How to use a worn tap

Workshop / Metal crafts 7 125 0

When cleaning out storage bins in a garage or workshop, you often come across worn out tools that have not been used for a long time. Often, such finds can be put to good use by converting them into the necessary devices. Having found old taps, you can use them to make a compass for marking and a scriber.

Necessary materials:

old taps - 3 pcs.;
the steel square is slightly thicker than the diameter of the taps;
sheet steel or strip 3-4 mm;
wing bolt.

The process of making marking compasses and scribers

To make a compass, you need to prepare 2 identical pieces of square rod.

Their length is selected depending on the size of the compass you need to get. On one side, a hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the tap is drilled in the end of each workpiece. Then each of them is threaded with its own tap.

After this, you need to grind the tap shanks to a cone. Having made them sharp, you need to clamp each shank in a vice in turn and then screw the taps back into the holes on the square.

Next, you need to make a 10 mm long groove on the back side of the workpieces, removing approximately half of their thickness.After this, 2 lugs need to be cut from sheet steel, strip or corner in order to weld them to the machined workpieces. The thickness of this steel should be equal to half the section of the square. If there is no suitable material, then you can initially make grooves based on its width.

The shape of the eyes should be slightly asymmetrical. Due to this, after welding and seam cleaning, the workpieces can be folded together closely to form a compass.

Both folded eyes are then drilled. They are threaded and tightened with a wing bolt. The result is a marking compass. Its position is fixed by tightening the bolt. Due to the hardness of the tap tips, it will scratch any steel.

To make a scriber, you need to take a small piece of the same square and drill a hole in its end. It also cuts threads with an old tap. After this, the tap is unscrewed and its shank is ground into a point. Then it twists back. If the length of the tap allows, then you can not remove it and immediately sharpen it on a square.

The made tool should be polished.

To protect metal from corrosion, it is better to seal it, galvanize or copper plating. Such coatings are much more durable than paint, and they are not removed by friction.