IN-DIE TAPPING

by Chandan kumar H.K.

IN-DIE TAPPING

IN-DIE TAPPING
IN-DIE TAPPING: "In-Die" tapping is
tapping in a progressives die on a punch
press.
In-die tapping has become the only
competitive alternative to secondary
tapping.

IN-DIE TAPPING

Considerations for Combining

Stamping and Tapping
INITIAL INVESTMENT
LABOR REQUIREMENTS
PRODUCTION RATES

IN-DIE TAPPING

INITIAL INVESTMENT
Cost of building a tapping die is generally less
than that of building a secondary high-speed
tapping machine.
Secondary tapping machines usually are
dedicated to a single part, but a tapping unit can
be changed from die to die, reducing the initial
cost of subsequent tapping dies.
The cost of stamping parts with multiple tapped
holes can be further reduced using a multispindle tapping unit. (Cost per hole 30% to 40%
less than that of an individual tapping unit.)
IN-DIE TAPPING

INITIAL INVESTMENT
Multi-Spindle tapping units usually are dedicated
to a single die, so they cannot be interchanged.
Tapping heads are compact.

IN-DIE TAPPING

LABOR REQUIREMENTS
Eliminating a secondary tapping operation also
eliminates related handling and feeding costs.
In-die tapping enables the press operator to
produce completed tapped parts in one operation.
Inspection is still required. New sensor
technology can help reduce inspection costs.

IN-DIE TAPPING

PRODUCTION RATES
The size of the tap and the material (Hardness)
being tapped determine the ultimate production
rate of a tapped stamped part.
Some stampers are running modern tapping units
close to 200 strokes per minute (SPM), producing
millions of tapped stamped parts monthly.
These high production rates usually are limited to
nonferrous metal parts and those with smalldiameter tapped holes (up to M6).
IN-DIE TAPPING

PRODUCTION RATES
As the diameter of the tap increases, production
rate decreases.
It can be difficult to convince a metal stamper to
slow down the press to perform the tapping
operation. Even with todays modern tapping
units, some compromise in press speed may be
necessary.
Part is finished in one operation with one
operator.
IN-DIE TAPPING

PRODUCTION RATES
Example: An automotive part with a 5/16-18TPI
tapped hole required.
Alternative 1:
Produce pre-tap hole at (Piercing) 90 SPM.
Secondary tapping operation 30 to 40 SPM.
22 components / min.
Alternative 2:
In-die tapping produce a completed part at a
rate of 60 SPM.
60 components / min.
IN-DIE TAPPING

WORKING OF TAPPING UNIT

Conversion of the vertical linear press motion to a
helical tap movement requires a lead screw that
will the cause rotation in a mating part, when
axially loaded.
When driven down by the press ram, the lead
screw drives a series of gears that convert the
linear travel of the press ram to the required
helical travel for a specific tap diameter and pitch.

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WORKING OF TAPPING UNIT

The lead screw itself does not rotate, but it
passing through a mating gear, causes the gear
to rotate.
This rotation is transmitted to a tap cartridge,
which produces a helical rotation for the tap.
The required tap travel, relative to ram travel, is
obtained by selecting the correct gear ratio.
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DIE IN OPEN POSITION

LEAD
SCREW

SHEET
STRIP

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DIE CLOSED POSITION

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DIE CLOSED POSITION

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PRESS WORKING CYCLE

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TYPES OF IN-DIE TAPES

Top-down Tapping
Bottom-up Tapping
Strip-following Tapping
Servo-driven Tapping

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TOP-DOWN TAPPING
Top-down tapping unitssingle
or multi-Spindleare suitable
for flat running parts with
minimal strip travel.
Tap changes can be made in
seconds
These units typically can be
used in high-volume, highspeed applications and are
capable of running at more
than 200 SPM.
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BOTTOM-UP TAPPING
As strip lift begins to
increase, (which is the
distance the material has
to lift above the lower die
to clear for extrusions or
forms to progress to the
next station) tapping
from the bottom up is
one way to compensate
for the increase in
material movement.
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BOTTOM-UP TAPPING
In bottom-up tapping, the material is pushed
down, allowing the tapper to thread the part.

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BOTTOM-UP TAPPING

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SERVO-DRIVEN TAPPING
In a servo-driven tapping
unit, the threading
operation functions
independently of the press
stroke, which can be
beneficial when running
large-diameter taps.
They can tap from the top
down or bottom up and
work in multitap
applications.
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PRESS CYCLE

225

135
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STRIP FOLLOW TAPPING

Strip following tapping is used for high strip lift
(may due to bending or flanging on the strip).
A strip-following tapping unit can begin to thread
the part as soon as the material feeds into
position.
After the sheet is piloted, the tapper starts to
thread the sheet and move along with the sheet
downwards.
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STRIP FOLLOWING TAPPING

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STRIP FOLLOWING TAPPING

Tapping
head

Lead
screw

Strip

IN-DIE TAPPING

Spring
lift

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STRIP FOLLOW TAPPING

The following example demonstrates stripfollowing tapping unit,
Given:
Running in a 12-in.-stroke press. in. thick
part with a 3/8-16TPI hole and 1 in. strip lift
that needs approximately 9 tap revolutions.

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STRIP FOLLOW TAPPING

A conventional tapping unit working from the
bottom up with a 2:1 gear ratio (2 revolutions
per 1 of press stroke) requires the stripper to
hold the material for approximately 4.5 in (for
9rev of tap).
This 4.5 in. window allows the press to run at 18
to 22 strokes/min.

PRESS
STROKE

Tapping
stroke
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STRIP FOLLOW TAPPING

The same part with a strip-following tapping
unit with a 1:1 gear ratio allows the tapping
window to increase from 4.5 to 9 in., which
reduces the rpm of the tap by half so press
speed can be doubled.
Press can run at 36 to 44 strokes/min.
PRESS
STROKE

Tapping
stroke

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TAPPING STROKE VS SPM

44
Stroke
per
min.

22

4.5
9
Tapping stroke in inches
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DESIGN CONSIDERATION
Materials
Material lift
Stripper
Piloting
Clearances for tapping unit
Lead screw engagement
Press stroke
Gear ratio
Tapped hole diameter
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MATERIALS

Taps a full range of threaded hole diameters in

popular materials including Stainless steel, Mild
steel and Aluminum.

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MATERIAL LIFT
When tapping from top down, material lift should
be kept minimum.
Less the material lift less the tap has to travel.

When the part requires a higher material lift,

tapping from the bottom up or top down require
Rapid Advance Lead Screw assembly to maintain
the production rate.

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STRIPPER
The stripper will have to hold the material the
entire time the tapping process is taking place.
If the stock moves up and down during the
tapping cycle, results in "pulled threads in the
part.
Variables Such as material thickness (plus
extrusions) or any forms will determine the actual
stripper travel.
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STRIPPER
Spring strippers are the most common method
used in tapping dies, though in many cases a
bridge stripper (box stripper) may be used in
relatively flat running parts.

If a bridge stripper is used it is still advisable to

have spring pushpins located on either side of the
tapping unit to hold the material down during the
tapping operation.
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STRIPPER
Air activated hold-downs located on either side of
the tapping unit have also been a successful
method of holding the material during the tapping
process.
Whichever method is used it is important to
properly calculate the length of stroke that is
necessary to hold the part during the tapping
operation.

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STRIPPER
Top
half
moving down
(no
strip
holding)
Strip is held
before
tapping
begins
tapping
is
continued
with
strip
holding
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STRIP HOLDING
Strip should
be held as
nearer as
possible to
the tapping
area

COMPONENT
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PILOTING
Hole location will aid in providing longer tap life.
Due to the longer stripper travel tapping dies
usually require longer pilots.
It is always best to have the pilots enter the
material prior to the tap entering the material.
In some cases it is not practical to use such long
pilots, especially when they are a smaller
diameter.
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PILOT
EXTRACTION

FEED ANGLE

TAP
EXTRACTION

PILOTING

TAPPING

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PILOTING
It may be necessary to place the pilots in a
guided stripper or in the lower die section.

Ideal situation is to have pilots immediately

before and after each tapping unit station.

The stock is likely to move back and forth in the

die by a few thousandths, can mean broken taps!
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CLEARANCES FOR TAPPING

UNIT
The tapping unit requires two clearance holes in
the die set, one in the upper die shoe and one in
the lower die shoe.

The upper die shoe requires a clearance hole for

the complete tapping unit.

The clearance hole in the lower die shoe will be

for the lead screw.
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CLEARANCES FOR TAPPING

UNIT
By providing these two clearance holes the shut
height between the two die shoes will be lowered
to accommodate the basic tapping unit.
If less shut height is required then additional
clearance for the housings themselves can be
provided.
It is helpful to provide hand clearance to allow for
removal of the tapping unit assembly.
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CLEARANCES FOR TAPPING

UNIT
Vertical clearance will be needed under the
tapping unit equal to the press stroke for the lead
screw in the lower die shoe, this is standard in all
models.

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CLEARANCES FOR TAPPING

UNIT
Clearance for
tapping head

Clearance
for lead
screw

Parallel
blocks
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PRESS STROKE AND GEAR RATIO

Tapping dies will usually require a minimum of
three inches of press stroke.
Higher press stroke may be necessary on dies
with higher material lift.
Tapping units are available with different gear
ratios, which will compensate for very high tap
movement on long stroke presses.
Tapping units have four standard available gear
ratios 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 and 5:1.
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GEAR RATIO
Gear ratio refers to the number of revolutions
that the tap will make per one inch of press
stroke.
Example: 5:1 gear ratio in a 4 inch stroke press
will make 20 revolutions clockwise and 20
revolutions counter clockwise per press cycle.
As a general rule, lower stroke presses will use
higher ratio tapping units. Once the number of
required revolutions for a particular tapping die is
determined press stroke and gear ratio can be
calculated.
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TAPPED HOLE DIAMETER

Proper tapped hole diameter is crucial for
maintaining long tap life.
one or two thousandth difference in hole diameter
will make a major difference in the over all
performance of a tapping die.
Example: for 10-32TPI form tap, tap drill sizes

0.176

65% thread

0.175

75% thread

As a general rule, a tapping die will run best when

the lowest expectable thread percentage is used.
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IN-DIE TAPPING

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LEAD SCREW ENGAGEMENT

It is always important to maintain proper lead
screw engagement.
No mating parts become disengaged during the
press cycle.
Minimum engagement at TDC should be at least
1.5 times the diameter of the drive lead screw.

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LEAD SCREW ENGAGEMENT

A higher stroke tapping unit can always run in a
lower stroke punch press.

A lower stroke tapping unit in a higher stroke

punch press, it will be necessary to purchase a
lead screw designed equal (or more) to the
stroke of the press.

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FEED ANGLE
A portion of crank rotation (in degrees) on the
press, which is used to actually feed the stock
forward one progression.
Tapping angle needs to remain as large as
possible because more time allotted for tapping
keeps the ratio of the tapping unit lower.
A lower ratio translates into a lower tap RPM.
This allows the stamper to run the press faster.
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FEED ANGLE
The smaller the window for tapping, the faster
the unit must turn the tap to get it into, and back
out of, the part.

Faster tap RPM means Slower press speeds.

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PILOT
EXTRACTION

FEED ANGLE
As small as possible

TAP
EXTRACTION

PILOTING

TAPPING

As large as possible

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STANDARDS
Model

TH-25

TH-35

TH-45

Tapping Range (mm)

M2 to
M5

M3 to M6

M3.5 to
M16

Maximum Speed (stroke/min.)

250

200

100

Press Stroke in mm (min-max)

63 - 457

63 - 457

63 - 508

2:1 to
5:1

2:1 to 4:1

2:1 to
4:1

Tap Revolutions per 1" press

stroke

HUTCHISON TOOL SALES Ltd. IN-DIE TAPPING

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COSTS
STROKE

TH-25

TH-35

TH-45

TH-55

3"

$4,113.00

$4,749.00

$6,581.00

$12,487.00

4"

$4,208.00

$4,844.00

$6,709.00

$12,678.00

5"

$4,303.00

$4,939.00

$6,837.00

$12,869.00

6"

$4,398.00

$5,034.00

$6,965.00

$13,060.00

7"

$4,493.00

$5,129.00

$7,093.00

$13,251.00

8"

$4,588.00

$5,224.00

$7,221.00

$13,442.00

9"

$4,683.00

$5,319.00

$7,349.00

$13,633.00

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Video of in-die tapping

Play

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REFERENCES
1)

NEW CONCEPTS OF IN-DIE TAPPING, John s. Douse

2)

COMBINING OPERATIONS TO COMPETE IN THE GLOBAL

MARKET, By William Pfister, October 12, 2004.
IN-DIE TAPPING CUTTERNT TECHNOLOGY AND
EXPERIENCE, By Graham J. Clarke, Product Manager, Danly

3)

division supervisor/pronic, USA.

IEM, Chicago, IL

4)

IN-DIE TAPPING UNIT PAID FOR ITSELF WITHIN A YEAR,

Brauer Coley,Manufacturingtalk Editorial Team on 24 May 2004

5)
6)
7)
8)

www.Hutchisontool.com
www.mate.com/easytap
www.metalformingmagazine.com
www.Thefabricator.COM
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Thank you

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