Cheap taps :(

[FrontSideBus]

Don't ever bother with cheap taps. Their only ambition in life is to snap off in the hole and they are a right bastard to get out, if at all, especially the little ones.
Lucky for me in this case there was enough meat in the material to move the fastener over slightly.

[AngryHorse]

LOL I hear ya there , not hard enough to tap a hole without snapping, but hard enough to no be able to be drilled out!!

[AngryHorse]

Cheap masonry bits are a bastard too, when the masonry `arrowhead` isn`t welded to the shaft very well!, and always breaks off just as your nearly at you hole depth! , (new hole required)!!

[FrontSideBus]

I found some masonry twist drills in my dads toolbox that looked a bit knackered and when tested the "carbide" tip was fileable!

[AngryHorse]

Ken at work gave me a great tip for if your drilling through hard items like tile and concrete with standard masonry bits, keep dipping them in water to keep the tip cold, (I never knew that)!, as although hardened they go soft when hot.
I was quite impressed with how much faster they go through things with a cold tip!

[FrontSideBus]

Or just hire an SDS rotary hammer Will save you so much grief from pissing about with normal "hammer drills" which is really just a tiny bit of vibration

[RobTDCI]

I was doing battle yesterday with an aluminium carpet strip from Wickes that came supplied with the worst quality screws! They were made from a soft metal that just chewed no matter what screwdriver I used. I had to use pliers in the end to remove them. I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been from a cheap shop like home and bargain but i wouldn't expect such crap from Wickes. That said, some of the power tools they sell are also of questionable quality.