HHIP 3900-0250 Precision Hand Tapper

Great hand tapping aide, maybe a little over priced, but excellent quality in the build.

When I received this, There was no retention ball to hold the tap collet, the spring clip that holds the retention ball was to big and rusted to hold the ball so the tap collet spun around inside the shaft. There where interior burrs everywhere, and the ring on top was too small for the counter balance and fell off the counter balance when I got close to the end of tapping. I have bought from HHIP before and never had problems like this. I spent 4 hrs making modifications to this unit and noe will have to modify the retention ball system./

One of the most important parts of this thing, the tap holder/chuck doesn't lock the tap in place. No matter how much pressure you put on the tap body, it slips. Now I'm looking for an alternative so that I can install the tap and use this thing.Update: after dissaembling the tap chuck and cleaning some machinin burs, I could get the taps to stay in place.

I build a product that requires well-aligned threads. Hard to obtain with a standart T-handle. This device increased my production speed by a factor of 2. It is finicky and requires some experience to use correctly. First, the flat head set screws in the tap adapters have a flat head set screw that must be thrown away. Get a hex head set screw. Second, adjusting the counterweight is a painful process. Very handy when it works well. Total pain when it does not. The loose vise on the bottom is helpful to align. Turn the tap backward and allow the material to align, then go forward. There is enough leverage in the handle to easily snap any tap, followed by a flurry for 4 letter words and a trip to the hardware store. MUST be bolted to a solid table for any rational use.

Allows one to tap straight threads. Easy to use.

Cheaply built. Retaining screws for collects are terrible had to rplacee. Roller on end of counter balance was seized up out of the box. Retaining pin loose fit and don't hold. Do not buy this product. I'd give it a 0 star rating if I could!

Did not come with assembly instructions just an exploded parts diagram. Once figured out, it is so much easier and faster than using just a tap handle. I found it best to remove one handle so as not to whack my arm as it turned around. A small wheel with a handle would be ideal.

Looks great, have not tried yet. The thing is a bit heavy though. Thanks