4 weeks by cncdivi

Dave Decaussin is heralded as a prominent figure in our CNC industry. He was among the founding members at Fadal, a company they divested years ago. In the meantime, he has been participating in different projects and continues to maintain a popular YouTube channel showcasing a variety of videos related to the projects he’s developed.

He’s built several different CNC machines and done a number of other things in these videos.  Recently he put out a video showing how he made a floating tap holder so you can see how they work and how to make your own if you should desire to do so.

Here is his video:

[youtube width=”800″ height=”540″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ro6V4Qd4CE[/youtube]

Floating tap holders are used for tapping on machines that don’t support rigid tapping.  To rigid tap, the machine has to be able to synchronize axis motion accurately enough so the vertical motion of the Z axis can follow a tap as it goes down the hole making its thread.  If the Z moves too slowly, the tap is stretched and will probably break.  If it goes too fast, the tap is forced down hard into the hole and it will also be likely to break.  A floating tap holder relieves these problems by providing a sliding spring action that can absorb some of the difference in motion.  By the way, even if you have a machine capable of rigid tapping, there’s a fair bit of information that suggests a floating tap holder can still increase your tap life by cushioning it’s motions.

By the way, would you like the ultimate way to maximize your tap life?  It comes from selecting the best thread percentage and from that picking the right drill size.  Check out our Drill Tap Size Chart and Calculator for more.

In one of his videos, Decaussin comments that he likes to redesign projects until he has boiled them down to the simplest possible design.  That way they cost the least to manufacture and they’re more reliable.  I like his philosophy on that, and this floating tap holder is very elegant in its simplicity.  It’s also very compact, lengthwise.  I may have to try making one in this style myself.

 

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