b'When used to tap tough, long-chipping titanium, benefits of high-relief geometry include longer tool life and better thread finish.Emuge-FrankenPutting screw threads in titanium poses specialchallenges but none that you cant meet.By William Leventon To begin with, shops tackling the job of tap-ping titanium should make sure they have a W hen it comes to threading, dont berigid workholding setup so theres no workpiece intimidated by titanium. Although itsmovement during the process, said Joe Gillilan, notoriously difficult to machine, tita- applications engineer at Tapmatic Corp., a de-nium can be successfully tapped by combiningveloper of tapping attachments and tapholders the right equipment with practices that facili- in Post Falls, Idaho. He also recommends a mod-tate the process. And if tapping doesnt mea- ern CNC machine with a rigid tapping cycle that sure up to your standards, a threading alterna- synchronizes spindle rotation to match the feed tive can help users meet the requirements ofadvance of a particular tap pitch.the most demanding titanium applications. Providing much better control over tap ctemag.com/cteguide.com15Tapping.indd 15 12/15/22 1:20 PM'