When I fixed my old Sears moisture trap a few days ago, I didn't have a large tap/die size (5/8"-18) in my inventory to cut the required fitting threads. I lamented that fact to Matt_T in a few posts.
The fact that I don't have a larger set of SAE taps/dies above 1/2" bothered me. Hence, after some looking, I decided that for my occasional need for SAE threading jobs, the large Chinesium HF set was good enough. I looked around for older US sets in the larger range, but they were all much more expensive "used" than a new set that covered all the sizes.
Uncle Buck was smart some years ago when he bought the excellent Craftsman Krome Edge expansion sets that were an add-on to the basic set. It provided for sizes above 1/2". I wasn't as smart and missed out on that opportunity. Lesson learned!!!
The set arrived today -- nothing spectacular, but it is HSS
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0347_(Medium).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0345_(Medium).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0346_(Medium).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
The dies and taps are of pretty good quality -- and that's the most important thing, but the handles are flimsy, loose, and look just borderline usable.
No big deal, I have plenty of vintage quality US made tap handles and wrenches in my box, but for someone buying these sets as their only set, the cost might go up when you need to purchase better tapping handles.
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0348_(Medium).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
![](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo18/goodfellow_2004/PICT0349_(Medium).JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)
All-in-all, after using a 20% coupon and free shipping, the set cost $68 -- not a bad price for HSS taps and dies.