Finally bought a lathe, now I need tooling!

[ridgeway]

Yep, the AR Warner stuff will definitely get you started. The W does not stand for warner. Each letter and number means something pertaining to size, shape, radius, etc. Hopefully the chart I post below will answer a ton.

As for carbide, I dont see any reason you can't use it taken its the correct insert. I use AR HSS inserts on a few of my USA indexable toolbit holders. I took the insert and toolbit over to AR Warner and he matched me up with a few HSS bits.

 

[Wobbles]

Nice lathe! Congrats.

My new (to me) lathe came without tooling. I've been picking it up on Ebay as it came up. So far I've spent almost an equal amount on tooling !! Even the used, out-of-date stuff is expensive.

 

[John_Dennis]

I have lots of new old stock USA Braised carbide tooling for sale in all sizes. They can be re sharpened or custom ground as needed.

 

[Stanshire]

I'm going to disagree here. I have A.W. Warner HSS insert tooling; left, right, chamfering, threading and boring.
When I started this hobby, everyone said you have to learn how to grind HSS. So I bought a bunch of blanks, watched all the videos and ground a lot of tooling. I got to a point where I could grind a tool that cut beautifully.
Then I got the Warner tooling. I don't think I could find the bench grinder. Haven't used it since the Warner stuff came home with me from Cabin Fever a few years ago. They literally take 2 minutes to sharpen and need nothing more than a piece of wet dry paper.
These folks are metallurgists and really know what they are doing and selling.

Here's a question. Other than form tools (which I, of course have to grind) what is the advantage (other than price) of home-ground HSS bits over first-rate HSS insert tooling?

 

[BROCKWOOD]

Very nice Lathe!!! One of the Youtube channels did a comparison of the 2 types of quick change tool posts & proved the wedge type has nice repeatabililty - while the other not so much. Pull the holder, chuck it back in & it is in the same place every time. Guess that is why they are more expensive.

Should you happen to pull that BXA tool post holder off your cross slide, I ask that you snap a pic of the mounting arrangement, My Grizzly is a little smaller, but I am looking for mounting ideas for when I do convert to a BXA. Thanks in advance!

 

[Cadillac STS]

Don't forget a horizontal metal cutting bandsaw is almost essential for a lathe. You will need to cut stock to length.