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Tap and Die Kit


margolisd

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Hi. I have a watch movement with stripped threads in a very tiny 0.4 mm screw hole. Is it best to fix this with a tap? Or at this miniature level is there another tool that would be more suitable? I've never used taps or dies but willing to invest in a kit. Can anyone recommend something not too expensive? I was also wondering if there was such a thing as a tap accessory for a jeweling tool or staking set. (Sorry if that's a stupid question, just that would seem to make sense in my head!) New to this so any advice appreciated :)

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thats not a bad idea, something for the staking set that holds the tap - it would help with small tap breakage where not keeping it straight is the major cause.  Its very common with larger, but still small and breakable, size tapping jobs to use a tapping stand to avoid breaking them

As for tapping, that's a very small tap.   How do tap a stripped hole the same tap size - do you close it in or bush it, or go a size bigger and make a new screw?  .....as in if it is really stripped there won't anything left to tap....it maybe its just slightly damaged and needs to be chased/cleaned up?

 

 

Edited by measuretwice
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I was also wondering if there was such a thing as a tap accessory for a jeweling tool or staking set. (Sorry if that's a stupid question, just that would seem to make sense in my head!) New to this so any advice appreciated :)

Bergeon sold 4.7 mm punches with a set of collets. There are also collet holding arbors for Seitz jewelling tools, I have one in the big Seitz set.

Frank

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35 minutes ago, measuretwice said:

As for tapping, that's a very small tap.   How do tap a stripped hole the same tap size - do you close it in or bush it, or go a size bigger and make a new screw?

I think a bigger screw is the way to go. If you closed it in I guess the wall of the screw hole would go from being strait to being curved in so less thread would make contact with the screw.

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19 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Just a standard soft solder and flux. You don’t need anything out of the ordinary.

 

to clarify, you're saying to soft solder ta plug of brass in, then drill and tap....not just fill the hole with solder.

Edited by measuretwice
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For brass main plates with stripped holes, I usually try a screw which is around 0.1mm larger and try to self-tap with the new screw itself. Just add a little oil and screw/unscrew repeatedly while removing any swarf. 

If you do buy a tap/die set, avoid the (possibly Indian) set in carbon steel which may be sold by Anchor as it’s awful (poorly made, not accurately cut and break easily). Get the HSS set which is possibly Chinese and made by Toolzone or similar for £30 - £40. It’s excellent. 

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