Really Simple Tap Guide
©
Frank Ford 2004; Photos by FF
Here's a little tool I use with bigger taps to keep them aligned for hand tapping in the mill or drill press. It's just a piece of 1/2" drill rod with a point on the end, which engages the center hole in the back end of the tap:
Its 60 degree point sticks right down between the jaws of my tap handle:
And, by keeping good downward pressure on the (not rotating, of course) spindle, I can run the tap in with one hand:
