Re-seating a tap

[ClassA]

I have a tap that is dripping and I have looked at it and seen that the seat needs to be dressed. I have a tap re-seating tool, and when I used it in the past I ended up calling a plumber. He dressed the seat but after a couple of years it needs to be done again. The re-seating tool that I have is cheap and nasty (like this

- the cutters have saw-tooth cutting edges like a router), and I am tempted to get a better one, but when I remember the problems I had before I am not sure that a better one will overcome them. My problems were:-

1) The tool had a tapered thread that wouldn't engage very positively in the tap thread, so I could never be very sure it was installed perpendicular to the tap seat. Some of the tools available have a parallel thread, but I don't know how to know what thread size I need to fit my tap. How do I measure it?

2) The worse problem was that when I turned the tool it did not turn smoothly, but chattered, so that I ended up with a seat with a wavy surface. I think chatter is a known metal-working problem associated with cutting brass, so nothing new there. I've found a couple of guides on the Internet about using a re-seating tool, and they say 'turn the tool smoothly', and that is just the thing I couldn't do!

Any comments or advice would be very welcome.

[Ed Sirett]

The parallel thread version is made by Monument (I think) and is available from screwfix. These tools are quite hard on the heel of your hand, firm pressure and twisting is not easy. If the result is clean and shiny that's good enough. Perhaps you were doing it too hard or the tool was not held really square to the seat.

[The Medway Handyman]

The Toolstation one is complete pants. I binned mine. Buy the Monument one from Screwfix.

?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=tap+reseatingDifferent class of tool.

[John Stumbles]

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Definitely, but the other way round IMHO :-)

The screwfix one looks like the Wickes one in that the cutting bit is shaped like a series of Vs so there's no leading edge to cut with. The toolstation one's cutting edge is a series of \| shapes so actually cuts. If you can get the damn' taper thread to engage in the tap body's thread you can even screw it down to get real pressure onto it to cut. I've also got one of them with the tommy-bar handle removed so I can drive it from my cordless :-)