My Lowes had some Irwin tap and drill and threading stuff on clearance/

[LCHIEN]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/IRWIN-HANSO...Set/1003072932
1/4-18 NPT (for air fittings) was reduced to $2.97 from $12.
Picked up a metric thread gauges (needed one recently) for 1.17
and a 6-32 tap and drill for $1.97

other Irwin stuff was reduced; rang up much cheaper than the yellow tag prices.
there was some small sets of tap and drill and tap and die sets. Irwin is usually pretty good quality compared to the HF sets I have.

When I got home I discovered I already had that NPT set. Now I have 2!

[leehljp]

It sure is nice to find these types of clearances at one's local stores. I'll check and see what ours have today since I probably will be going.


Edit: I was going to post that under Loring's "Comment" section but just noticed that "Comment" is not on the OP. I learned something this morning!

[nicer20]

Hmm good to know. Wondering if there is any 9/16-12 tap & drill set. I think god forbid, that is what is needed if we need to rethread the blade raising mechanism with helicoil.

Wish I could drive there

[LCHIEN]

Hmm good to know. Wondering if there is any 9/16-12 tap & drill set. I think god forbid, that is what is needed if we need to rethread the blade raising mechanism with helicoil.

Wish I could drive there

Keep your elevation mechanism clean and lubed...
dust collection and some dri lube on the vertical screw and where it turns.
People who wear out the blade raising mechanism threads and need to helicoil it, do it because they never cleaned the sawdust and they didn t lube the screw. They kept turning the crank even as it got harder and harder and harder to raise and they forced it.

[nicer20]

Keep your elevation mechanism clean and lubed...
dust collection and some dri lube on the vertical screw and where it turns.
People who wear out the blade raising mechanism threads and need to helicoil it, do it because they never cleaned the sawdust and they didn t lube the screw. They kept turning the crank even as it got harder and harder and harder to raise and they forced it.

Yes sir.

After "fixing" the initial trouble I had with that mechanism (you might recall my posts and of course, thanks to you all helping me), I have been keeping up with that as much possible.

[capncarl]

nicer20, a regular 9/16-12 tap is not the tap you need to insert a 9/16/12 helicoil. The industry has clouded the water by naming their helicoil tap 9/16-12 STI. (Screw thread insert). It is a really oddball size using thread length, thread depth and other things we mere mortals wouldn’t understand…. So they just name it the size thread it replaces STI tap.
Lowes might actually have this tap you need, in not sure, just a regularly tap won’t work with helicoil.
capncarl

[LCHIEN]

If its stripped a tap won't restore a stripped thread to working

Being a thread in aluminum its easy to strip if not cared for or abused.

The preferred solution has been a helicoil insert; That requires enlarging the hole with a 19/32 drill bit and threading a stainless steel threaded insert onto the enlarged hole and breaking off the tang used for installation.
So a 9/16-12 tap and tap drill (the original threaded hole) are not needed.
You need a 9/16"-12 Helicoil repair kit or similar which has helicoils, STI tap, and installation tool, plus a drill (in this case I believe 19/32")

From the FAQ
[posted by “Knuckles” Brian] I went the HeliCoil route. Thanks to Ed's instructions in the Article section, it wasn't too difficult. It's not something I'd want to do every day. I searched about a dozen auto parts, hardware, and machine shops in this area, and I had no luck finding the 9/16"-12 Helicoil (or clone) kit. I ended up ordering one from a website called Cartools.com. It cost something like $50, shipping included. Wouldn't you know, though, after I bought it I stopped in a local discount tool place that I hadn't noticed previously; they had a clone (Permacoil) kit for $15.

The next problem was finding a 19/32" drill bit to drill out the lug that the threaded rod goes through. [ed. Note – some helicoil kits include this drill bit]…
Probably the most tedious (and potentially disastrous) step of the repair was drilling out the hole prior to tapping it. I figured that I only had one shot to drill the hole on the same axis, and I wouldn't know how well I did until "the reckoning" of trying to put it together. I used a 1/2" drill bit to help get the bit centered, and find the axis. I didn't measure the angle, but it wasn't exactly 90º to the table. I had to shim it with some laminated air and a few mosquito wings.

Once I got the hole drilled and tapped, the insert went in nice and easy, and I epoxied it in place. I made sure to keep screwing the insert tool in and out so that any epoxy that squeezed into the inside threads was "threaded" in.

Doing a little poking around I found this info



I think this kit $50 or so lacks the drill bit but includes a handful of helicoil inserts

I was curious how it works.
There's a tool that spins it into the drilled and tapped hole. using the cross bar and installation tool. After final installation the cross bar is snapped off, you can see a weak spot where it will break off leaving an unobstructed threaded hole.


Installation Procedure:

1. Drill out the old threads using the drill size that is recommended on the thread repair kit packaging. The shank of the tap also lists the recommended drill size.
2. Tap the hole using the Screw Thread Insert (STI) tap.
3. Install the insert using the installation tool.
4. Remove the tang of the insert.

HeliCoil - Repair Engineering

[Stan]

Had to make a run to town today for supplies, part of that involved stopping by Lowe's for some fiberglass insulation and spray foam.
Checked the tool area for the Jorgensen parallel jaw clamps I had been hearing about. Got lucky, they had 5 of the 24" clamps for $29.98 each - I grabbed 4 of them.