Lathe tools.

[Digit]

No, not the woody ones, metal working lathe.
Anybody no where I can buy HSS tipped tools, not carbide.

Roy.

 

[Harbo]

Chronos sell HSS blanks.

Rod

 

[chipchaser]

Hi Roy,

arceurotrade.co.uk I haven't bought lathe tools from them but other bits were good and sent quickly.

www.millhillsupplies.co.uk/catalogue pages pdf/page4&5.pdf
I have never bought from Millhill but they have Eclipse UK tools if you can afford them, probably worth the money but I couldn't!

I only bought 1 item from Chronos a Set of 6 TCT Threading & Boring Lathe Tools and sent them straight back. Made in India, the first tool I looked at, internal threading tool, was useless not anything like the shape specified in the standard. Chronos didn't argue and refunded me immediately. This might have been a one off and their other stuff might be infinitely superior

Graham

 

[9fingers]

Roy,
There are one or two suppliers of HSS tipped tooling but to be honest this type of tooling dates back to when CS was the norm and the 'new and expensive' hss magic was brazed on much as TCT tools are now.
HSS blanks are much cheaper to buy so most suppliers just sell blanks of HSS and it is cheaper to buy these and grind up your own.
I sure that a chap of your calibre can grind metal turning tools on a free hand grinder and just touch them up with a diamond hone for perfection.

Bob

 

[Digit]

Thank you gentlemen, I'm obliged.
Bob, thank you for the compliment, least I hope that is what it was :lol:
Yes, I can manage pretty well, but that was not my reason, firstly I have to make a confession, I have an Ax BV 20 lathe
I sold my Myford when I first married and the BV was about what I could afford when I retired.
The four way tool post design only allows for usage of half the length of a 10 mill HSS blank and my local supplier charges £6 a time!
So this time I thought I'd stock up and it seems a terrible waste of HSS to throw half away, hence my enquiry of HSS tipped tools!
Also what Graham has said confirms my fears of the cheaper E-Bay type offerings.
The BV has a top speed of 1950 rpm so on small dia brass and alli for example I would suspect that carbide is not the best option for a decent finish.
Anyone any views on that at all?
Anyone else got a BV? If so would you care to join me in financing a contract on the guy who designed the belt tensioning method!!!

Roy.

 

[9fingers]

Roy,

Yes it was a compliment!

I understand that you can get thin - possibly diamond cut off discs for a 110mm angle grinder. I think Arc Euro trade sell em -( not had time to check!)

With these you should be able to cut your blanks in half. I quite often grind a different profile on each end of a blank - in your case - half blank.
That give you 4 profiles on a £6 hss blank - pretty economic really?

hth

Bob

 

[dannykaye]

Anyone else got a BV? If so would you care to join me in financing a contract on the guy who designed the belt tensioning method!!!

Roy.

count me in on that one, especially if we can get the bloke who was going to skip the one I have and had skipped the gears some time before It was used to turn MDF blanks for stage props and was in a pretty poor condition. Nice little lathe for the price (£0) tho I wouldn't want to earn my living with it

 

[Digit]

Not on I'm afraid Bob. The machine has a four way tool post with the conventional 8 clamping screws, cutting the 10 mill blanks in half would mean clamping with only one screw, which based on experience I am not keen on at all.
Definitely not tool room Dan. I've steadily upgraded mine to deal with oil leaks etc, and the chuck fixing is IMO appalling. I'm looking into cutting a screw thread into the mounting plate and using Myford back plates.
The guy who designed the belt adjustment was either a sadist or a masochist IMO. I'm looking at fitting a jockey pulley.

Roy.

 

[9fingers]

Ok Roy, The mental picture is forming. I don't know how much turning you do but years ago I junked my 4 way toolpost for a quick change toolpost system. I can't recall where mine came from but they are the Chinese copy of the Dixon system. I think RDG sell them

They are so much better and the ability to return tools to the same height and have any length tool bit (four clamping screws over about 2") make life very easy.
Might be worth considering? Birthday/Christmas gift maybe.

I expect Chronos do them too.

Bob

 

[Digit]

RDG advertise on E-Bay so I'll do some checking Bob. I don't do an enormous amount of turning but shall we say enough to have made it worthwhile buying a lathe. Currently I've just set up to turn a new cutter block for a thicknesser.
2 inch bar, 15 5/8 long, won't fit between chuck and running centre. Okay, chuck and dead centre. Nope! Between centres using a running centre. Nope!
Between dead centres? Yes!
No carrier for two inch stock, so back to the drawing board.
Eventually I have ended up with a right angle bracket bolted to a faceplate and attached to the bar with a Jubilee clip! :lol:

Roy.

 

[9fingers]

RDG advertise on E-Bay so I'll do some checking Bob. I don't do an enormous amount of turning but shall we say enough to have made it worthwhile buying a lathe. Currently I've just set up to turn a new cutter block for a thicknesser.
2 inch bar, 15 5/8 long, won't fit between chuck and running centre. Okay, chuck and dead centre. Nope! Between centres using a running centre. Nope!
Between dead centres? Yes!
No carrier for two inch stock, so back to the drawing board.
Eventually I have ended up with a right angle bracket bolted to a faceplate and attached to the bar with a Jubilee clip! :lol:

Roy.

Between centres is by far the best way for this sort of job.
keats angle plate can be used for the drive but not everyone has one to hand (I don't)
Well worth checking that your tailstock is dead on height as well as front to back. Also that the bed is dead level at each end.
Without these checks, it is easy to turn taper over that sort of length. Keep an eye on the lubrication of the tailstock centre. All to easy to overlook that whilst merrily turning away and then the thing picks up.
Maybe worth a carbide tipped centre??

You might have to flip it end for end to machine the stubs for the bearings??

I assume you have a mill to plough out the slots for the knives.

Sounds like a fun job.

Good Luck

Bob

 

[Digit]

I have got to flip it end to end Bob. I would have finished it between centres for that reason. I had the centres put in when I bought the bar but the fact that nobody I knew had a carrier was a bit of a setback.
The latest prob is Chinglish. I wish to change the change gears, and I defy anybody to make any sense of the instructions, so now it'll have to be back to calculating from the lead screw pitch, that's something I haven't done for years as well!
I'm running with the tailstock centre slightly slack to prevent overheating and will tighten up for the final passes.
I haven't as yet made a complete pass to check for taper, as I will have to of course, as the feed rate is far too low.
I've also got to cut a 15 mm LH thread, so I dragged out the change gears and thought I would raise the feed rate, that's when me and the 'English speaking' Chinese parted company!
I've got more gears than in the spec, plus all sorts of spacers and a 'Jockey' gear carrier as well, and no info!!!!
As you said, a fun job!

Roy.

 

[dannykaye]

you can get castings for a keats from college engineering

http://www.collegeengineering.co.uk/

 

[jasonB]

Drill and tap a hole into the waste where you are going to turn the end spigot, put a but of studding or a bolt into that. If the chuck has a 3 bolt flange mounting then another nut and bolt through one of those holes will give you a good solid drive. When you come to do the other end you should be able to get a dog onto the spigot.

Jason

 

[Boz62]

Roy, I've just bought an "ML7" QC toolpost from Chronos to replace my 4 way on a pre-war Myford (they include p&p in the price ). I'm happy with it, obviously not as fine quality as Myford's own (£££), but perfectly good enough at my simple level of working.

Boz

 

[Digit]

That was my original intention Jason but when I found some metal brackets and a Jubilee clip I opted for that.
Thanks Boz, I'll check that out.
I've had this lathe for some time now but never needed to use it for more than a few minutes at a time, so now it's time to look seriously at upgrading.
I spent ages last night trying to remember how to work out the saddle speed from the gearing.
They say it pays to keep the brain active!

Roy.

 

[Digit]

Thanks Boz, that looks just the ticket, I think I'll have me one of them!

Roy.

 

[dannykaye]

Roy, I've just bought an "ML7" QC toolpost from Chronos to replace my 4 way on a pre-war Myford (they include p&p in the price ). I'm happy with it, obviously not as fine quality as Myford's own (£££), but perfectly good enough at my simple level of working.

Boz

I have one of those on the axminster, works well but I'm still not happy with the rigidity of the slide