Cleaning rusty taps/dies???

[Killerpee]

Just got a bucket-full of fairly rusty to very rusty taps and dies. What is the best way to clean them up?? I was either thinking sandblasting or muriatic acid. Which one do you think will take the least good metal off? I know I could wire wheel thema also..but I'm lazy:D

[PTSchram]

A rusty tap is the one that will snap sending pieces into your chest when you can least afford it.

Throw them away and buy new ones! Thread cutting tools are no place to be cheap, too much at stake.

[Killerpee]

No problem!! I always wear a hockey mask and full chest protector when tapping holes:flipoff2:
Seriously..I hadn't eally though about them splitting. They look like pretty good quality taps, so I would be willing to bet that they would still be better after cleaning than a brand new cheapie tap.

[Beat95YJ]

If it is light surface rust spray them with wd 40 and wipe them off with scotchbrite.

[Wicked_S10]

If it is light surface rust spray them with wd 40 and...

Wire brush the cutting end (no wire wheel!) and start using them, they will clean up. Metal cutting metal is quite abrasive.

If they are dull, they might shatter, but come on, if you are wearing somewhat reasonable protective equipment, the worst that will happen is you will be pissed that you now have to get that tap out of the hole. I highly doubt they are going to shatter just from being rusty.

Later,
Jason

[roverjohn]

I doubt anyone would throw perfectly good taps and dies into bucket where they would get rusty. They are probably scrap unless the PO's standards were quite high.

[TLCObsession]

you can use some phosphoric acid to clean them and covert the rust - but best bet would be to actually tap something easy (1/4" plate) - that would clean it and give you an indication that in a higher stress application it might not let go easily.

Hopefully PT is being overly cautious and you next post isn't How to Remove broken Tap or Pics from my trip to the ER :flipoff2:

[Howdy]

How about trying the electrolysis method. I have used it with great success on very rusty parts.

Something like this: http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoepp/electrolyticrust.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

[PTSchram]

Hopefully PT is being overly cautious and you next post isn't How to Remove broken Tap or Pics from my trip to the ER :flipoff2:

When it happened to me, they wouldn't let me have the X-rays. I suspect they knew I'd post them up.

I don't see a reason to try to save rusty taps. If they are rusty, they are not gonna get used in my shop.

[Wicked_S10]

When it happened to me, they wouldn't let me have the X-rays. I suspect they knew I'd post them up.

I don't see a reason to try to save rusty taps. If they are rusty, they are not gonna get used in my shop.

Come on dude, tell us the story. I admit I am intrigued. I have shattered lots of taps, and never had any come anywhere close to enough velocity to do any kind of damage. Were you hand tapping? Tapping in a lathe, or other power equipment? Were you tapping necked :laughing: . Inquireing minds would like to know :D

Later,
Jason

[Beat95YJ]

If you are worried, hand tap some aluminum while shooting for about 50% thread engagement. It should clean up the taps nicely.

[PTSchram]

Come on dude, tell us the story. I admit I am intrigued. I have shattered lots of taps, and never had any come anywhere close to enough velocity to do any kind of damage. Were you hand tapping? Tapping in a lathe, or other power equipment? Were you tapping necked :laughing: . Inquireing minds would like to know :D

Later,
Jason

LOL, there was a discussion when it happened!
Tap seized in the hole, I used a punch to try to break it out. It broke and pieces came flying out of the hole, one of which lodged in my right chest. In true Pirate fashion, I had my Shopboy take a pic of me laying on the floor bleeding from what looked and felt like a bullet wound. I felt like I'd literally had a bullet in the chest.

Once I got over the shock of what had happened, I calmly got up and went into the shop bathroom to see what had really happened, try to dig it out and apply some peroxide so I could get back to work. When I started poking around to get it out, I hit an artery and blood began to spurt everywhere. Shopboy (my son said it looked like I was pissing from my chest). Having spent almost 20 years in industrial safety-related stuff, I instantly went into response mode, applied direct pressure and headed for the redi-med joint. Of course, direct pressure pushed the bits of tap deeper into the muscle and made it bleed worse.

I got an X-ray, saw the piece wasn't a big deal and they gave me a freaking band-aid for a wound that had been spraying blood an hour earlier.

Every once in awhile, it will move or I'll press up against it and it will hurt, but I'll probably die with a little tiny piece of HSS in my chest!

What is being missed here is an appreciation for the fact that taps are precision cutting tools. If they are rusty, they are dull and one's tapped holes will suffer. Using rusty taps is booty fab!

[azhayseed]

Taps need a good sharp cutting edges, if the taps are rusty then the cutting edges have been dulled by the rust.
To illustrate this think of a rusty razor blade, would you remove the rust and shave your face with one?

[PAToyota]

I agree with the others - you just aren't going to get a clean thread off of a tap or die that has been allowed to rust and then somehow "cleaned" up...

At best you're going to get a sloppy thread to some extent. At worst (barring any physical injury) you'll be scratching your head trying to figure out how to get the broken tap out of your project.

[solarpower]

What is being missed here is an appreciation for the fact that taps are precision cutting tools. If they are rusty, they are dull and one's tapped holes will suffer. Using rusty taps is booty fab!

x eleventybillion.

I keep a handful of rusty/dull taps around for only one reason....to use in a tapped hole that I removed a broken tap from. I'll run these through to clean out any pieces of the tap still wedged in the threads before I go back in with a good tap.

and that is a damn funny story:laughing:

[MOSS2]

I think Shopboy actually saw an opportunity to shoot him and make it look like an industrial accident. It just didnt quite work out.

[PTSchram]

and that is a damn funny story:laughing:

At the time it was not! I've hurt myself in the past (amputated two fingers in 1982). I was sure I'd caught a piece in a lung. The blood was foamy and bright red and there was more of it than when I cut my fingers off-and it was spurting!

Now, when they put a band-aid on my chest, THAT was funny.:D

[Killerpee]

Allright..I will consider the fact that they might be dulled after I clean them. However....just like most everyone else in the world....until I see with my own 2 eyes that they don't cut well afterwards, I still plan on trying to clean and use them:D

[PTSchram]

Allright..I will consider the fact that they might be dulled after I clean them. However....just like most everyone else in the world....until I see with my own 2 eyes that they don't cut well afterwards, I still plan on trying to clean and use them:D

You are being foolish, wasting time, and you will waste material.

The cost of cutting tools is very low considering their life in a home shop and what you are asking them to do.

I really hope that your attitude of seeing is believing doesn't extend very far as it is a good way to end up hurt, dead or merely ignorant of what people with more education and experience can teach you.

Learning from others' mistakes can and should save you from much heartache.

Scrap those tools and use the $ to buy the individual taps you actually need, you likely do not need an entire set.