I’ve inherited a Craftsman Tap & Die set that says Kromedge on the outside of the plastic case. I assume that the term Kromedge refers to a satin chrome finish applied to each of the taps and dies. Can anyone tell me what VM stands for that is stamped all of the taps and dies and do you know if these are made of HSS?
I’m not sure but a lot of Sears taps and dies were sourced from Vermont American (now a Robert Bosch company)
Perhaps the “V” stands for “Vermont” - - but maybe it could stand for “Vanadium” and the “M” for Manganese or Molybdenum - common steel alloying elements but that seems unlikely since the M - would more likely have been Mn or Mo. Some Sears taps and dies may also have been sourced from Hanson or Hanson-Whitney (now part of Irwin). In the case of Vermont American made taps - most that I know of were carbon steel - while Hanson probably made both HSS and carbon steel taps and dies.
The Kromedge moniker was one that Sears applied to saw blades and other cutting tools as well as taps and dies. I recall there were a batch of these steel tooth saw blades sold at a time before carbide teeth became the norm. Other than an part of Sears advertising verbiage - I’m not sure what the term Kromedge really meant - but your guess is probably OK.
Fred, thanks for the reply. I should have included a little more context as far as the age of this set and while I don’t know for sure it is most likely from the 70’s or early 80’s. At any rate my use will mostly be chasing threads so even if they are carbon steel they should work fine.