Same letters as G83. Same layout. That's exactly why so many programmers treat them as interchangeable — and exactly why that's a mistake. G73 doesn't fully retract between pecks. It kicks back just far enough to break the chip, then dives right back in.

Free-cutting materials — aluminum, brass, low-carbon steel. Shallow-to-moderate depth holes. High-volume hole patterns, where the time savings compound fast.

Running G73 in a stringy or gummy material, or a hole too deep for a partial retract to clear. The chip packs the flutes, the tool starts fighting itself on every peck — and that's not a G73 problem. That's the same wrong-cycle mistake we opened this issue with.

With G81, G82, G83 — feed rate is a suggestion. Too fast or too slow, the tool just cuts a little differently. Nobody breaks anything.

With G84, feed rate is a law.

Rigid tapping locks spindle rotation directly to Z-axis feed through the machine's encoder. One revolution equals exactly one thread pitch of travel — every time, no exceptions. Get that F value wrong, and the machine is physically forcing the tool to travel faster or slower than the thread allows. That mismatch doesn't bend. It destroys taps.

Depth control most shops don't realize they have — critical on blind holes. No spring-loaded tap holder quietly wearing out of spec on you. Retract is exactly as precise as the plunge, because the sync is mechanical, not spring-loaded.

The catch is always the same: get the feed-to-pitch math wrong, and rigid tapping won't complain. It'll just break.