Custom Tap & Die Storage with space for all types of tap

[Dr.Al]

I've seen various tap storage things around but they tend to only have space for a taper tap, a second (aka plug) tap and a bottoming (aka plug) tap. That leaves nowhere for spiral flute, spiral point, serial taps, fluteless taps and long series taps. To deal with that, I made my own. It only holds metric coarse taps, but the metric fine ones come out rarely enough that I don't mind rummaging in one big drawer. Antediluvian nonsense like BSF or UNC come out even more rarely so the same applies.

Unit was knocked together out of plywood and is a bit shabby really, but it does the job.



This shows one of the drawers. The debossed text showing what's in each pocket is a bit scruffy, but it's readable. The handle and the (embossed & two-colour) drawer label are dovetailed in. The drawer labels weren't a fantastic fit but they do the job - I think it might be because I printed them with a different (0.25 mm) nozzle size.



Another example:



These are the smaller ones. I don't have as many types of tap for the really small ones (and mainly only use serial taps for M2 and M2.5). There is also a drawer for thread gauges and some spare taps.



The smaller tap wrenches and die stocks I have live in the bottom drawers; the bigger ones wouldn't fit in this unit so they go in a different drawer unit.

[DIYer]

Thanks Dr.Al! We've added your Tap & Die Storage to our Storage and Organization category,
as well as to your builder page: Dr.Al's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Tap & Die Storage by Dr.Al

tags: storage, tap & die

[Toolmaker51]

Wow, seriously.
You made light the fact drawers generated by 3D printing. Clearly the best utilization I've seen of additive manufacture in private use, simply terrific!
Never has one single project spurred interest for process and equipment alike.

With vast [jumbled] population of imperials, metrics, pipe, lesser in BS, Whitworth, ACME etc representing up to 100 pages or so each Machinist's Handbook, Colvin-Stanley, Frankland, Glover and others, up to my nuts in thread cutting hardware.
The only feature worth adding, space or marking indicating ideal 75% thread tap drill sizes.
Already envisioning one cabinet marked Inferial for Marv K., and another Antediluvian as hat tip to you.
The rest need be content with their given [aka boring] designations. Lol.

Without your location is not displayed, assumption is other side of the pond. I don't recall coming across the term 'serial taps' before, so took the dive. Our marking system includes Class of Fit, conceivably could be used in a serial manner, not been called to do so personally. Commonly we buy Class 2 and 3, and adjust theoretical fit via hole sizing. Intermediate reamers or bore-to-size make this quite easy.

[desbromilow]

all it needs now is spots in the drawers for the tapping drills and it's a complete set.

[wizard69]

Here I've been trying to convince my self to make drawer inserts for the tool box where all my taps and dies are stored. This idea is pretty slick though and might be something to consider if I had a 3D printer. I'm also at a loss as to what "serial" taps are, for a moment I was thinking plug taps, now I'm not sure. Looks like your knobs are dovetailed in too, pretty slick. Now all you need is a separate cabinet for all of you Time-Sert/Heli-Coil/whatever thread insert kits.

[Tonyg]

Serial taps come in sets of three and have leads similar to ISO 529 taps. Graduated in diameter and 1st tap (1 groove on the shank), smaller than the 2nd (2 grooves on shank). Final thread diameter is achieved by the finishing tap (no grooves on shank). Material removed in stages creating less stress than with ISO 529 taps and generally gives a better thread finish.

[Jon]

Congratulations Dr.Al - your Tap & Die Storage is the Homemade Tool of the Week!

A rare win for a 3D-printed tool, and a legitimately valuable use for the technology.

Some more good builds from this week:

Vise by Marsh
C-Clamp Swivel Pad Fix by tsbrownie
Switchable Magnets by tiger carpenter
Sharpening Jig by Mazay
Edge Finder by rgsparber
Scissor Table by warsztatOdZera
Siding Cutting Square by Keith William Knull
CNC Wood Lathe by winkys workshop
Peen Punch by mr_modify1
Label Protector by rgsparber
Electric Cart by fawabros
Motorcycle Lift by bouboulas
Belt Grinder by GBWM
Lathe Tool Post by Claudio HG
CNC Gantry by bongodrummer
Inside Calipers by Frank S
Belt Grinder by Marsh


Dr.Al - you'll be receiving a $25 online gift card, in your choice of Amazon, PayPal, or bitcoin. Please PM me your current email address and gift card choice and I'll get it sent over right away.

This is your 2nd Homemade Tool of the Week win. Here are both of your Homemade Tool of the Week winning tools. Congrats again

Slow Speed Grinder by Dr.Al

tags: grinder, disc

Tap & Die Storage by Dr.Al

tags: storage, tap & die

[Dr.Al]

Wow, seriously.
You made light the fact drawers generated by 3D printing. Clearly the best utilization I've seen of additive manufacture in private use, simply terrific!
Never has one single project spurred interest for process and equipment alike.

With vast [jumbled] population of imperials, metrics, pipe, lesser in BS, Whitworth, ACME etc representing up to 100 pages or so each Machinist's Handbook, Colvin-Stanley, Frankland, Glover and others, up to my nuts in thread cutting hardware.
The only feature worth adding, space or marking indicating ideal 75% thread tap drill sizes.
Already envisioning one cabinet marked Inferial for Marv K., and another Antediluvian as hat tip to you.
The rest need be content with their given [aka boring] designations. Lol.

Without your location is not displayed, assumption is other side of the pond. I don't recall coming across the term 'serial taps' before, so took the dive. Our marking system includes Class of Fit, conceivably could be used in a serial manner, not been called to do so personally. Commonly we buy Class 2 and 3, and adjust theoretical fit via hole sizing. Intermediate reamers or bore-to-size make this quite easy.

Thanks @Toolmaker51 . I only recently acquired the 3D printer (just before Christmas) and am finding it a lot of fun to experiment with, but I'm only interested in using it for tools and related applications, not in making little models of things. When I started doing metalwork (probably about 10 years or so ago) I think I thought a tap was a tap; since then I've accumulated a massive selection of threads and types.

You're right that I'm "the other side of the pond" - in south-west England. Serial taps are pretty rare here too, but I bought a lot of sets of them a few years ago and they're great for stubborn materials as they cut much more gradually than standard (even taper) taps. When I have to cut small threads (e.g. M2), I reach for serial taps by preference as they're so easy to use without as much risk of breaking. The first one hardly cuts at all but naturally follows the hole direction; in doing so it creates a subtle thread that the second one (which removes the most material) can follow. Then the final one brings the thread to size. I think of them as being a bit like a centre (or spotting) drill, a drill and a reamer - one gets you going accurately, the second takes most of the material away and the last gets the size right.

[Dr.Al]

all it needs now is spots in the drawers for the tapping drills and it's a complete set.

You're not the first who's commented on that, but I prefer to keep them separate. I've got a set of drill bits in 0.1 mm increments from 1 mm to 10 mm and since metric threads make it really easy to work out which drill to use for a given thread (subtract pitch from thread, so M6×1 mm pitch needs a 6–1=5 mm drill bit; M4×0.7 needs a 4–0.7=3.3 mm drill bit), it's no hassle at all to just grab the drill bit needed from the set.

I can see the advantage of keeping the tapping drills close for imperial threads as it would save a step of looking up the right drill size, but I try to avoid imperial threads if I can!

[Dr.Al]

Here I've been trying to convince my self to make drawer inserts for the tool box where all my taps and dies are stored. This idea is pretty slick though and might be something to consider if I had a 3D printer. I'm also at a loss as to what "serial" taps are, for a moment I was thinking plug taps, now I'm not sure. Looks like your knobs are dovetailed in too, pretty slick. Now all you need is a separate cabinet for all of you Time-Sert/Heli-Coil/whatever thread insert kits.

@Tonyg has done a good description of what serial taps are - they're really useful for difficult materials - see my reply to @Toolmaker51 . Yes: the knobs (and the labels) are dovetailed in: that allowed me to print them in the correct orientation (for gravity). I was pleased with how well the dovetails fitted together.

I've got all my thread insert kits (mostly v-coil kits) in a drawer of a "Bisley" drawer unit at the moment - now you're giving me ideas that could keep the printer going for another week or two.