What are you using for a tapping drill?

[TapTapTap]

Merry Christmas everyone. I've been tapping with my M18 Drill/Driver and it's starting to feel pretty heavy, even with the small batteries. Then today, I got a an M12 Right Angle Ratchet. It got me thinking about picking up an M12 3/8" Drill/Driver. I see the tool weighs only 2.1 lbs, and has 275 in-lbs of torque which I would assume is plenty. My Christmas gift came with 2 batteries so it seems like a smart upgrade for me.

What are others using for drilling tap holes? Does anyone use an M12 system?

Len

[buckeye gold]

I'm using a Dewalt 20V corless drill. Each regular size battery will drill 75 holes. Mine is old so the batteries don't last as long, they used to do 100 +/- a few.

[Swingpure]

I have a variety of Milwaukee and Rigid drills. The lightest, but still powerful is the Rigid drill, which is likely the one I use. All of my lines end up near the garage, so I can exchange batteries every couple of lines, to ensure the battery does not run out mid line.

I thought I heard on a you tube video that 2,000 rpm is the ideal drill speed. All of my drills have a switch that allows the drill to go faster, or slower with more torque. I think I will initially start off in the higher speed setting.

Gary

[bill m]

Dewalt 20V brushless drill. I go half a day on a 2 ah battery and change it at lunch time.

[JoeJ]

I have used a Dewalt 20 volt max drill with a 4 amp hour battery since 2014. I have 4- 4 amp hour batteries. Two of them will do around 375 holes. The other two batteries will each do 415 holes. These batteries have not lost any power and can still do either 375 or 415 holes. I usually tap between 500 to 650 holes in a day so 2 of the 4 amp hour batteries will complete one days taping. I do always carry a spare battery just in case

The drill can run at 2,000 rpm's which is the desired speed for nice clean holes. Dewalt now make 6 amp hour batteries. If the batteries were not so expensive, I would buy one to see if one battery would last for 600 holes.

I have a couple of the Milwaukee M18 drills with older batteries that do not do very many holes (35 on a 1.5 amp hour to 75 on a 2 amp hour ). The M18's that I have weigh 4.7 pounds and the Dewalt 20 v XR weighs 4.1 pounds.

Joe

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Milwaukee M18. I have several batteries from 1.5A through 8.0A. I use the 5A batteries for tapping.

[TapTapTap]

Thanks for your responses.

Ken

[corrowbasin]

One of the more important things when considering a tapping drill is the upper RPM range. The higher the RPM the cleaner the cut, and probably higher yield. A good 3speed brushless 20Volt battery drills should be operating in the 2,000RPM range, plus a brushless will yield a much longer battery life if you are tapping all day.

[ennismaple]

We are using the Dewalt 20V brushless drills. We can go the morning on one 4 aH or 5 aH battery. The weight doesn't bother me because it's nothing compared to the Tanaka gas drills that weighed over 10 lbs and spat 2-stroke exhaust in your face all day!

[DrTimPerkins]

We are using the Dewalt 20V brushless drills.

Same. Dewalt 20V lithium. Used to use Dewalt 18V ni-cad. The 20V are much lighter and last considerably longer.

We've used the Lapierre tapping bits for the last several years and are quite happy with them. New bits each year. Changed about mid-way through tapping.