which lathe tools

[kier]

I'm looking for a cheap set of lathe tools ,or should say a good set cheap I want to turn some stainless steel as well as steel, wont use them much might only use them twice a year , is there a good cheap set on ebay that can be recommended or what type should I go for
last job was to turn a plug for a gearbox with a groove for an O ring, anyway managed the job

 

[knighty]

turned some stainless about a month ago, tried a friends lathe first, we ruined about 10 or more tools he had, they hardly even touched it

went to a local machine shop, bought a tool/holder thing and a box of 12 carbide tips for about £50 and it cut through the stainless with ease, hot knife through butter etc... only used one edge of the first carbide tip, (each tip could be used 4 times)

£50 sounds a lot, but it was an expensive place selling good tools made to be used all day in machine shops etc. etc.


bought a new lathe now, so I need some new tools... will only be buying the ones that use carbide tips tho

 

[piman]

Hello Knighty,

high speed steel lathe tools will turn stainless but don't be too gentle with the cut, and are more versatile and much cheaper than tipped tools. If I were only doing one or two jobs a year that's what I would use. As I turn stainless most weeks I use tools with inserts, it's just a lot more effective. Even if turning mild steel I would still use inserts if doing a lot of turning.

Alec

 

[Chris Stevens]

The tools you need are very much dependent on the lathe you have. Tipped tools not ideal for smaller lathes, as rigidity is needed for them to work well.


Very good tool for smaller machines is the tangential type made by Eccentric: http://www.eccentricengineering.com.au/
You can do pretty much anything with one of those including thread cutting, and can get tool material for the sort of jobs HSS cant do.

 

[hareng]

Theres various grades of stainless 303 the machining grade, 304 still ok to work with, 316S11 can be difficult and will wear the best HSS cobalt. Then theres the duplex had to do a job with last Monday, turns ok with tipped tooling, drilling very difficult.

303 or 304 hss should do you suitably ground up.
Tipped bide your time you will pay a damn site more than £50 s/h for one decent tool.
General all round use carbide brazed on can be obtained cheap and stand a good chance of being British or yank not the Asian crap theres a world of difference.

 

[rich the mechanic]

The tools you need are very much dependent on the lathe you have. Tipped tools not ideal for smaller lathes, as rigidity is needed for them to work well.


Very good tool for smaller machines is the tangential type made by Eccentric: http://www.eccentricengineering.com.au/
You can do pretty much anything with one of those including thread cutting, and can get tool material for the sort of jobs HSS cant do.

My lathe is both small and not very rigid and I get used carbide tips from work out of the CNC lathes and they cut far superior to the tool steel ones I started with and the tool holder is just a bit of 5mm black iron, mild steel was a struggle on my lathe until I changed to tips.

 

[brightspark]

90 percent of my work is done using hss tipped tools. sharpened correctly there isn't a problem

 

[Chris Stevens]

My lathe is both small and not very rigid and I get used carbide tips from work out of the CNC lathes and they cut far superior to the tool steel ones I started with and the tool holder is just a bit of 5mm black iron, mild steel was a struggle on my lathe until I changed to tips.

Properly sharpened HSS tools will always cut better than carbide on smaller less rigid lathes, as the sharp edge actually cuts the work piece away, rather than tipped tools which have rounded cutting edges, which need rigidity to work well.

HSS tools which are blunt are something else entirely though, and for anyone unable to sharpen them properly tipped tools may well be better................

 

[rich the mechanic]

I have a box of HSS and the only one i use is the boring bar which has always cut nice. I thought it was me not grinding the tooling correctly to start with so took one to the tool maker at work to sharpen and then re-checked the height and still cut poorly in comparison to the tips, but I do mainly alloy and get free bar ends from work so some of it is hard and some not, I find the surface finish is just better but saying that a bit i made today cut bloody awful no matter what i did.

 

[Pete.]

Tipped tools have come a long way, you can get razor sharp inserts nowadays.

 

[graffian]

Small nose radius also helps.

 

[kier]

ok my lathe is a Clarke CL500m seems like people that use them recommend indexted tool tips
I have looked on ebay and its a minefield for me as I don't know whats good or bad

 

[MattF]

I'd personally recommend starting off with HSS. You can pick up a few lengths of tool steel cheaply enough on Ebay or the like, to get you started, and with HSS, you can shape both ends of the bar so you have two different cutters on one piece. Getting to grips with grinding tools is always a handy thing to know, and at the end of the day, you're going to be learning to use and getting to grips with the machine to start with. Once you start doing some turning, experiment with different types of tooling and just see what suits you best. There's no one fits all, in my book. Some people can seem more comfortable with a certain type of tooling, or you may be able to work wonders with all types. It tends to be personal preference as much as owt else. I don't mind which I work with, but seem to lean more towards HSS, for example, but that's merely through choice, and not because I see massive differences in use between tipped, brazed tip or HSS tooling.


p.s: Nice to see you knocking about again Hareng.

 

[Chris Stevens]

ok my lathe is a Clarke CL500m seems like people that use them recommend indexted tool tips
I have looked on ebay and its a minefield for me as I don't know whats good or bad

When I first got a proper lathe (Bantam Mk2), was in exactly the same position as you not knowing what tools to get. Ended up with Eccentric Engineering Diamond cutting tool, which is a slightly revised version of tangential tools which have been around for years.

These do pretty much anything you will need, come with a jig to sharpen HSS tool bit, and can also be used for thread cutting if needs be. HSS tool bits meant issues with materials like cast iron, but they now supply Crobalt bits, which can cope with just about any material, and can still be sharpened with Al ox grinding wheel.

 

[Stueeee]

Re. carbide tooling, there is a chart here: http://www.tools-n-gizmos.com/info/Insert_ID_Sandvik_GenTurn.html
Which will allow you to de-code those apparently baffling insert designations.

Indexable inserts are great in a production environment, where high rotation (and therefore surface) speeds with heavy cuts reduce costs, but from your description, that isn't where your at.

If I was in your position of doing odd jobs once in a while, I would spend some time learning how to grind HSS tools properly -try and get hold of some Cobalt HSS, rather than the cheaper Moly stuff; when it's run right on centre at the right speed with the right depth of cut, possibly with some cooolant squirted on, HSS will machine even "difficult" materials OK.

 

[Keith 66]

I nearly always use HSS, sharpen them myself. I have tried carbide & for small machines they just arent worth the aggro giving a poor finish.
I tend to machine a lot of stainless for boat parts mainly 316L & i dont find HSS a handicap at all. What you must have for stainless is decent coolant either pumped as on my Harrison 140 or delivered from a squeezy bottle. I use a straight synthetic cutting oil, this lasts for years & does not go off with age, the one i use is crowncut 810 there are lots of others or you can use soluble oil, this has to be changed regularly.

 

[kier]

there is a set of 6 myford tools hss 8% colbalt from myford at £49 1/4 inch x 3 1/2 is that the kind of tools I'm looking for
is 8% good or not so good
what would I sharpen with ?

 

[Chris Stevens]

HSS will cut pretty much anything, but you will struggle with some materials. If you are looking for the lowest possible price, then get tools most suitable for the materials you intend to turn. Always go for the largest tools which will work in your lathe, as more rigidity means better finish and heavier cuts possible. If you are working with MS and aluminium, and 1/4 is the biggest which will work in your lathe, the Myford ones should be fine. I suggest you have a careful look at parting tools also, as parting off is something which can be problematic................

 

[hareng]

Depends what your doing I need a tool that will last the entire machining process without removing and touching up, hss wont do that even with aluminiums yet alone stainless grades or even the chromy stainless 316S11.
Though when had an ML7 use English cobalt 5% HSS to turn 3/8" down to 4.4mm over 3" needed sharpening 4 or 5 times. Kennametal Top Notch radius worked extremely well but a bit hard going on valve stems.

No substitute for decent tool its a world apart the cheap Chinese stuff to the likes of branded quality items from say Kennametal, Iscar, Seco, Ceratizit and the like. Will be bewildering for a newby seeing a German sounding name only to find out its a Chinese tool with a brand name on, beware can turn you off for life.
Took me decades to stump up the courage to buy decent, I just bide my time for what comes up as a good buy unless must have for a specific job and times money.

Partings not a problem except on 6082 with or without coolant, think have 9 part off tipped tools permanently setup ready to be dropped in toolpost at an instant, they all work differently and none cheap. Favourites two Iscars and a Manchester.

 

[kier]

I have measured my tool post and it is 18mm so am I looking for 16mm tools