Is rigid tapping actually worth the risk on a Haas VF-2?

I spent months hand tapping every M6 hole on these aluminum brackets we make, like 80 holes per part. Finally got brave and tried rigid tapping on our 2019 VF-2 last week and it worked perfect, no broken taps. But my lead hand swears it's a gamble on older machines and says I got lucky. Anyone have a cutoff year or machine condition where they wouldn't trust rigid tapping?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliverhernandez1mo ago

Rigid tapping on a 2013 VF-2 here with probably 8,000 hours on it and no issues so far. We do a lot of 6-32 and M4 holes in 6061 and I was scared at first too. But honestly, once I dialed in the feed and speed from the Haas manual it's been smooth. Maybe your lead hand is just stuck in the old ways, but I'd say give it a shot on a test part first. If the machine is in decent shape with no spindle slop it should be fine.

finley_gonzalez491mo ago

oliver's over here acting like a 2013 VF-2 is some antique, but that's barely broken in for a Haas.