Taps and dies are paired hand tools used to cut screw threads. A tap cuts the internal, or female, thread of a mating pair, such as the thread inside a nut, while a die cuts the external, or male, thread, such as the thread on a bolt; using a tap is called tapping, and using a die is called threading. Together the two let a metalworker cut a new thread from plain round stock or a drilled hole, or repair a thread that has been damaged, without machining a whole new part.
Facts
Introduced When (Circa)circa the 16th and 17th centuries (shop-made by machinists and toolmakers), with commercial manufacture beginning with vendor Joseph Clement in 1828 1 OriginTaps and dies were originally shop-made tools; Joseph Clement was an early commercial vendor of taps and dies starting in 1828, and more advanced milling practice in the 1860s and 1870s ended hand-filing of a tap's flutes. 1 Connections
Used In
Tap and Die is used in Model Engineering.
Sources
1. Tap and Die (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory section, opening sentence
Metalworking taps and dies were often made by their users during the 16th and 17th centuries (especially if the user was skilled in tool making), using such tools as lathes and files for the shaping, and the smithy for hardening and tempering.
History section, second sentence
Joseph Clement was one such early vendor of taps and dies, starting in 1828.
Lead paragraph
In the context of threading, taps and dies are two classes of tools used to create or repair screw threads.
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