Replaced a tap in the kitchen this week. The old tap leaked and it wasn’t possible to fix it. It should be a straightforward job but as usual there were issues…

The main issue was that the hole in the worktop is too big for the new tap – the edge of the tap would only overlap the hole by about 1mm. Not enough. So I made an adapter from acetal/Delrin.

Starting the job in the lathe

Shows the hole and the adapter to go into it

It isn’t clear on this picture that the worktop has bulged where water leaked from the old tap. To aid the fit the adapter is recessed on its underneath so it only makes contact at the edge.

Job finished

Overall I’m happy with this. It fits well and looks cool. It would be better in stainless steel but machining stainless is a pain plus the kitchen appliances are all finished in white so it blends in ok.