Which is better cobalt tap drills or high speed steel taps?

Matt Shade

Matt Shade

Joined
Nov 24, 1999
Messages
4,981
I asked in an earlier thread how to put a pocket clip on a knife I want to make. I got lots of help and know how to do it now.I was told that I should drill and tap the holes for the screws that hold it on. From what I understand, by tapping you mean cutting threads into the hole for a machine screw.I don't have the tools to do that and when I was looking at what to buy, they have tap drills made out of cobalt, and high speed steel taps. Which would be better for what I want to do? The materials I will using it on are G10 for the scales and brass for the liners. Thanks.

------------------
Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
cobalt is the better choice for this application, this is becuase the cobalt steel will last much longer. but as the best choice whould be carbide. becuase they will cut very hard steels, that high speed can't cut, and cobalt will have trouble with.
 
The higher performance drills, taps and such are like knives in that there is usually a tradeoff between toughness and edge holding. With hand tools one might be better off with some of the lower performance bits if breakage is a problem. I seems that for most people though the fancier bits work better, especially when used a lot.
 
Matt,
The HSS drills and taps are ok for G-10 and brass. The cobalt ones are more suited for titanium. The HSS drills are less expensive than cobalt, but they don't last as long.

IMO, you should start with HSS. Go to the cobalt after you get some experience and are using the exotic materials.

I want to see a picture of your project when you finish it.
 
Thanks for the help. I'll probably go with the HSS taps because I think I've used them before, only they were a whole lot bigger than what I need now.
As for the picture if it ends up looking like a knife, My Mom has a digital camera I can borrow, but somebody's going to have to try and explain how I post them. That may be the most difficult part of all.

------------------
Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
If you break a carbon steel tap off in the hole you can spot-anneal it with a soldering iron and drill it out. You can't do that with high speed steel. That's why gunsmiths never use hss taps.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Thanks for the tip. Right now I can only find the HSS and the cobalt. I'm going to keep looking though because having to rely on a catalog and mail order pretty much sucks.Seems like things are a heck of a lot cheaper when you just go to the store and get them too.

------------------
Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top