Finally bought a lathe, now I need tooling!

S

Slayer_MN1

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I finally took the plunge and bought my first lathe!


My main reason for making this purchase is to true actions, and barrel/chamber my own rifles. Hopefully I'll become proficient enough to start doing work for others as well. I have a good understanding of how the machine works and how to run it, but have very little experience actually running a lathe so this will be a big learning experience.

0CFB7B6F-2A90-4F07-B249-B63464C05B42_zpsfecqqq56.jpg




I have been picking up indicators and measuring tools here and there and I think I have most of what I'll need in that department. I haven't bought a single cutting tool yet as I just don't know what to get lol.


I'm wondering if some of you could offer advice as to what to get? I know I'll learn a lot from grinding HSS blanks and have some to play with but I want indexable tooling. I'm told that the Arthur Warner high speed insert tooling is great for beginners and provides a nice finish at lower speeds, if you suggest this what kits should I pick up to enable me to turn to diameter, thread, crown, and counterbore barrels?


http://www.arwarnerco.com/c-5-tool-kits.aspx


I'm looking at kit 18 (1/2" threader) but am unsure as to where to go from there? A quick description as to what tool does what job or a link to some resources on the subject would be great.


thanks for any advice!


Steve
 
Quite a first lathe! Like my grandfather would have told you, if you're dead-set on spending money, go do it. But really, grinding HSS blanks isn't hard. I just recommended this video in another thread because I think it's really good. Heck, try it and see what happens if you're not sure which indexed tooling you want or need. That's a pretty good sized machine, so I'd try to get something that had both types of inserts available for if/when you really need carbide.

You can grind a zillion different profiles, but will mostly use just a few. My friend did some grinding recently and did these pretty quickly.
14133380366_6d01403a71_o.jpg

It's been said often that less than perfect grinds still cut very well, and I find that to be true. Just my thoughts on the subject. Good luck.

-Ryan

14133380366_6d01403a71_o.jpg
 
Smudgemo said:
Quite a first lathe! Like my grandfather would have told you, if you're dead-set on spending money, go do it. But really, grinding HSS blanks isn't hard. I just recommended this video in another thread because I think it's really good. Heck, try it and see what happens if you're not sure which indexed tooling you want or need. That's a pretty good sized machine, so I'd try to get something that had both types of inserts available for if/when you really need carbide.

You can grind a zillion different profiles, but will mostly use just a few. My friend did some grinding recently and did these pretty quickly.
View attachment 81107

It's been said often that less than perfect grinds still cut very well, and I find that to be true. Just my thoughts on the subject. Good luck.

-Ryan
Click to expand...


Smudgemo, Speaking for all the beginners out there, I would love to here a discription of each of the tools in your picture. Also, with the picture taken from above, I could be wrong, but it looks like your friend ground at least half of the top of the tool blank down when grinding his back rake. My beginners thought is that these tools have been used and re-sharpened many times, but what do I know? If not, Please advise us why you would want the "working end" of the tool so much lower than the rest of the tool. Thanks, JR49
PS. the link you provided above, and in the other post didn't work.
 
Sorry, try looking up Tom's Techniques and go to the grinding video. Truth be told, I don't know what my friend is planning with those grinds (he's a hobby guy too.). I just wanted to illustrate possibilities available using blanks. Personally, I only have a couple of general shapes that I use (plus a couple of thread cutting grinds.). It feels clumsy at first, but it gets easier pretty quickly.
 
Thanks for the replies, I'll be doing some grinding for sure and toms techniques is a great resource!

I'd still love to hear some thoughts on insert tooling as well.

Steve
 
I agree with Ryan's recommendation to use HSS as there is a ton of good information available. I know a few people who don't worry about HSS because they rely solely on carbides but developing a skill for grinding HSS and becoming proficient at it are invaluable.

I don't grind mine quite as deep as the ones in Ryan's picture but a slight backrake is beneficial for chip breaking and pulling the chips away from the rotating work vs. wrapping around the work. Then a quick touch-up once in a while and they are good to go again.

The angles can be continually cut back as the tool wears and needs re-grinding. My only concern about grinding ones as deep as those pictured are that there is so much to remove on the initial grind/edge that particular edge is gone and it needs to be reground, there is again so much material to have to remove. However, I could be mistaken. Someone would have to correct me on my thinking.

Mike.
 
Grinding HHS bits is becoming a lost art because of all of the insert bits available out there. In a production setting, pre-engineered tooling is required for maximizing production and consistency, but in the home shop, learning how to grind a tool bit is one of the most important skills you can learn.

As stated above, there is a lot a latitude in the actual shape of the cutting edge, pretty close works in most cases. You will quickly find out what works best for the operation you are doing. In most of my work I use either HHS or brazed carbide tool bits. It only takes a few minutes to grind a tool bit.

I buy the junk AR-6 carbide bits from Harbor Freight for most of my work, and just grind them to what ever shape I need for the job. They have to be ground anyway, because they are not normally ground properly out of the box. For other work I have an assortment of HHS bits that I grind to fit the job.

If it is in the budget, I would go buy a nice Baldor 3/4 or 1 HP bench grinder, and equip it with a couple of Norton white wheels. Any bench grinder would work. I have been using my Chinese 3/4HP bench grinder for years with no problems. I have several bench grinders set up for different purposes.

HF sells a carbide tool grinder that is a copy of the Baldor carbide grinder. It is a POS, but if you want to spend the time to correct the runout problems, and put a good set of wheels on it they work fine, and are about $1000 less than the Baldor.
 
Slayer_MN1 said:
Ok, so would any benchtop grinder suffice? What would you suggest?
Click to expand...

Pretty much any grinder will work, but larger is generally better. Check CL. I found an old (and really nice) 8” grinder locally that needed new wheels and works really well. But a 6” HF model will do the job, too. Be careful with wheels for fear of cracks and them exploding - there are other threads about grinders you should take a look at for more information. You'll be surprised how well a simple grind can cut, but be sure to not grind next to the lathe for fear of grinder dust getting on the machined surfaces.

As for inserts, I have the triangular version. I thought it would be fine to skip learning how to grind and go straight to making stuff (I've had some instruction, but sharpening was not part of the course.) Inserts are good for that, but one had a stuck set screw that stripped, needed to be drilled, and then was a pain to get a replacement. The carbide inserts chip with some interrupted cuts or poor form (on my part), and they are fairly expensive. The ones I have also don't have a sharp tip radius so I have to use something else for a square shoulder cut. But they have there place and your machine is big enough (I think) to take advantage of what they offer. I mistakenly tried to cut a piece of fairly hard stainless with HSS on a large lathe once, and that didn't work too well (the tool lost.) Carbide cut just fine.

-Ryan
 
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