AWPC

It actually happened at class, but my weekend class is made up entirely of people I work with.

Two of us were trying to convince another student to disregard the tapping method shown to him by the instructor and use an alternate method. In class we are told to hand tap. In a real machine shop, you power tap.

Him: You should power tap that.

Me: Aluminum? Hell yeah!

Him: I'm a big fan of power tapping.

Me: With aluminum you've got nothing to be scared of. Even cold rolled steel is easy.

Him: You should give it a try.

Me: I remember the first time I power tapped. It was like the first time I had sex. I was all nervous about something going wrong. Sweating. Even shaking a little.

Him: Yeah. It's a lot like that. Just go real slow and keep one hand on the brake.

Me: After you do it once you go 'Hey! That was easy!'

Him: And fun!

Me: Let's do it again!

Him: Right now!

Me: And I did.

Him: It only gets better with practice.

He was laughing, but I think we scared him. He chose to hand tap and is still a power tapping virgin.

If you've got a good tap and use enough lube, there is no reason to be scared of power tapping. You will still hand tap, but you'll power tap every chance you get.