Lathes And Tools - What Are The Essentials?

[markamerica]

Being new to all of this, and having just acquired a lathe that I'm going to need to re-wire and re-work almost from scratch in the electrical department, I am looking ahead to the day I have an operational lathe and I can begin to make the things I want/need to make. I realize that there exists an almost infinite array of tools one can employ on a lathe, and I also know one can easily accumulate tools and tool-holders and so on to an extent that dwarfs the investment of the machine itself. More, depending on the particular things one is manufacturing, there are all sorts of highly specialized tools one can employ. I expect that this arena will lead me to learn, and learn and learn. I like that because I believe a day without learning is a day without living. I know the assembled members of this forum have a broad experience base that can help get me started and going in the right direction, and if I want to go in certain directions at a later time, there are people here to guide me. To get me started off as well as can be expected in my current scenario, I'd like to begin assembling a list of things I'll need. I'd like to start with basic, general use things, that everybody running a lathe is going to need, and I'd like to prioritize a bit. I'll have to acquire these things in many small purchases over a long period, so I would like to get down to essentials.

One of my chief annoyances at the moment isn't particular to lathes, but is a general tool item. Once upon a time, I had a very nice set of hex wrenches in both standard and metric, that had every common size up to 3/4" (or maybe it was 1"-don't remember for sure) and 20mm. That was among a lot of tools acquired way back when I was a young man, but was among items stolen in a burglary many years back. I've accumulated many tools since then, but I've tended to buy what I needed at the time, and don't have many tools that were purchased as part of a larger set any longer. What I've noticed since then is that somehow, it seems like all the commonly available sets of hex wrenches run up to about 3/8" or 10mm, and you don't see many sets that have anything much beyond that. Do you tend to buy them as individual items above those sizes, or do you go to more specialized vendors for more expansive sets? The set that I'd had(the stolen ones) was a Craftsman set, as were so many of the tools carted out by burglar(s) that day. I looked on Sears' site, and it doesn't seem like they carry anything near what they once did. I know it seems a trivial thing, but I use hex wrenches of many sizes in my firearms-related endeavors, my R/C airplane related pursuits, and in general automotive and farm-related uses, but most of those fall within the common size envelope of mass-market "sets." (I guess that's why they're mass-market sets.)

Enough about my allen wrench issues... Back to the lathe-specific items. I see discussions of carbide inserts vs. HSS inserts, and so on. I would just like to know where to start, what to put on my acquisition list, and begin getting the things I will need when I finally have my lathe operational. You guys represent expertise, but I also want input from the other relative newbies. I say this because you guys have just gotten into all of this, and you're making similar purchases, acquiring similar things, and I want to know what you've found to be most essential in your early lathe work, because you may have found you had to re-prioritize acquisitions from what you originally thought. I'm very interested to read about that.

So let's have a "New lathe owner on budget needs tools - doesn't wish to become one" kind of discussion. What I'm learning here in these fora is the extreme graciousness and candor of members, and I find it very refreshing. Thank you!

 

[4GSR]

Mark,

I've probably bought over 20 sets of allen wrenches over the past 15 years and still find myself buying them as I see a bargain. What brands to buy? I try to by the better brands out there, but have a few sets bought from Horror Freight that have turned out to be darn good! You will need a 9/16" allen wrench for the two CA tool holders you got from me. Get long arm allen wrenches!
AS for tooling for your lathe, need to buy a couple of CA holders for turning tools. We can help you out on this on locating some. Next will be turning tools. eBay is saturated with all sorts of turning tools, priced from cheap to high dollar stuff. This is dependent on what type of inserts you want to use. May want to use brazed carbide tools for a start or even HSS. Then you need a few boring bars. Need to also get you a live center and a drill chuck for your tailstock. This would get you started. I probably have some of the basic stuff laying here I could offer you if interested.

 

[Bob Korves]

I suggest that you first learn to grind your own cutting tools. You will eventually need to do it anyway, so you might as well start learning the art and skill of doing it. Carbide and insertable tooling are good things, but they are more expensive than HSS and they will not do all jobs well, and will require a large investment to have enough different ones to do good work on whatever you may be turning next. HSS tools can be adapted to many jobs where nothing else will work well, and results are mostly limited by your skills, which need to be trained and practiced. On really hard materials you will need carbide. There come times when it is even useful to grind inserts for a specific and immediate need. Best of all you learn to recognize what works and what does not on different materials and learn how to improve the results with your own skills instead of using your credit card. It is not really that difficult, and there are some great tutorials on the web and on YouTube. Being able to size up a cut that is not working well, determine the reasons why not, and correct the problems without ordering more expensive tooling is a major asset in just about every facet of machining.

 

[markamerica]

I suggest that you first learn to grind your own cutting tools. You will eventually need to do it anyway, so you might as well start learning the art and skill of doing it. Carbide and insertable tooling are good things, but they are more expensive than HSS and they will not do all jobs well, and will require a large investment to have enough different ones to do good work on whatever you may be turning next. HSS tools can be adapted to many jobs where nothing else will work well, and results are only limited by your skills, which need to be trained and practiced. There come times when it is even useful to grind inserts for a specific and immediate need. Best of all you learn to recognize what works and what does not on different materials and learn how to improve the results with your own skills instead of using your credit card. It is not really that difficult, and there are some great tutorials on the web and on YouTube. Being able to size up a cut that is not working well, determine the reasons why not, and correct the problems without ordering more expensive tools is a major asset in just about every facet of machining.

Bob,

Thanks! All solid advice. So let's talk grinders. I've got a 20yo bench grinder of dirt-cheap origins, don't remember if it was from Horror Freight, or Wally-World or what. Good for the little imprecise things I've done over the years but pretty cheesy. Thoughts on a decent new or "newsed" one? And wheels...

As for using one's mind, my maternal grand-dad was a machinist, and he would tell me that "sure there's hard work involved, but most machining happens between the ears." So I endorse the notion you've put forward.

I'm new to machining in any formal sense, but I've done a few little things here and there. It's probably a skill I can learn. Thanks!
Mark

 

[markamerica]

Mark,

I've probably bought over 20 sets of allen wrenches over the past 15 years and still find myself buying them as I see a bargain. What brands to buy? I try to by the better brands out there, but have a few sets bought from Horror Freight that have turned out to be darn good! You will need a 9/16" allen wrench for the two CA tool holders you got from me. Get long arm allen wrenches!
AS for tooling for your lathe, need to buy a couple of CA holders for turning tools. We can help you out on this on locating some. Next will be turning tools. eBay is saturated with all sorts of turning tools, priced from cheap to high dollar stuff. This is dependent on what type of inserts you want to use. May want to use brazed carbide tools for a start or even HSS. Then you need a few boring bars. Need to also get you a live center and a drill chuck for your tailstock. This would get you started. I probably have some of the basic stuff laying here I could offer you if interested.

Ken,

Makes sense. I'm building a list and will start buying things as I see good bargains come along. I don't at all mind buying used as often, that's the way to go and better than some of the cheaper new stuff out there, from what I've seen.

Thanks!

Mark

 

[Bob Korves]

Bob,

Thanks! All solid advice. So let's talk grinders. I've got a 20yo bench grinder of dirt-cheap origins, don't remember if it was from Horror Freight, or Wally-World or what. Good for the little imprecise things I've done over the years but pretty cheesy. Thoughts on a decent new or "newsed" one? And wheels...

As for using one's mind, my maternal grand-dad was a machinist, and he would tell me that "sure there's hard work involved, but most machining happens between the ears." So I endorse the notion you've put forward.

I'm new to machining in any formal sense, but I've done a few little things here and there. It's probably a skill I can learn. Thanks!
Mark

A bench grinder is a very simple device. The wheels spin and there is a rest to put the work or your hand on. If you have that and it runs, you are ready to go regarding a bench grinder. A general purpose aluminum oxide grinding wheel will work. Whatever it came with is probably fine. There are smoother and more expensive grinders, but you can grind a good tool on any of them, as long at the wheel or grinder is not so much out of balance that it walks off the table. Oh, and the grinder wheel needs to be dressed, nice and square across the cutting face, with nice sharp abrasive grains exposed to the work. That should also help make it run smoother...

 

[markamerica]

A bench grinder is a very simple device. The wheels spin and there is a rest to put the work or your hand on. If you have that and it runs, you are ready to go regarding a bench grinder. A general purpose aluminum oxide grinding wheel will work. Whatever it came with is probably fine. There are smoother and more expensive grinders, but you can grind a good tool on any of them, as long at the wheel or grinder is not so much out of balance that it walks off the table. Oh, and the grinder wheel needs to be dressed, nice and square across the cutting face, with nice sharp abrasive grains exposed to the work. That should also help make it run smoother...

Bob,
Sounds about right. My old grinder walks pretty good though... I dress the wheels periodically. Probably should do more often.

Thanks!

Mark

 

[JimDawson]

As for using one's mind, my maternal grand-dad was a machinist, and he would tell me that "sure there's hard work involved, but most machining happens between the ears."

Your grand-dad was a wise man

I have been using my cheap Chinese 8 inch bench grinder for 25 years, still with the original wheels. I grind carbide and everything else on it. With carbide you just have to push a little harder, but it cuts pretty fast when it gets red hot. The grinder vibrates pretty good, but I just put my foot on the pedestal base to hold it in place.

I normally only buy the highest quality brazed carbide AR-8 bits from Harbor Freight. About $1.80 each in packs of 10. They actually hold up well, and if you destroy one it's not catastrophic. And I keep an assortment of HSS bits around for those times carbide just won't do or I need that special profile.

 

[Chipper5783]

The above comments are all excellent. Your question is good, but difficult to answer. It sounds like you have been into making, fixing, building for quite a few years. I am betting that you already have lots of tools that will be useful in machining. You probably already have a selection of drill bits, maybe some taps & dies, no doubt wrenches and other basic tools. Also of importance is what you want to do with the machine? For example, if you want to be making custom bolting, you need to get set up for threading. On the other hand, I know of home machinists who have never threaded with their lathes. What tooling you acquire, depends on what you want to do with the lathe. Okay, another consideration is the opportunities you have available to you. If you happen across some good used items that will work for you, even if it is not the next item on the list - buy it because it will save you money in the long run.

HSS is fine. Brazed carbide is fine, but carbide is very brittle and you need a good way to grind it. When you do start to use brazed carbide tooling, get a silicon carbide (green) wheel - it grinds pretty slow, so don't get too fine a wheel.
Review previous posts - also, drill chuck, selection of center drills, live center, one good sized drill bit (say 1" - for starting a hole that you will bore). You need a way to cut material to length. You don't need to get a parting tool right away. If you have some sort of a saw, you can take the piece out of the lathe - cut it to length and face the end (I did not have a parting tool for the first couple years).

Perhaps it has just been my projects, but two area I found myself getting into was: boring tools and measuring tools. It seemed I soon had quite a selection of boring tools and methods to hold the boring bars. The measuring tools are necessary in the endless "pursuit of precision". You need basic ID & OD measuring tools in the sizes for the jobs you will be doing.

Let us know how you make out.

Regards, David

 

[Tony Wells]

At one time we had a thread for people to give their ideas on essential tooling for lathes, and one for mills. I can't seem to locate either of them at the moment. I did find this thread, sort of along those lines, but less organized and I think less comprehensive. Might be an interesting read for you though.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/some-useful-lathe-tools.51/