I’m building a new autofocus probe for Luigi and I need to put some threads on a 3mm steel rod. I checked the only drawer I know of with dies and taps in it, but didn’t find the one I needed. Does anyone know if we have metric dies hidden away somewhere? Or is there a reasonably affordable set I should just buy for myself? Has anyone used this set from Harbor Freight? I occasionally have the need to put metric threads on things that I build.
Unless they have been acquired since I helped out in the metal shop, we do not have them. I’d suggest Menards, 11% off and I think they are $2-3 each die.
The Harbor Freight set will work fine, but it won’t last a long time. Let me know if you need it, as I will be going by HF today before I go to the makerspace anyway.
@jeff
Thanks for the suggestion. I checked their website but they don’t list anything under M6. Do you know if they carry anything smaller in store?
@David
That would be fine for my personal use. I don’t need them very often, but if I owned a set I may find more uses for them. Now if the makerspace wanted to buy a set that would be fine, too, but that decision would be up to someone in charge of a budget. I’m going to check a couple other options. When do you think you’re going to stop by HF?
Probably around 2 PM.
I’m not certain. Last month while installing a new 3 axis DRO on my mill, I had to purchase 3mm and 5mm taps. I think I got it at Menards, but it’s a blur as I was sourcing quite a bit that week. I thought I saw tiny dies, but also a blur. So consider it a long shot. I’ve had a couple HF tap sets secondhand given to me, I may not be lucky, but I broke several of the taps on my first use and tossed the remainder in the recycle bin before ruining more holes….
@Christian , what material are you planning to tap? Steel, aluminum, or plastic? If you just need one or two, then Ace Hardware has single taps.
Never mind, I see you said steel rod.
Okay, I’ll just stop by some hardware stores and see if I can pick up something of decent quality. None of them listed individual 3mm dies in-store, but maybe I’ll get lucky. I’ve got some other things I need to buy anyways.