Hello, John Talley here with partzilla.com. Today, we're going to spend a little bit of
time talking about the differences and when you would want to use either a tap and die
set versus a thread restoring kit. Now I know the majority of them you see out
there are the tap and dies, and they're available everywhere, but there are some
instances where that can get the job done but may not get it done in a very accurate way.
So you may want to consider investing in a thread restore kit, so let's talk about a
couple of instances where it is a much better idea to go with restoring kit versus the tap and die.
All right guys, let's start off with a little bit of a vocabulary lesson and talk about the
individual pieces that make up each one of these kits, because they're very similar.
Your tap, well, as you can well imagine it looks like a bolt but it is a very specific design
where it has threads and flutes that are cut into and in between each section of thread,
of which there are three. Now this is designed so any of the debris, and corrosion, or whatever
material you're trying to cut has a place to go as you are actually cutting in the new threads.
Now conversely, a dye straightens out the threads of a bolt and or a stud
it has those three cutting areas as well as areas for the debris to fall away
as you're cutting or cleaning those threads. Now with the restore is built basically the same way,
however your area for the cutaway or the debris are much smaller,
and by making that smaller you have a larger area where you're actually cleaning out the threads.
With this design, you're much less likely to damage the threads.
Same thing on the die piece as well: much larger surface area for the threads,
less cutting area for debris. Yeah, they look a little bit the same, but honestly,
the way they operate is completely different. With a tap what you're generally doing is
cutting new threads. Now you can use this to clean out threads, but I compare it to
a sledgehammer and chisel versus a scalpel, and that's really what you're talking about here.
Because with a tap it's actually going to take out more material and do it the more aggressively
than a restore. Now if you're drilling into new metal and you need a set of threads? This is what
you want to use. Now if you're trying to just clean them up and get an accurate torque reading
or just to clean out any type of corrosion or thread locker that may be in the threads?
The thread restore is the way you want to go. Now if you look at the tip of the tap itself, you'll
notice that the bottom edge is kind of chamfered and the distance in between these threads,
well, that's not exactly accurate because that's acting like a drill bit
going into the threads. Now if you put this into an existing set of threads,
guess what? It's going to take off more material before it can even get to the cutting
and the cleaning action that you're looking for further up on the shaft of the tap itself.
Now if you look at the thread chaser or restore, you'll see that yes, it has the same channels for
the debris and the corrosion or whatever loose material that needs to be taken out of the thread
grooves gives it a place to go. But it does not have a drill bit looking tip so all it's going
to do is just clean out in between the threads and not try to cut new ones. Let me show you
what I'm talking about. Let's say that there's some thread locker or a little bit of corrosion
whatever down on the threads of this head. Now if you take the tap and try to run it down,
it almost immediately has resistance on it because that's those those tip threads that are trying to
cut in. Now yes, if I had the T handle on there I could force it through. But look at the difference
with the chaser, because these threads are perfect. There's
nothing that needs to be done to them and with almost no effort.
It goes straight through and that's what you're after with a thread restore kit. This tries to
cut new threads, this just cleans them up, so big difference in between the final product
that you're going to get going one versus the other. Now when do you want to use the thread
restore kit? Well basically anytime I'm doing an engine build, that's when I break this thing
out and I clean up all the threads, because when you open up an engine you introduce,
well, an environment where debris and or corrosion can gather inside of these threads.
Now most of the engines that I build i use a lot of thread locker because I believe in it because
I want it to get torqued down and then stay there. The trick is with that thread locker,
it's going to leave some residual inside the threads. When you go to reinstall that bolt, well
guess what? That's going to throw off your torque reading. So it is very important that you get
all of that cleaned out and the thread chaser is the best way I know to do that very effectively.
It is going to do the minimal amount of damage to the threads while cleaning them up and correcting
them-- a small imperfection if it just had a small little ding on the outside of it, whereas
a tap is going to get the job done but it's going to take out more material than necessary
especially compared to a thread chaser. All right, there you go guys that's the biggest differences I
know and have experienced in between a tap and die set and a thread restore kit. Well listen, if you
need these or any other parts for your machine, why don't you come see us at partzilla.com and
we can get you taken care of. If you have any questions or comments about this video,
leave them in the section below and I'll do my best to answer them. We just want to say thank you
for shopping here with us at partzilla, we will see you in the next video. Y'all have a great day.