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Just tapped a hole for a stripped drain plug on my lawn mower with a cheap tap and die set from Harbor Freight

Spent 3 hours fighting a stuck bolt on the mower deck last week before I drilled it out and rethreaded it with a $9 set, and now it holds tighter than the original ever did - has anyone else used cheap taps on small engine parts without snapping them?
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3 Comments
the_holly
the_holly1mo ago
Oh man, I've definitely been there. Three hours is rough, I bet your knuckles are still recovering lmao. I once used a Harbor Freight tap on an old lawn tractor and I honestly thought it was gonna snap on the third turn, but it held and drilled out just fine. Now I treat those cheap taps like they're disposable glass, one wrong move and they're done for, but for $9 you can't beat it for small engine stuff.
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phoenix29
phoenix291mo ago
Agree with you @the_holly, cheap tools are like that gambling game where you know you'll probably lose but when you win it feels great. Kinda the same with those 99 cent store screwdriver sets, they're junk but they'll get you out of a jam once before the tip snaps off.
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hayden466
hayden4661mo ago
Cheap taps are just expensive screw extractors in disguise.
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