Four Types of Taps and How They’re Used to Create Hole Threads

Four types of taps

There are basically four types of taps that exist in the marketplace today.

Hand tap: This tap has straight flutes and comes in either a taper, plug or bottoming chamfer. It’s designed to be used in either a through-hole or a shallow blind-hole.
Spiral-point tap: Like the hand tap, this tap also has straight flutes, but with a lefthanded spiral sheer at the point that cuts off the chips and shoots in forward in front of the thread being produced. It’s the strongest chip-cutting tap, and should be used in through-holes only.
Spiral-fluted tap: This tap features spiraling flutes, and will cut off chips, lifting them out of the pre-drilled hole. It’s the weakest construction tap, and should be only used in blind-holes where chip congestion could be a problem.
Forming tap: This tap doesn’t produce any chips, and is by far the strongest tap produced by Greenfield Industries, who Border States partners with when it comes to tap technology. The forming tap moves material into the tap thread form to produce a very strong thread when used in softer materials measured under 28 Rockwell scale (RC.) It can be used for through-holes or blind-holes.

This blog post was written in partnership with Greenfield Industries.