A competitor’s M8 x 1.25 carbide cutting tap was producing 16,000 threads in a difficult application tapping high Silicon Cast Aluminium pump housings.

Whilst we agreed with the basic design and tap material selection, we chose to conduct trials with taps having four flutes instead of three, and using carbide manufactured by one of our “sister” companies.

Carbide allows us “total” control of all aspects of the tap quality. The recent investments in carbide manufacturing equipment also keeps us at the forefront of carbide production.

Initial trials gave increased numbers of threads, but we also decided to examine the cycle times.

At the completion of the trials we had increased tool life to 26,000 threads and increased tapping speed by 20%.