I seem to have acquired a few taps
Actually these are just the BSB/ME variety (26, 32, 40TPI). While fiddling with piping and valves, I kept finding myself without the specific combination of diameter and TPI that I needed. And with shipping from the UK is so expensive, it's somewhat more economical to buy a whole bunch of once, so that's what I did. But these where just rattling around in a drawer, and it was very frustrating to dig through and find the right one.
So a nice strip of beech, left over from a kitchen remodel, was pressed into service! For each size, I drilled three blind holes for taps, and cut a recess for the matching die:
Some of the dies fit into the hole left by this cutter, but in a few cases I had to touch it with a boring bar to make a bit more room. I did one "plank" per TPI, and this is what I ended up with:
Much better! I do wish I'd made them all the same length, and left a bit more room for expansion though.
Simon