Machine Taps for Aluminium & Non-Ferrous
Metric Coarse HSSE Spiral Flute Machine Tap for Aluminium - Osborn
- The Blue Ring HSSE machine tap is our first choice for aluminium and aluminium alloys
- The 45° helix angle ensures excellent chip evacuation
- Metric Coarse (MC) thread form
- Spiral Flute
- Sizes available M2 to M20
£7.27 excl. VAT
£8.72 incl. VAT
Metric Coarse HSSE Spiral Point Machine Tap for Aluminium - Osborn
- The Blue Ring HSSE machine tap is our first choice for aluminium and aluminium alloys
- The 45° helix angle ensures excellent chip evacuation
- Metric Coarse (MC) thread form
- Spiral Point
- Sizes available M2 to M20
£8.03 excl. VAT
£9.64 incl. VAT
Frequently Asked Questions
Aluminium presents particular challenges:
Long, stringy chips that can wrap around straight-fluted taps
Built-up edge (BUE) aluminium has a high affinity for HSS, causing material adhesion to the tap flutes; this increases torque and can cause tap seizure or breakage
Low material hardness meaning the tap cuts easily, but the soft material can close around the tap if chip evacuation is poor.
Best choice for aluminium:
Spiral point (gun tap): for through-holes in aluminium; pushes chips ahead of the tap and out the far side; good chip clearance prevents wrapping
HSSE substrate: the cobalt content of HSSE improves hardness retention and reduces BUE compared to standard M2 HSS
Sharp, polished flute geometry a bright or TiN/TiCN-coated tap with a polished flute reduces friction against aluminium significantly
Our NUI 13780 Series HSSE spiral point taps are specifically designed for aluminium and soft materials
For blind-hole aluminium tapping at high volume a roll tap (cold-forming tap) is also excellent as no chips at all and the work-hardened thread surface is actually beneficial in the softer material.