A tapping head is used to cut threads in nuts, with three common types: bottom tap, intermediate tap, and tapered tap. Bottom tapping is used for blind holes, intermediate tapping creates holes for bottom or tapered taps, and tapered tapping is used on hard surfaces. Different tapping heads include procunier, Tapmatic, hex head, flat head, and reversible tapping heads.
A tapping head is a drill or cutter attachment used to cut the threads of a nut. Instead of being a solid surface inside like the type of nuts used with Phillips or flat head screws, there are threads drilled inside. The three most common types of tapping heads are bottom tap or male tap, intermediate tap or second tap, and tapered tap.
Bottom tapping or tapping taps are used to form tapping heads with threads that have little or no taper. This allows the screw to be installed successfully and is usually used for threading into a blind hole. A blind hole is one that has been drilled some depth but not completely into the wood or other material. Bottom tapping is also sometimes used in conjunction with other types of tapping because the bottom tapping end is short and may not allow for proper threading.
Intermediate or second tapping refers to a taper tap of smaller diameter than the bottom one. Referred to as a second tap because it is often used in conjunction with other taps during the threading process, this tap typically creates the hole later used by a bottom or tapered tap. Intermediate or second taps are most common in the United States.
A taper tap is much smaller than its counterparts. Used on harder surfaces such as steel and other types of metal, the taper tap has a sharp, pointed end and small diameter. A taper tap is also used when the area is hard to reach or the number of threads required is greater, as most taper taps create up to 10 threads.
The tapping heads formed from these taps include the procunier tapping head, Tapmatic tapping head, hex head tapping screw, flat head tapping screw, and reversible tapping head. A procunier tapping head is named after William Procunier, who manufactured positive reverse tapping heads in the 1920s. Tapmatic tapping heads are manufactured by the Tapmatic company and feature self-reversing tapping heads. Hex-head self-tapping screws have a hex-shaped slot at the top into which the driving tool is inserted to tighten the screw in place.
A flat head self-tapping screw is similar to a traditional screw with a single slot to tighten. The main difference is that the self-tapping screw is designed to drill a previously started hole. A traditional screw works equally well whether the hole is pre-drilled or not. A reversible tapping head, as the name implies, is a tapping head that can be drilled in or out at the same rate without the need to stop and restart the drill.
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