It’s become a common sight in manufacturing. An employee, needing to tap a hole in a metal part, reaches for a standard hand drill instead of the tool designed specifically for the job—a tapper.

The average do-it-yourselfer hates to drill metal, especially steel. We don’t know how many questions readers have submitted and we’ve answered on that topic over the years. Even the most enthusiastic ...

A cheap and effective ratcheting tap. Need to cut threads into a hole? A tool called a tap is what you need, and a hand-operated one like the one shown here to the side is both economical and ...

Twist drills do not make accurately sized or good finish holes; a reamer of some type is often used to cut the final size and finish. A reamer will not make the original hole; it will only enlarge a ...