jyl

I'm going to buy some pedal taps. I see there are Park, Hozen and maybe other brands. Is there one that you guys like best?

Dan Burkhart 

Eldi is a respected brand as is Cyclus.

FBinNY 

For your purposes a tap is a tap. There are better quality HSS or HS-Co taps sold for industrial use, but they're much pricier and LH is hard to get here in the USA.

The key is to use good technique and the proper cutting fluid.

Dan Burkhart 

Can't be overstated. Advance 1/4 turn, back off 1/2 turn is a good start on technique. Don't just crank it through.

leob1

+1

I used to work in a machine shop, there was this one fellow that just couldn't\wouldn't understand that concept. When ever he got his hand on a tap, he'd shove it in the hole and start cranking on it. Somebody would tell him to back it out just as the "CRACK" of a broken tap was heard. When he saw somebody else thread a hole, he'd ask 'How'd you do that with out breaking it?'

Don't forget to lube it too.

Booger1

Any taps will do if your just chasing threads.I have some old Vermont American hand taps I use when needed.You can get a LH & RH tap at the tool supply places for $20...About $13 for LH and half that for RH.

I still work in a machine shop......I've broken 10 times more taps on the way out than the way in.....

davidad

Its a little harder to break a tap on an Aluminum crank. You should go slow and lube.

jyl

Thanks. I have a tap for derailleur hangers and have learned the need to be careful. I originally bought it when I had to make my own replaceable hanger for an obscure frame (Vitus 997). But I found it handy to chase the derailleur hanger threads of all bikes during rebuilds.

I just realized that I run into cranks with French pedal threads quite often - because I have the misfortune of buying old French bikes, I guess. Recently I also discovered that older Campagnolo cranks can have threading subtly different from the ISO/British pedal thread standard.

My rule is that if the cost of a tool can be recouped in 3 or fewer avoided trips to the LBS, I should buy the tool. Pedal taps seem to meet that test.

jyl

Ordered some Park pedal taps. Yaay!

dedhed

My favorite brand is "someone elses I can borrow"

Sixty Fiver

Park pedal taps are fine and since they get used for chasing threads 99.9 % of the time they don't experience a lot of wear.

When you are actually tapping new threads and not chasing existing threads the quality of the tool and technique is really important... my days used to be spent drilling and tapping much larger holes in a machine shop where the taps might be worth thousands of dollars and you don't get to break many of those before the boss shows you the door.

Sixty Fiver

I don't loan my tools and as such, they tend to last a good long time... compare that to the co-op where I volunteer and teach and the tool attrition can sometimes be heinous because people mis-use them.

Cable cutters and bottom bracket pullers seem to be the greatest casualties... we keep the tapping tools locked up and only trained volunteers can access and use them.

dedhed

I tend to loan tools, especially obsolete, expensive, or precision ones, only to individuals I know to be competent and willing to replace them if they break or damage them. But when I made my living with them didn't loan them out period.

jyl

I have watched crank threads being rethreaded. It seemed straightforward. Wipe the threads clean, oil them, oil the tap, triple check that the tap is threading in straight not crossed, then turn, back off, turn, back off, periodically removing the tap and wiping off kerf and adding oil before continuing. Right?

(Called my LBS, they are slammed with work, could do my tapping on a walk-in, while I wait basis - if I come in the mornings, which I appreciate but I'm not going to leave work for this. So, $38 and a few days should deliver taps to my door.)

jyl

Okay, that was easy. No more Gauche and Droit pedals!

Now I want to go chase every pedal thread in the fleet!

rootboy 

Don't go too crazy!

By the by, kerf is a slot left by a saw blade. Swarf is what you wipe off cut metals.
Good word, swarf.

jyl

Swarf, not kerf. Thanks. At least I didn't say dwarf.

It's like when I got my derailleur hanger tap . . . The power!