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North American Tool Corporation Appoints Steve Mayse as Director of Manufacturing

North American Tool Corporation, South Beloit, IL, has announced the appointment of Steve Mayse as Director of Manufacturing.

Mayse will be responsible for developing and implementing operational strategies to strengthen and grow the manufacturing performance at North American Tool Corporation, a leading provider of special taps, thread mills, dies and gages to industrial markets, and Allen Benjamin Inc., a manufacturer of carbide and premium HSSE taps.

Steve brings a wealth of relevant manufacturing experience to his new position, with more than 35 years of senior management expertise, implementing strategic development and growth execution plans at various leading-edge manufacturers.

“Steve

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Categories: Blog, Company News, Uncategorized

How Do You Spell Relief?

Have you ever had a tapping job that was so troublesome that it caused heartburn or acid indigestion due to broken taps, bad finish, short tap life, over or undersized threads, ETC.?

One way of avoiding or alleviating such a condition is accomplished with the use of a tap feature called “relief”. The definition of “relief” according to Marian Webster, is removal or lightening of something oppressive, painful, or distressing. For a tap, “relief” is the reducing of surface contact between the tap/tap feature and the part being tapped. Surface contact generates unwanted heat causing the

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Categories: Blog, Taps, Uncategorized

Controlled Root Tap

First things first, what is the root of a tap?

The root of a tap is the surface at the bottom of the thread-form that connects adjacent thread flanks and is expressed as width or as a diameter. The term root diameter is also called minor diameter, it’s one of those things, you say rain and I say precipitation, meaning the same thing.

The root of a tap, unless designed as a controlled root tap, normally does nothing, it is a

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Categories: Blog, Taps, Uncategorized

Hole Size – What Does it Matter?

If a tap doesn’t create the hole, why is the hole size so important?

As an experienced machinist will tell you, threading holes is the last thing you master in this craft.  Why is that so? 

1. Drilling and milling are usually easier. 

2. Threading the hole is usually the last operation on a part.  

Let's look at one variable: Hole size.

Generally, for 60 degree threads, the percentage of thread should be 75% as a rule-of-thumb.  That seems to be a good guideline, as it falls within both 3B and 2B minor diameter

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Categories: Blog, Taps

Job Shadow: Emily Torres

Emily Torres is a rising senior at South Beloit High School.  She signed up to participate in a job shadow program with North American Tool and several other local businesses.  The students (including Emily) were exposed to various aspects of the companies they worked with over a two week period.

The shadowing program was organized and sponsored by South Beloit High School’s College & Career Center.  The program is funded by Hendricks CareerTek. “The goal moving forward is to allow participating youth to gain valuable experience in the trades” says Tina Salzman, Business & Education

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Categories: Blog, News

Interview with an Intern: Marcus Schellinger

Marcus Schellinger, a rising senior in a Rock County High School (WI) on track to graduate at the end of the 2019-20 school year has spent the last six weeks working at North American Tool in South Beloit, IL.  Marcus had to take the initiative to apply online to the Rock County 5.0 program (in its second year) a part of the Rock County Economic Development Committee.

Marcus was assigned to work a CNC Mill and a CNC Lathe in the Bar Steel A department of NATC.  This is where the making of a tool

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Categories: Blog, News

Deep-Hole Tapping: Into the Abyss?

What tap should be used for deep holes with extra thread length? Why do some applications cause a “No Quote" or “No-Guarantee on Performance” response?

From the perspective of a tap manufacturer, the general rule is that any thread length more than 1-1/2 times diameter is considered “excessive”. It’s a good rule in terms of tap performance. Acceptable strength of thread as determined by length of fastener engagement might best be illustrated by the thickness of an Industry-Standard nut as assigned to its mating bolt. That functionality between nut and bolt seems to have had

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Categories: Blog, Taps

Thread Mills Designed For Aluminum? It’s as if we knew aluminum was ubiquitous in the machining world!

If you have a shop (or a customer) that machines aluminum and aluminum alloys as its go-to substrate, why are you selling/buying general purpose tools?

You are working with the most popular-to-machine material. How does your company stand out from your competitors who machine aluminum? Isn’t the advantage of aluminum that it is already free-machining and more desirable to work with in the first place? Isn’t it likely your competitors have reached the same conclusion? If you are using general purpose tools, you are likely getting similar results to your competition. Here’s a suggestion on

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Categories: Blog, Thread Mills

The Right Tool For The Job – Why do exotic materials require a different thread mill?

If you deal with exotic alloys like Inconel, titanium, Hastelloy, etc., this blog post is written especially for you.

Exotic alloys are alloys designed for high temperature applications (think aerospace), perform in corrosive environments (think underground), or have the highest strength to weight ratios (think earth moving applications). The machinability of these materials is NOT the first consideration. As much as it would be nice to have an aluminum firewall in a helicopter from the machinist’s viewpoint, as the pilot or passenger you want flame retardant and strong.

Some exotic materials can

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Categories: Blog, News, Taps, Thread Mills
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