The Right Tools Matter

Good tools are essential.  I know this, but somehow, or another I still have to learn the lesson.

In a previous post I was trying to tap a thread into a tube for my flap actuator and just could not do it.  I concluded that this skill was pretty much beyond me and I purchased the threaded tube from Vans for the RV-9 and got it all working.

Last week I came across another task that required tapping some holes.  I need to tap some holes into the longerons to hold on a piece of aluminum that seals the gap under the horizontal stabilizer.  Some people just rivet them on, but I knew this was going to be a challenge.  I went out to the garage, found my tap and die set loaded the 6-32 tap into the handle, I found my cutting lube and went to work.  I was successful in the first hole, but on the 2nd hole the tap simply twisted like a candy cane.  It was cutting, but the metal was so poor that it couldn’t withstand this very easy task.

Thats it!  My $39.95 tap and die set from Harbor Freight was just not going to cut it.  So off I went to the Internet.  After shopping for a few minutes I found a set on Amazon for about $170 and bought it without a second thought.  The set came today and within 20 minutes I had all the holes tapped to 6-32 and it works perfectly.

Get good tools.