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Article: Coated-cobalt taps run long and hot: cobalt too steels, subtle geometry changes, and coatings add up to a tap that is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Article from:
- Tooling & Production
- Article date:
- December 1, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Nelson Publishing. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Cobalt tool steels, subtle geometry changes, and coatings add up to a tap that is greater than the sum of the parts.
Forming internal threaded surfaces with taps requires a tool designed to handle tremendous chip loads and pressures. Because it is a confined operation, forming V-grooves in a hole, the tap must be tough and wear resistant, with good lubricity.
Tapping is a time-consuming and expensive operation, so there is a continual striving to improve tap life, and at the same time increase the speeds at which taps run. Improvements are often found by varying combinations of the basic tool steel used, the tool geometry, and in some cases the ...