[Sierevello]

I have an older Anilam Crusader M 3 axis mill. I would like to use a tension/ compression tapping head I have to do several holes in a tooling plate.

My spindle will reverse using M codes, but the z-axis does not have an encoder for rigid tapping. All the holes will be through holes.

Should I just use the normal tapping cycle in Gibbscam with the T/C head and set the feed to be a little less than the actual feed of the tap so I get some tension on the tap?

Thank You for your help,
Steve

[deadlykitten]

hy sierevello

if you alter the feed, then be sure that once the tap reaches the bottom, you won't ruin your toolholder, but still have room available; thus do the math, calculate how much your toolholder will extend, and check if it is actually capable of doing it, but don't go over 80%eq, thus don't use it at the limit

also, a major factor is how your cnc syncronizes spindle phase and z travel, how much lag is there before reversing, etc ... to reduce all these unknows, use a lower rpm, since higher rpms require more reaction time / kindly

ps : you said that there is no cycle for rigid tapping, but maybe there is for float tapping ?