call for tools with greater back taper, or -removal tools, has an enormous they’re machining a lot of aluminum decreasing tool radius from tip to surface area that comes in contact with and cast iron. A carbide tap will long shank. The taper minimizes friction on the wall of the hole. Therefore, lubri- outlast a HSS tap in those materials. the shank as the material “springs cation is important. If you overheat Much of it depends on the end user’s back” after machining. high-speed steel, the tool breaks down application and what they are trying to When attempting to optimize tap per- and burns up.” achieve in the long run. In the automo- formance, tapmakers also consider Newer high-performance taps are de- tive industry, downtime to change taps other factors than just the tool. signed to take maximum advantage of is obviously a factor.” The long life of Alan Shepherd, technical director for a machine tool’s spindle speed and carbide taps minimizes tool changes. Emuge Corp., Northborough, Mass., horsepower. The geometries of Development of submicron-grain car- said newly developed high-perform- Emuge’s line of high-performance taps bide substrates has produced tools that ance taps can cut significantly faster feature “higher rates of relief and offer significantly increased toughness than traditional tools. “In tapping cast higher back taper,” Shepherd said. without sacrificing carbide’s wear-re- iron, previously you might have run at And edge configurations are match- sisting hardness. Haywood said these 35 to 50 surface feet per minute, but ed with a specific surface coating, such tools extend tool life, compared to HSS the new taps enable you to tap as fast as as TiN, TiCN, CrN or TiAlN. These tools, when cutting hardened steels, 250 sfm,” he said. heat-resistant and lubricious coatings and difficult-to-machine nickel- He pointed out, though, that the extend tool life, reduce cutting forces base aerospace alloys. The company upper limits of performance can be re- and permit higher cutting speeds. says its PRX-series taps, under certain alized only with a certain range of taps conditions, have been able to thread and machine tools with specific capa- Carbide Rising more than 200 holes in Inconel 718 be- bilities. “The most productive speeds Just as carbide tools gradually re- fore they require resharpening. are sometimes limited by the capacity placed the HSS tools used for , According to Gene Delett, national sales manager for Regal Cutting Tools, South Beloit, Ill., carbide taps comprise Rigid rules of tapping one of the fastest growing markets for his company’s products. “The new mi- achining faster with the same—or greater—level of accuracy is always de- crograin carbides are suitable for some M sirable. But achieving the desired results requires use of the proper machine. general machining,” he said. “You can When it comes to high-speed threading, Pete Kainovic, machining center prod- run five or six times faster, and tool life uct manager for Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., said there are two classes can be 100 times greater. The cost is of machines that are commonly used. First is the small, dedicated CNC and obviously many times that of a stan- tapping machine, such as those produced by Brother Industries, designed only to dard HSS tool, but the payback is and tap small-diameter holes. These machines feature CAT 30 spindles, which greater than the payout, especially in operate at extremely high acceleration and deceleration rates, and CNCs optimized high-volume situations such as auto- for tapping. Some permit tapping at speeds of 6,000 rpm or higher. motive.” Kainovic also said that much of the threading performed today takes place on Haywood added that “a lot of oper- machining centers, employing synchronized, or “rigid,” tapping cycles. When rigid ations, like hand tapping, aren’t cor- tapping, the machine’s CNC synchronizes the spindle speed and Z-axis ballscrew. rect for carbide.” But with the advent Rigid tapping contrasts with non-CNC tapping processes, which require taps to of synchronous tapping (see sidebar, be held in nonrigid, or floating, holders to compensate for differences between page 31) and strong fixturing, carbide the machine tool feed and the thread’s lead. taps are a valid option for a growing Float is necessary because a tap’s feed must equal its lead. For example, a 1/4- range of materials and applications. 32 tap has 32 threads per inch (the tap advances 1" every 32 revolutions). Before David Miskinis, technical specialist present-day CNC technology, precisely matching machine feed and tap lead was- with Greenfield Tap and /Ken- n’t possible. Tap chucks, therefore, were designed with springs that permitted axial nametal Greenfield IPG, Evans, Ga., float, enabling the tap to feed exactly at its lead rate. agreed that state-of-the-art taps feature Kainovic said Okuma, like most machine tool builders, offers machining centers “bodies of premium steel, powder with standard rigid-tapping programs that synchronize the spindle speed with Z- metal or carbide, are coated, and have axis movement to exactly match the tap’s lead. Depending on the size lots of clearance and short thread and mass of the machine spindle, tap and workpiece, most machining lengths that allow them to run at high centers can tap at around 2,000 to 3,000 rpm. speeds.” He noted that Okuma’s OSP controls have a percentage override fea- And, leading-edge shops are taking ture that withdraws the tap from the hole up to twice as fast as it en- advantage of the new tap technologies ters, further reducing cycle times. Another A flexor machined into to boost productivity. An example of standard feature is a tapping-torque-limit this tapholder compen- how Greenfield is serving this market function that can be set in 10Nm, or sates axially and can be found in its expanded offering 88.51 lb.-force/in., increments. To pre- radially for variations of material-specific taps, which in- Tapmatic vent tap breakage, the function will stop between programming cludes tools for threading aluminum and withdraw a tap if it is dull or other- and actual machine containing 8 to 12 percent silicon. The wise begins to require torque above the movement. taps combine lower-helix-angle flutes set limit, Kainovic said. with clearances and rakes specifically With a rigid-tapping program, a tap inserted directly into the designed for achieving top perform- spindle theoretically would make perfect threads. But minute dis- ance when threading these materials. crepancies in the feed/lead match, plus the effects of spindle wear, can result in Miskinis added that the features and less-than-perfect threads and accelerated tap wear. performance characteristics of many As a result, tapholder manufacturers are marketing holders for rigid tapping. material-specific taps can also help These holders compensate for small differences between tap lead and actual ma- boost productivity in other materials. chine tool performance. Emuge Corp. calls its compensating rigid tapholders KSN- “It’s almost like some of the special- Softsynchro holders. The units feature a tension and compression range of about ized taps are becoming general high- 0.020" to compensate for spindle overrun and inherent inaccuracies in synchro- performance tools rather than material- nous tapping cycles. specific,” he said. “For example, we’ve Tapmatic Corp. offers the SynchroFlex holder. It features a flexor machined into got a tool specifically for tapping the holder between the tap and to compensate axially and radially for vari- nickel. It has premium steel, for heat- ations between programmed and actual machine movements. Tapmatic says the resistance, appropriate relief angles and patented technology has doubled tap life in field tests.—B. Kennedy a short thread length that make it highly productive in nickel. But it also works For more information on Okuma America Corp., call (704) 588-7000, visit www. great in hard 4340, 38 Rockwell steel. okumaamerica.com or circle Information Services #292. To learn more about Tap- It’s got the right ‘cake mix’ of features matic Corp., call (208) 773-8048, visit www.tapmatic.com or circle Information for many tough materials.” Services #293. Despite advances in taps, Miskinis noted that the majority of callers to the company’s technical inquiry line aren’t interested in increasing speed. They 3a seek advice for common tapping prob- lems, such as tool breakage, oversize threads, chipping and galling. He said many shops still consider tapping a mystery and think that increasing pro- 3b ductivity is difficult, if not impossible. Co. The Hanson-Whitney That’s not the case. But boosting Figure 3a: Spiral-flute taps with 15° flutes are ideal for threading 400-series stainless. productivity requires planning. Figure 3b: A 41° flute can more productively thread 300-series stainless.

Step by Step easy assembly to 3B for close fit—is a consulting catalogs and selector To make tapping as productive as guide for tool selection, it doesn’t en- charts. Prototyp offers a Computerized possible, you must follow basic steps, sure the efficient production of accu- Cutting Service (CCS) tapping data- said Robert Couture, U.S. sales man- rate threads. Other factors also impact base on a CD-ROM that can put “an ager for Prototyp USA, Asheville, N.C. performance. industrial engineer in the program- When beginning to tool a tapping op- For example, Couture said, “many mer’s pocket.” eration, Couture said he asks five ques- of the problems of tapping oversize re- Couture said the program, loaded on tions: “What is the material? What is sult from holding or feeding the tool a PC, leads a user through basic tap- its tensile strength? Is it a through or improperly. A lot of the time I’ll look selection questions and other criteria. blind hole? How deep is the hole or at size conditions of the thread and Then the program presents a selection how thick is the workpiece? And, fi- suggest a feed change or a holder of appropriate taps and cutting-speed nally, what is the size and class fit of change, or both, and the problem is recommendations, as well as a tool- the thread?” solved.” efficiency chart that determines the While the class of tap for producing Couture said there are many ways to most cost-efficient way to carry out internal Unified threads—from 1B for find the right tap for the job, such as the particular threading operation.

Getting ahead with reversing heads

apping has traditionally been one of tap into the hole, stopping it at the bottom switch to Tapmatic’s NCRT25 self-reversing T the slower operations. of the thread and then reversing it out. De- head eliminated spindle reversal for both One way to reduce tapping time per hole is celerating, stopping, reversing and re-ac- holes and saved 30 seconds per plate, en- to expedite the process itself, said Mark celerating the machining center spindle abling the shop to turn out nearly 250 plates Johnson, president of Tapmatic Corp., Post consumes time. per hour. Falls, Idaho. Self-reversing tapping heads employ a Johnson said that a self-reversing head A major reason for tapping’s deliberate mechanical transmission that reverses the also increases tap life. That’s because vary- pace is that the process requires running the tap when the machine retracts; the machine ing the speed during a cut usually has an ad- spindle continues to turn in the same di- verse effect on tool life, and a self-revers- A self-reversing rection at a constant speed. In other words, ing head virtually eliminates the time that tapping head the machine tool spindle simply cycles into the cutting edge is decelerating to a stop. reduces cycle time with a mechanical and out of the hole. The lightweight spindle When a shop has a short run of threaded transmission that inside the head makes the shift almost in- parts, Johnson admitted, cycle time, tap life reverses the tap stantaneously, saving the time and energy and machine wear are less of a considera- when the machine needed to slow, stop and reverse the ma- tion. “But when you get into high produc- retracts, while the chine tool spindle. tion, those things all start to matter a lot,” machine spindle con- tinues to turn in the The timesavings can be significant. Tap- he said. same direction at matic says a British machining subcontrac- A wide range of self-reversing heads is constant speed. tor was applying an M3 size tap in a nonre- available, from smaller versions (for sizes 0 versing head to thread two holes 125mm to 6/M1 to M3 taps), which can be run as apart in a 3.2mm-thick aluminum cooling high as 6,000 rpm, to large heads, for tap 3 plate. The operation was performed at 3,000 diameters to ⁄4", with a maximum limit of

Tapmatic rpm and took 1 minute, floor to floor. A 1,500 rpm.—B. Kennedy Alternate threading methods, such as thread and roll , are in- The following companies contributed to this article: cluded on the CD-ROM, too. The CCS Allen Benjamin Inc. Greenfield Tap and Die/ program can enable a user to “get a full (480) 968-9737 Greenfield IPG idea of what it costs for each hole,” www.allenbenjamin.com (888) 434-4311 Couture said. www.gfii.com/it Continuing advances, like Prototyp’s Besly Products Corp. CCS, as well as better tap designs, (815) 389-2231 Prototyp USA tapholders and machine tool technol- www.besly.com (800) 490-9875 ogy, are steadily improving tapping op- www.prototyp.de erations. While tapping more efficiently Emuge Corp. and accurately can initially appear to (508) 393-1300. Regal Cutting Tools be a daunting challenge, a thorough un- www.emuge.com (815) 389-3461 derstanding of the workpiece material www.regalcuttingtools.com and how a tap’s geometric features in- The Hanson-Whitney Co. teract with the metal throughout the en- (860) 687-6933. tire operation enable users to tap new www.hansonwhitney.com sources of threading productivity.

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