Drill America DWT40PC-ROUND #4-1/2" Carbon Steel Tap and Die Set with Round Die review Summary: I purchased this DWT40PC set for just over eighty dollars, knowing full well that there are numerous cheaper options available. There were no reviews on this set at the time, but based on the price and photos I was hoping to “get my moneys worth”. I had become frustrated attempting to use a cheap tap and die set which was giving me very poor results, even though I was using my Taig lathe to hold the dies while thread cutting. I was not sure if this was the fault of the cheap dies, my inexperience, or perhaps both. This Drill America set immediately made it clear that most of my problems had been due to using cheap dies. I am overall quite happy with this set, and would recommend it with a few reservations. There is much more to like about this set than there is to dislike. However it does have a few problems. The Bad: o The case is not very good. It is a generic, cheap plastic thing that will not hold all the pieces in place unless one is very careful and always keeps it horizontal. Because of this all the parts arrived jumbled together. o There is absolutely no information provided with this set. No instructions, no manufacturers name. The taps and dies are labelled (seem to be laser etched), thank goodness. o One of the taps had rust on the base (not the cutting edges). It does not affect its operation, and was cleaned off with some light abrasive. o The dies are chamfered at each end. Its my understanding that dies are typically chamfered at only one end, which is used to start threading. Then it can be flipped so that threads can be cut closer to any shoulder that may be present. Not a big deal for me so far as I have not needed that capability, but I thought it should be mentioned. o These are split dies, and a few of the screws that adjust the gap do not land perpendicular to the opposing face. In practice that has not been a big deal, but it does make for a poor first impression. o The dies have round holes drilled in the sides, so the die can be gripped in the holder. I noticed some of the holes appear slightly oblong, rather than perfectly round. In use this has not caused me any trouble, but it is another sign of slightly sloppy workmanship. o One of the dies, the smallest #4, appeared to have some defects in it as the cutting teeth were not symmetrical on each edge. However I have been able to cut a number of threads using this die and they have turned out just fine. Yet another example of slightly sloppy manufacturing. o The company that manufactures this set, Drill America, has a website and contact information. I attempted to contact them regarding some of these problems and they simply never responded to me. So customer service is essentially nonexistent. At this point you may be wondering why I did not just send this set back. Good question! That brings me to… The Good: o These dies cut really well! The difference between my original cheap set, and these Drill America dies is literally night and day. The cheap set would not even start a thread unless I used my lathe to reduce the diameter of the rod by many tens of thousands of an inch. Even then great force was required to cut threads, which inevitably wound up being loose threads. This Drill America set cuts wonderfully in brass, aluminum, soft steel, and plastic without any need to reduce the rod diameter. Note that I have done most of my threading with the help of my Taig lathe. o The taps also cut very well, and for the most part I have done all of the tapping freehand. Once again, the cheap set required oversize holes to work, but the Drill America cuts fine using the standard hole sizes (as specified in Machinery’s Handbook). o A nice bonus for anyone who works with wood, is that these taps cut fine grained woods very nicely. For example I was able to tap a 1/2-13 thread in some Birch, and then made up a plastic (PVC) “nut” which fits nice and snug and survives numerous re-attachments. The smaller diameters I’ve tried (3/8” and 1/4”) have also worked well. I use hardened steel bushings with 1/2-20 threads to make drilling jigs and this has worked quite well, saving the hassle of using the steel threaded inserts (my bushings are from LeeValley, so of course good quality, however similar looking ones are available here on amazon). I must confess, that when I received this set, having it literally fall out of the cheap plastic case, then noticing the (mostly) cosmetic problems, I almost packed it back up and returned it. However, I decided to take the time to try it out, and that changed my mind. I am now quite happy with it. If money was no object, it’s my understanding that the gold standard in split dies is the Irwin brand. Unfortunately those sets go for close to two hundred dollars, and are hard to find (at the time of this review I could not find them on amazon, my favorite place to shop). Hope you find this information useful. Regards, Joe Mooney
