The taps that direct the chips back out of the hole are called high
spiral taps. Spiral point taps, AKA gun taps, eject the chips ahead
of the tap. I use high spiral taps a lot but I don't like them. They
are weaker than spiral point taps. I know, the terminology is
confusing, especially since the high spiral taps are actually high
helix taps.
For blind holes in ductile materials, such as wrought aluminum and
mild steel, I like to use roll form taps, AKA form taps, AKA roll
taps. In fact, I use roll taps whenever I can because of the stronger
thread and because no chips are generated. These taps require a larger
hole and hole size must be controlled well because the tap just
displaces the metal. With a roll tap you can tap right down to the
bottom of a hole because there are no chips generated.
Because form taps displace the material the thread is stronger than
a cut thread. Virtually all the fasteners you will find in your local
hardware store will have formed threads.
Materials that can be roll or form tapped include all the wrought
aluminum alloys, such as 6061, 6063, 5052, etc. Mild steel, 1144
steel (stressproof), 12L14 steel (leadloy) and 303 stainless steel
also tap well with form taps. 304 and 316 can be form tapped but great
care must be taken to avoid broken taps. Tap life will also be short
in 304 and 316. But if you need threads all the way to the bottom and
want to do it in one pass roll taps can work.
Materials that should not be formed tapped are the cast aluminum
alloys, half hard brass, cast iron, and the like. This is because the
material is not ductile and the resulting thread will have tiny
fractures, resulting in a weak thread.
I have tapped thousands of holes with 2-56 form taps.
Always use cutting oil when drilling and tapping holes, never motor
oil. Using motor oil leads to broken taps and bad finishes and poor
tool life.
Hope that helped.
Eric