Section: 56
Hours: 6

The installation kit for the Garmin autopilot servos has a couple aluminum tubes that must be threaded on both ends to accept threaded bearings. I started out using a tap from my inexpensive (cheap) Harbor Freight tap and die set and had a hard time cutting threads to the required depth. I ordered a more expensive tap and the job became much easier. Good quality HSS tools make a huge difference for jobs like this.

 I used the drill press for this tap job. I chucked up the aluminum tubing in the drill and made a fixture to hold the tap chuck on the bed of the drill press.

 Bottom side of the tap chuck fixture.

 Here are the finished connecting rods with the better quality tap from Vermont tools.