Qctp holders

Huckshawn, you can, with patience, make almost anything on a mini-mill. I have a friend with one of those mini-mills that have a hollow column and a 1/2 hp motor with 6 speeds. He does fantastic work with it, but it takes a lot of patience and some skill (that comes with time and training). I say - go for it! You will end up with a great project, and likely some tool holders. After all, we bought these machines to use them!
 
I'm doing it right now. The bits of steel were $7 each. I made a dovetail cutter from a carbide insert that only had one good corner left and a piece of cold rolled that came from Home Depot. A cobalt 2 flute end mill from KMS Tools and I'm making chips. My LMS 3990 is doing amazingly. Big, nasty, sharp chips flying everywhere! I'm brand new to machining, so the practice is great. $27 plus shipping or a five hour road trip, or $7 and lots of practice. I'd say go for it if you are not in a rush. If I do this again I won't get Metal Supermarkets to chop the steel up. It would be much better to cut a long dovetail then chop it up (like TOT does). Oh well.
 
New guy here. I just made these last week. Had some extra aluminum scrap so figured I'd make use of it.

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Aluminum?! I never considered aluminum. I'd be afraid on a heavy cut the bottom end of the slot just shearing right off.
 
The strength of 6061-t6 and hot rolled steel are very close. Al deflects more but it is not appreciably weaker.
Buy a chunk of 7075 t6 and you are as strong or stronger than Cold rolled.
 
What are tool posts usually made out of? Hardened steel, no?
If it's comparable, why isn't it offered commercially?
I'm not slamming, I'm genuinely curious.
 
What are tool posts usually made out of? Hardened steel, no?
If it's comparable, why isn't it offered commercially?
I'm not slamming, I'm genuinely curious.
Because Aluminum is more expensive and it would offer no real advantage for most users. For the hobbyist, its is a little easier to machine so that might be a good reason to use it.
 
The tool posts I have are made of aluminum and then coated. I made these and have tested them. There is no issue with them at all. In truth, how deep of a cut are you going to take with a small lathe? There is no reason to think they will not hold up. I have tried them cutting brass, aluminum and stainless steel. No problem. Also, for what it's worth, the pieces i had used cost me 3 bucks from ebay. They were bought for a different project which never came to fruition.
 
They are usually made from steel, that is then either through or case hardened after the fact. The only thing the hardening does is make them more wear and impact resistant, it doesn't change it strength there any way.

You can in-fact buy small aluminum ones for 7x sized machines.
 
They are usually made from steel, that is then either through or case hardened after the fact. The only thing the hardening does is make them more wear and impact resistant, it doesn't change it strength there any way.

You can in-fact buy small aluminum ones for 7x sized machines.
That's what I meant to say. I had purchased a QCTP for the mini lathe and it came with tool holders made of aluminum.
 
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