Taps & Dies

Are you searching for “Thread taps near me“?  General Cutting Tools is your best resource on high quality thread taps in the USA.

Taps are used to cut or form the female portion of a mating pair, such as a nut, while dies are used to cut or form the male portion of a mating pair, such as a bolt.

Taps and dies are available in many types, such as hand taps and pipe taps. Hand taps are the most commonly sold taps and are appropriate for tapping the vast majority of materials in through or blind holed conditions.

Thread Taps

Thread taps are used to cut the threaded part of a pair of matching metal fasteners. They are used to thread blind holes, where a taper tap would not reach the bottom of the hole. There are many different types of thread taps available, including hand threading taps, spiral flute taps, spiral point taps, and pipe taps.

Thread Taps for Metal

When buying thread taps for metal, you can consider things like:

Material: Taps are usually made of high-speed steel or carbide steel. Powdered metal taps are more wear-resistant than high-speed steel (HSS) taps, but they are more expensive and require specialized equipment for sharpening.

Type: There are many different types of threading taps, including carbide straight flute taps, carbide spiral point taps, carbide pipe taps, and carbide thread forming taps.

Types of Thread Taps

Multi Start Thread Taps
Multi-start threads are threads that consist of two or more intertwined threads that run parallel to each other. The lead distance of a thread can be increased without changing its pitch by intertwining the threads.

Left Hand Metric Taps
Left-handed taps are a mirror image of right-handed taps. They are used when a screw could loosen due to stress. Left-handed threads twist in a counter-clockwise direction.

Pipe Taps
Pipe taps are used to internally thread or rethread hollow pipes so that they may be connected to other pipes or fixtures with a tight seal.

Hand Taps
Hand taps are cutting tools that create helical grooves in a hole to insert a fastener. They are used in many industries and trades.

Combination Taps
Combination taps are tools that can drill and tap with just one tool. They can reduce costs by doing multiple operations in one pass.

Bottoming Taps
Bottoming taps are tools used to finish threading at the bottom of a blind hole. They are also known as plug taps.

Custom Taps
Custom thread taps are cutting tools that cut internal threads. They are any non-standard style or size tap. Contact us for custom tap orders.

Spiral Flute Taps
Spiral flute taps are used for tapping threads in blind holes. They have flutes that wrap around the tap’s axis in a spiral or helical configuration.

Spiral Point Taps
Spiral point taps are a type of tap that is used for tapping threads in through holes. They have straight flutes for coolant distribution and a slanted angular gash in each flute on the front end of the tap to manage the chips.

Plug Taps
Plug taps are a type of tap used for threading holes in metal and other materials. They are commonly used for through hole tapping with metal working machinery. Plug taps have a 5 thread chamfer and perform similarly to a taper chamfer tap by slowly removing material in the thread starting with the smallest diameter of the threaded portion of the tap.

Spiral Point Plug Taps
Spiral point plug taps are a type of tap that is used for tapping threads in through holes. They have straight flutes for coolant distribution and a slanted angular gash in each flute on the front end of the tap to manage chips.

Acme Taps
Acme taps are standard hand taps that create trapezoidal threads. They are used to thread parts that allow rotation or straight-line movement on equipment that will bear heavy loads, such as: Jacks, Valves, Presses.