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Posted by bert on May 22, 2008, 5:43 am
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I have a ml7 lathe and am about to buy a set of lathe tools and was
wondering what view others have regarding the best type, HSS or
Indexables
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Posted by Mr Crane on May 22, 2008, 8:52 am
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Me too! I have a Colchester Bantam and would like to buy some TCT
holders and bits.
I've seen the "Glanze" tools sold by Chronos:
http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Special_Offers_on_Glanze_Tools__.html
and wondered if these were any good. Opinions anyone?
Apologies for hi-jacking your thread, but which inserts would you need
for free-cutting stainless and aluminium?
--
Mr Crane
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Mr Crane's Profile: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=119785
View this thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=867972
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Posted by Trevor Jones on May 22, 2008, 8:53 am
Please log in for more thread options bert wrote:
> I have a ml7 lathe and am about to buy a set of lathe tools and was
> wondering what view others have regarding the best type, HSS or
> Indexables
Don't throw your money away on pre-ground tools.
HSS definately. Get five or six 1/4" square HSS bits, and the same
number of 3/16" HSS bits. Maybe Two or three 3/8" bits. They make good
shims to raise up the others upon, to get them to center height, if you
are using the Myford clamp type tool holder.
The 1/4" and 3/8" tools are slow to grind, but easy to see when so
doing. TH esmaller bits are cheaper, and take far less time to grind,
but are harder to see when grinding, so you have to have at least an
idea of what you are trying to achieve. The small bits are plenty strong
enough to do honest work on a Myford sized lathe.
Those will last you a VERY long time.
Get a decent small bench grinder, and learn to grind your own tools
from scratch.
If you buy the pre-ground HSS tooling, you will have to learn how to
grind them soon enough, and if you buy indexable, like as not, you will
become annoyed with metalworking altogether, before you reach the point
where the inserts start lasting long enough to seem worth the price.
Buy or download a copy of the South Bend Lathe book, How to Run a
Lathe. It has some worthwhile info on tool shapes. Watch the angles,
though. Try to avoid getting caught out, and grinding a tool that is
supposed to be held in an upwards angles tool holder, if you do not have
them (typically, like the ones made by Armstrong, they have a 15 degree
upwards angle).
Cheers
Trevor Jones
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Posted by Bill on May 22, 2008, 7:36 pm
Please log in for more thread options HSS everytime. Indexables will not make you a better turner and will cost
you alot of money. Get HSS and the grinding is easy. Everytime you just lick
the tool up on the grinder you save money. Been a turner all my life and
made good money, now just a model engineer and only one indexable in the
shed that someone gave me and I never use it.
I wish I could meet the members of the group and within a few hours show
them how to grind tools.
>I have a ml7 lathe and am about to buy a set of lathe tools and was
> wondering what view others have regarding the best type, HSS or
> Indexables
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Posted by Peter Fairbrother on May 22, 2008, 8:07 pm
Please log in for more thread options bert wrote:
> I have a ml7 lathe and am about to buy a set of lathe tools and was
> wondering what view others have regarding the best type, HSS or
> Indexables
Depends mostly what you are working on. If it's mild steel, brass/bronze
and ally then HSS is best for the hand lathe.
For stainless cobalt-HSS or carbide is a help, and for anything harder
than stainless carbide (or even diamond, ceramic or CBN) is necessary.
HSS is sharper (when freshly sharpened) and much tougher than carbide -
carbide is harder, but it is far more brittle. Carbide also works
longer, harder and better at high temperature, but this doesn't matter
much in hobby work - the brittleness of carbide is far more relevant.
I'd start with some HSS (or cobalt-HSS) blank square bars and a cheap
grinder. Should cost about £30 in all, about the price of a single good
indexable tool plus a few inserts. If you can get someone to show you
how to grind HSS tools that's a big plus, but it isn't that hard to
learn. You can then make almost any lathe tool you want, but some like
parting tools and boring bars are better bought.
Many people like indexable carbide parting tools, even for softer
metals, and there is some merit in this, perhaps because the cutting end
is wider than the blade of the tool.
However after a bit of experiment and practice I'm getting good results
with a HSS blade-type parting tool - sharpen frequently, mount rigidly
so it's central on the crossslide and absolutely at right angles to the
lathe bed, and lock the carriage and top slide.
The only time I use brazed carbide is for small boring bars. Regard them
as disposable, but they aren't very expensive. Good for getting into
smaller holes, as indexable boring bars need a large hole, and grinding
boring bars from HSS blanks is very tiresome.
You might want to buy a cheap set of brazed carbide tools as an
introduction to the brittleness of carbide - otherwise no. Another
cheap-ish introduction to carbide is the TPUN RH tool available on ebay
from marypoppinsbag - but throw away the horrible screw, make a suitable
thick washer and use a proper M5 allen bolt instead.
But start with HSS, not carbide.
-- Peter Fairbrother
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> wondering what view others have regarding the best type, HSS or
> Indexables