The Cheap Tool guy got me...

[Downwindtracker2]

I learned long ago, taps and dies is where buying new quality is worth it. But at prices where you only buy one at a time.

[pete]

I doubt there's many of us who haven't been bitten by the cheap tool guy, and in my case more than I'd like to own up to. Human nature I suppose, but after enough of that garbage I finally started doing what Johnfreese mentioned. Not listing the internal drawbar thread on a R8 shank if it's different than the standard 7/16" x 20 for North America is either laziness or an intentional rip off by the seller. With no specifications for what an item really is then I move on to a company that does list them. Changing drawbars to something that will work for one tool shank due to my ceiling being 1 1/2" too short isn't optional for me. Cutting tools, taps, dies etc are a lot tougher since the dirt cheap HSS, Carbide or the steel and heat treatment on the taps or dies could be almost any thing. Maybe there are some cheap drills, taps and dies that do stand up and work, but I sure haven't had much luck finding them. Sad to hear the Hanson brand has degraded that much, they were far from the best but at one time were at least ok.

[jcfx]

Russ,
Could Victor Machinery have what you need ?
https://www.victornet.com/subdepartment ... /1290.html

They're local to me and they're my go to place for one off things like a 3/4-10 tap.
Truth be told some things are India made, some are not too shabby some are pure buffalo bagels.

[BadDog]

Thanks. Looks like a good price if of usable quality. Not sure though. In cases like that, you might get a good one, then the next is junk because some the Chinese shop decided to start cutting back to boost their short term profits, or an MBA doing the same to get his bonus. That's such a hard tap to run (and worse yet in larger sizes), this may be one to just bite the bullet and go with premium.

[jcfx]

A majority of the time the taps and dies are decent from Victor, the price is right if it's a once in a blue moon tapping job.

[BadDog]

Ok, you got me, I'll give them a try. The price is cheaper than the Hanson, so not much to loose, and could hardly be worse given that the Hanson was quite literally useless even for one job. The problem is, it's an as you say "once in a blue moon" task, so unless I just contrive to use it as a test, it may be months before I need it again.
Thanks again.

[spro]

I'm of the opinion that many arbors and tapered collets were previously drilled and tapped metric. Then they ran Imperial in them. Too sloppy to be real and if they had been honest about it, a metric draw bar would be okay.