Machining hardened steels has always been a great challenge in metal cutting, particularly for tapping operations. In the present paper, temperature was assessed when tapping hardened AISI H13. Dry machining and two cooling/lubrication systems were used: flooded and minimum quantity of fluid (MQF) with 20ml/h, both using mineral oil. The tapping operation was performed on 100 x 40 mm, 14 mm thick workpieces with 55 HRc. An implanted thermocouple technique was used for temperature measurement at distances very close to the highest thread diameter (at 0.1, 2.5 and 5.0 mm). Three thermocouples were used for each distance along the workpiece diameter at 3.0, 7.0 and 11.0 mm from the tap entrance. Measurements were replicated twice for each condition tested. An analytical theoretical heat conduction model was used to evaluate the temperature at the tool-workpiece interface and determine the heat flow and convection coefficient. The smallest temperature increase and heat flow were observed when using the flooded system, followed by the MQF, compared to the dry condition. The effect was directly proportional to the amount of lubricant applied, as well as with the MQF system, when compared to dry cutting.