Abstract: Aiming at the problems of difficult tapping, rapid tap wear and short service life in superalloy tapping, tapping experiments was conducted on GH4738 material. By characterizing and comparing the wear and chipping states of the tap's cutting edges, the effects of tap coatings and base materials on tap service life were analyzed, and the different failure behaviors of taps during superalloy tapping were explained. The research results show that the service life of cemented carbide taps shows a multiple increase compared with powder metallurgy high-speed steel taps. Coatings can significantly improve the service life of taps, and the service life of taps with TiCN coating is significantly higher than that of taps with TiN and TiAlN coatings on the same base material. The failure behavior of powder metallurgy high-speed steel taps is mainly manifested as severe crescent-shaped wear on the flank face of all thread teeth, while cemented carbide taps show chipping on the rake face of thread teeth at the cutting cone.