I've got the tap set from PSI. The tap fits into the rachet head. If I put the tap into the drill chuck, how do you turn it by hand? Sorry if I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be. I put the blank between centers and turned a tenon on one end. Mounted it in a chuck and squared the other end, then drilled my hole. Now I am ready to tap it but the tap and rachet are a little loose where they meet. There is a little (very little) wobble in them when placed together.
If the hole is straight, the tap will just follow the hole, right? It won't change the angle of the hole, will it?
Jim
Edit: re-read your post, you do have a Jacobs style chuck, the "drill chuck", substitute the words "drill chuck" for "Jacobs style chuck" below.
From "
tap it" above install your tap into a Jacobs style chuck in the tail stock. Move the tail stock and tap up to the part. Apply a little pressure to the tail stock(no need to lock it or turn the tail stock handle), just press it against the part and hole lightly. Grasp the Scroll chuck on the headstock and start turning the top of it toward you ,
DO NOT POWER UP THE LATHE, and continue with pressure on the tail stock. The tap should tap its self into the hole. Continue until the tap bottoms out then reverse the pressure on the tail stock and the direction of the scroll chuck. You should now have a nice "straight" tapped hole in your blank.
Also get yourself one of these
SPRING-LOADED TAP GUIDES. They can provide a 3rd hand in a lot of taping situations.