taps and dies: what do I have here?

[BTL-A4]

I've acquired about 45 taps, 30 dies and 7 wrenches, all SAE. I'm wondering if they are worth selling or keeping. I have most of what I use; these would be duplicates. There are a few smaller ones that I don't have, but then that would mean a set is missing a few.

LARGE DIES
There is a set of 1-1/2" diameter dies (7 pcs, 1/4"-3/4") that all look like this (front and back):


SMALL DIES
There is a set of 1" diameter dies that all look like this:


TAPS
There is a set of taps that appear to match the 1" dies:


OTHER TAPS
There are misc other taps from various mfr's as well. I have most of the sizes already. Not sure what to do with these; sell? keep? sell as a lot? Thoughts?

Most of the wrenches are nothing special, but there was this Craftsman one. Is it worth anything?


Harbor Freight sells a set for about $10, but it's only course threads. This set has course and fine, with a few pipe threads as well. Is this set worth more than the HF stuff?

Here's the whole haul:


Thanks!

 

[Wolley]

To me Used taps are consumables like sand paper and cut off wheels. Especially old obsolete forms and cheapo Japan made ones. Add in some rust and they be in the trash for me. A couple of those tap handles might be handy if you need one.

 

[Davefr]

To me Used taps are consumables like sand paper and cut off wheels. Especially old obsolete forms and cheapo Japan made ones. Add in some rust and they be in the trash for me. A couple of those tap handles might be handy if you need one.

^^Exactly what he said. Even brand name machinist cutting tools are a hard sell once they're used. I don't think that stuff would even bring the cost of the shipping.

 

[joel63]

^^Exactly what he said. Even brand name machinist cutting tools are a hard sell once they're used. I don't think that stuff would even bring the cost of the shipping.

^^^

 

[AEAdam]

Well, the HF Chinese taps are pretty much garbage from new. You might be better off with older taps and dies. I’ve heard the hex shaped dies are really rethreaders, not suitable for cutting new threads. Round dies are for cutting new threads. They are adjustable to some minor degree.

If these were made in USA, I’d disagree with the comments above. Rusty, non US, I’d have to agree.

But as to the question of value compared to HF, my hesistation is that I think the HF tap and die sets are worth basically nothing.

 

[four.cycle]

^ all of my dies are cutting dies and they are all hexagonal. I prefer using an open-end wrench to a die-stock anyway, so it works better for me.

 

[MongoTA]

I have hex and round shaped dies for rethreading but only round for cutting new threads. However, you can get both round and hex for cutting new threads. I've even seen a square die. Once. Not sure what it was for.

The larger difference, and this is what I've seen when buying what I'd like to think are better quality dies, is whether the die is made from high speed steel or carbon steel. HSS dies are generally for cutting new threads, though they can be used to chase threads. CS is generally just used for rethreading, and they are less expensive.

While I don't think I ever bought from them, I remember one place that sold hex-shaped rethreading dies and their dies were made to be the same size as the typical nut. The idea was to use the same wrench/socket on the die that was used on the nut.

 

[Boogerman]

Your best strategy is to put the whole lot one bay, and hope some sucker will pay you $6.99 for the lot, with $10 to cover shipping in a padded flat rate envelope. So, you'd get the privilege of wrapping those individually into newspaper and packaging them for a net profit after fees of about $3.50. If you're time is worth less than that, go for it. Otherwise, just donate them to the restore (which will take more time than selling on ebay) or walk to your scrap iron bucket and throw them in. Keep the Craftsman tap wrench if you like it. Or, keep them as spares if you like cheap taps and dies. Personally, I don't, I'd toss them and use a good one if I needed one.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I look over old taps and dies very carefully before ever deciding which pile they go in. Old non standard thread pitches like 1/2" x 12 tpi are always keepers for me. Also left handers and long tapered taps. Careful grinding on the leading (cutting) edge often works for sharpening. They come in handy on the antique **** I drag home to work on. Not so much on "modern" stuff. Ed.

 

[AEAdam]

I think I'm wrong. Sorry guys. This PM thread may help, but not 100% clear to me:

Threading vs Rethreading Dies

I inherited an Ace Super Hex tap and die set back in 1978 and have used the taps far more than the dies in the years since. Recently, however, I was trying to use the 1/2-20 hex die on an unthreaded rod and was unsuccessful. I had turned the OD down to 0.495” (major dia. minus 10% of the...

www.practicalmachinist.com

If you don't read it, someone posted that the die manufacturers claim the hex dies are suitable for new threads. In the forum above, I wonder if there is confusion about rethreader kits, which have small hexagonal dies, very much unsuitable for cutting threads.

I have a rethreader set that looks almost identical to this one. Mine is USA made by Kastar, sold by Craftsman, and Snap On (for 2X$$). If I had it to do all over again, I'd buy a metric only set for my automotive tool box because I use it so often.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C77KJGPD?tag=atomicindus08-20

These have hex dies, but they aren't like the hex dies I was talking about earlier.

One more mea culpa: The set I bought at HF, must have been many moons ago. The current sets have unspilt round dies and don't look like terrible quality (but who knows?). The set I bought years ago had hex dies and was literally trash. It looked like this:

It was SO bad.

I think the standard PM advice is to buy the HF set and replace the taps and dies with US made as you use them because the blow molded case is worth the $20.

FWIW, and realizing I was wrong earlier, I'd like to offer the following which I hope helps: I don't die cut a lot of threads. I buy threaded stock, or bolts or whatever. I have a few dies, but not many. Most (95%) of the time, I'm looking to dies to chase threads and the rethreader kits work better. For internal threads, the tap and drill sets above are okay, but your really need the right drill bit and you can easily break taps by forcing them into the wrong sized hole. For this reason I find a tap and drill set WAY more convenient.

Pardon Our Interruption

 

[woody 73]

Wow this is a tough crowd tonight, I have a box of old tap & dies that I use all the time. They are old used made in the USA stock, that have saved my bacon many times over.

Your mileage may very...

 

[four.cycle]

@AEAdam -
Kaster/Lang/A&E never manufactured cutting dies or taps.
They have long been manufacturing "rethreading" dies and taps, and they supply Snap-on with same.
MY dies (again) are ALL HEX dies, and they are all US-made thread-cutting dies, not rethreaders. (I don't own any rethreaders - I just don't run into enough instances to warrant owning them.)

I'm somewhere in between "throw it in the trash" and "can I use it one more time?" If it's even marginal, it goes into the trash.

Drill bits - I'm a bit more ruthless. If it doesn't drill the hole fast enough, it goes in the garbage - immediately. Drill bits are cheap.
Taps - not so much, so I'm just a bit less ruthless about tossing them. But not much.

 

[Wrench97]

Looking at those pictures the taps and dies are scrap, the holders may be useable.

 

[WisJim]

The pictured 1 1/2" dies look like old Greenfield based on the 1912 patent date, and I'd keep them if they are sharp and undamaged. Not sure about the smaller ones or the taps, but I keep a lot of this kind of thing to use for odd tasks depending of course on condition.

 

[mark-NJ]

Just my opinion: If they're sharp, use them. If they're not, pitch them.

 

[2oolhound]

In your picture of "The Whole Haul" all those dies on the right of the die handle are adjustable split dies. They adjust from 75% to 60% nominal size by turning the screw on the side (the screw bridges the slot through the die and closes the die tightening the circumference). I'd keep those if the cutting teeth aren't all rusted. I saw at lease one pipe thread die in there which is always nice to have. I'd keep em all until you use them and see how they perform.

All it takes is one time to find yourself without the tap or die you need before you start hanging on to stuff like this. HF and chinesium taps and dies are **** an an insult to other good tools in your box (been there done that).