Taps and Gages

General Purpose: This style tap is the basic tapping tool of the industry and can be used to tap most materials.  For high production applications this basic style is best used for tapping tough steels, stainless steels and bronze (except the free-cutting grades of bronze or brass). The plug chamfer is the most widely used; the 2 ½ threaded chamfer is recommended for cast iron, and the bottom is used for tapping full threaded blind holes.

T10 Style Tap: This style was developed by Spiralock engineers for lead screw controlled high production tapping of all grades of cast iron and other abrasive materials.  T10 taps are given a special surface treatment that creates an extremely hard and abrasion resistant finish.

SA Style Tap: This tap style is recommended for tapping tough space alloy materials, hence the initials SA.  It is similar to our T10 style taps with the exception that SA Style taps are not surface treated.

Spiral Point: These taps have a spiral point grind that forces chips ahead of the tap, resulting in less resistance to thrust. Consequently, they require less torque and can be run at higher speeds. Because the chips are pushed ahead of the cut, Spiral Point Plug Chamfer Taps are ideally suited for tapping deep through-holes in all but the most abrasive materials.  Bottom Chamfer Spiral Pointed Taps tend to form a tightly curled broken chip that is easily removed from a blind hole, provided there is sufficient room at the bottom of the tap hole to accommodate the chip.

Fast Spiral Fluted: This tap style is recommended for tapping deep blind holes. The right hand helical ground flutes virtually pull chips out of a hole, thus minimizing chip packing in the flutes and at the bottom of the hole. This style is especially useful for tapping a hole that has a keyway or spline, since the helical lands of the tap will span the interruption.

Cold Forming: The process of cold forming generates threads by displacing material rather than cutting.  Since the material is displaced, no metal chips are generated.  Due to displacement of material to form the threads, a dimensional allowance has to be made on the drilled hole prior to tapping.  Due to its design and purpose, Spiralock Cold Forming Taps have no flutes and are available with a bottom or plug style chamfer.

Premium Nickel: The same metallurgical properties that give nickel-based alloys their high strength, corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand high temperatures also make these materials very difficult to machine. Spiralock has engineered a line of taps specifically intended for tapping these challenging alloys. The premium nickel line of Spiralock taps are made from a super high speed compressed powdered metal and features a positive rake angle along with a PVD surface treatment — all of which preserve the sharp cutting edges to provide long tool life and smooth cutting action.

Premium Titanium: Spiralock’s line of premium titanium taps are designed to combat the more challenging aspects of cutting titanium: heat build-up, tool deflection from work hardening, high elastic memory (hole shrinkage), and chipping along tool edges. Starting with a heat and wear resistant grade of compressed powdered metal, Spiralock premium titanium taps employ a special cutting geometry that minimizes contact with the workpiece. All Spiralock premium titanium taps feature a performance enhancing PVD coating for maximum tool life