Tapping

Tapping

A tap cuts a thread on the inside surface of a hole, creating a female surface which functions like a nut. The three taps in the image illustrate the basic types commonly used by most machinists:

Taps

Bottoming tap or plug taps

The tap illustrated in the top of the image has a continuous cutting edge with almost no taper

— between 1 and 1.5 threads of taper is typical. This feature enables a bottoming tap to cut threads to the bottom of a blind hole. A bottoming tap is usually used to cut threads in a hole that has already been partially threaded using one of the more tapered types of tap; the tapered end ("tap chamfer") of a bottoming tap is too short to successfully start into an unthreaded hole. In the US, they are commonly known as bottoming taps, but in Australia and Britain they are also known as plug taps.

Intermediate tap, second tap, or plug tap

The tap illustrated in the middle of the image has tapered cutting edges, which assist in aligning and starting the tap into an untapped hole. The number of tapered threads typically ranges from 3 to 5.Plug taps are the most commonly used type of tap.[citation needed] In the US, they are commonly known as plug taps, whereas in Australia and Britain they are commonly known as second taps.