My Setup for threading a lot of holes in aluminium really quickly.

[Max Maker]

I need to cut a lot of holes in these Aluminium profiles about once or twice a year. 1150 holes per batch. So I came up with this setup. I hope it’s interesting to you.

[Frank S]

yes a counter balance which creates neutral weight reduces fatigue,also aids in holding the tool in the horizontal position is a win win

[Toolmaker51]

I'd never thought of denatured alcohol as coolant for aluminum, but here is satisfactory proof.
My nonferrous go-to is kerosene but it won't evaporate, leaving oily film. Aluminum sticks to taps, clog and break or wreck threads at the least...

[Frank S]

I used to have a salesman from Car-Products service my nut and bolt selection I also bought some tapping solution specifically for aluminum from him.
One day he came by and told me that the company was dropping several of their line items. 1 of these was the tap fluid which I also used with my reamers and hydraulic valve cavity burnishing tools. I asked him just what was in the stuff anyway.
25% kerosene 60 % acetone 10% muriatic acid and 5% of something that I couldn't pronounce or even think about spelling anyway.
So I decided to make up a gallon of my own concoction. There was a tank trailer company not far from me who used muriatic acid in their process for acidizing their trailers they gave me a gallon of the stuff they used not pure muriatic acid but what the heck it was free. I made my solution 25-60-15 but just for good measures I poured in a couple ounces of Dawn dish washing liquid, after all why not? it worked almost as good as the expensive stuff I had been buying.

[stillldoinit]

The last job I had lasted 26 years before retiring in 2015. In my early stint at the company before automation took hold we had something very similar but was more than couple times a year. I took an electric drill and got into the f/R switch and wired it to a foot switch with normally open/or held closed contacts. Foot off ran forward, foot on it reversed. After wearing out a couple drills, apparently some company had already thought of production people and sold us an air tool that would run forward with lever and reverse with a push button on side. When I first started I was the only machine repair person with about 200 manual machines to take care of, most being home built there at the company and single operation. When I left there were about 60 CNC machines and very few manual machines left. The company is a family owned business manufacturing hydraulic pumps. A lot of folks thought it would go under when I left, but after over 3 years, they are still going very strong. I was between 67/68 when I left and loved my job and never considered myself irreplacable, just lucky to have a job I liked. We had an outside electrician who I was very good friends with and his philosophy on how important you are to a company was a very simple test.
Put your hand in a bucket of water and jerk it out and see how much of a hole is left. Will be 72 in a week or so and fortunate to have good health. I wish I had taken pics of some of the tools and contraptions I have been involved in and really enjoy seeing all the contributions here. I quite often have done many of the things listed but choose not to inject my own experience as I do not want to steal anyones thunder. There is an extreme volume of wisdom and experience here and I love reading and seeing all the contributions. We moved from Northern Illinois to Buffalo N.Y. and I still haven't found many of my tools much of the stuff I have in large boxes still needing to be dug out and try to find a place organize. I really did not mean to get so long winded and almost feel like I started talking and can't shut up. With that, I am going to hit Reply,
Bill Anderson in Buffalo

[DIYer]

Thanks Max Maker! We've added your Hole Drilling and Tapping Setup to our Drilling and Drill Presses category,
as well as to your builder page: Max Maker's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Hole Drilling and Tapping Setup by Max Maker

tags: drilling

[KustomsbyKent]

At one of the jobs I worked in the maintenance department, and they had a corded drill that had a built in tapping head. Pulling the trigger with no downforce on the chuck, and it spun in reverse. Push it into a hole to tap, and it automatically switched to going forward. That drill was a dream to tap with, but you must have the correct tap to do speed tapping.
It was easily twice as fast as what Max was showing up above.

In most of the Chinese factories that I've toured, they use a drill press that is set up for tapping, and functions just like the drill I mentioned above. Reverse with no load on the chuck, and forward when any pressure is applied. With the correct tap, that is the way to high volume tap parts using human labor.

The correct taps... of which there are many... are NOT the ones you get in the cheap tap sets in most hardware stores. The ones I prefer are the forward cutting flute taps or the thread forming taps. MSC-Direct carries these, and they are worth it! I have several in my most common sizes... 1/4-20, 5/16-18, 3/8, and 1/2" They often have 3 flutes instead of the 4 flute ones in kits.
If you hate tapping, give these a try, and you'll almost love tapping after that!

Here's some links so you know what to look for:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/04540209

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/49711559

Max was using a spiral flute tap to help clear the chips in aluminum, here's a similar one:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/64047715


As a note, if you try to speed tap with a straight flute tap from a cheap hardware set, you will quickly break the tap... likely on the first hole!... If in aluminum, you'll gum it up, and be drilling holes instead of tapping holes. I worked with a vendor that screwed this up in China.... we did some education on taps.....