David
Aly, Aerospace Specialist
Just
because you’ve tried one forming tap, doesn’t mean you’ve tried them all. We
had the recent opportunity to prove that OSG forming taps are better than the
rest.
As
a supplier of custom fabricated metal products and machinery, one of our customers
approached us wanting to get better chip control during their tapping operation.
Located in Winona, Mississippi, they have a 92,500 square foot manufacturing
facility for producing fuel tanks, hydraulic tanks and custom designed
machining fixtures.
After
discussing the customer’s chip control needs, I recommended OSG’s EXOTAP® NRT® Forming Tap, a more stable, thread rolling tap that
makes threads by compressing the work material without creating chips. Because no chip is
produced, breakage due to chip packing and bird nesting is eliminated.
The
EXOTAP® NRT® also has significantly reduced friction
resistance because of its special threading design and surface treatment. Made
from VC-10 Powdered Metal High Speed Steel, this forming tap has a longer tool
life when tapping difficult to machine materials like carbon steels, alloy
steels, stainless steels and aluminum alloy.
Initially,
the shop foreman, Mr. William Smith, was hesitant about using a forming tap due
to a bad experience with a competitor’s brand. After I showed William a
presentation and a chip flow demonstration video, he was willing to give our
forming tap a chance.
We
approached his staff with OSG’s EXOTAP® NRT® Forming Tap in hand. After explaining the test with the operator
and reiterating?that there will be no chips, we began the trial.
A
few days later, I called to check in on their progress. William
enthusiastically explained that he was still running the same tap. He had lost
count of the number of holes produced but assured me that it was well over 1,000
holes! After such a successful run with the first test tap, he purchased more
of the test size, now truly convinced that all forming taps are not created equal.