My AXA Tool Blocks From CDCO

[Aukai]

I liked my experience with All industrial, but have not purchased any blocks.

 

[darkzero]

blocks from Shars, Grizzly, All Industrial and a few others, they all appear the same as those from CDCO,

They may function the same but they are not the same as in not the same manufacturer & style. For BXA anyway. The CDCO AXA & BXA ones closely resemble the old Shars ones but are not from the same factory. But now Shars has 2 different styles. Phase II appears to be from the same factory as the old style Shars except Phase II uses different set screw. Not sure if Phase II ones are currently the same as before. Back then WT Tool carried the ones from Shars but did not say Shars on them like Shars' old stock. Not sure about these days.

The second style from Shars, Grizzly, & All Industrial appear the same, they use smaller set screws with black thick adjusters. CDCO ones use the larger set screws like the old style Shars. In BXA size these ones with the smaller set screws the holder is longer in length than the CDCO, old style Shars, & Phase II.

I prefer the style that looks like CDCO & old style Shars. But again the old style Shars is no longer availabe so I'll buy from CDCO again when I need more & they're cheap. I've never had an issue with Shars holders (or anyone else) unlike CDCO. But those bad ones I got from CDCO were probably just luck of the draw. My issue with CDCO is the person who runs the place. Extreme example of the typical take your money & no customer service if ever needed.

None of this really matters, they work, just clarifying that they are not all the same.

 

[Buffalo21]

DZ,

I do not doubt what you say, the majority of the ones I have from Grizzly and the others are 10+ yrs old and look identical to the CDCO ones I have, the only ones that are different are the newer All industrial sourced #250-101XLs (5/8” tooling in an AXA block) and the 3, I have from Dorian and the 4, I have from Aloris. Since I have not bought from anyone else recently (except the #250-101XLs) for the last 10 yards or so, have all come from CDCO.

until your post I did not know the Shars and other ones were different now. How so?? Are they longer, higher, wider??.

About 8 yrs ago now, I ordered a box of 500 of the 8 mm x 1.25 mm x 20 square head, full dog point set screws to replace the ones that came in the blocks, the kid at the supply store entered the order wrong and I ended up with 5000 of them. It was going to cost the supplier almost the entire cost with restocking and shipping, to return the extras, so I ended up buying them at cost. I sold off many of them, gave some away and still have an adequate supply for my self.

I started out with a Grizzly QCTP, the piston type, later changed to a Phase II wedge type, happen upon a deal for an Aloris tool post and was quite happy, then with a work bonus burning a hole in my pocket, and a 25% off coupon from Grizzly, I bought a Dorian, stated to have the “New and Improved” wedge design. I sold off the Aloris and kept the Dorian. I’m still not sure if the actual performance between the Phase II, the Aloris and the Dorian was all that great, the fit and finish on the Aloris was miles ahead of the Phase II and the fit and finish of the Dorian, is a step or two above the Aloris, whether any of them worked any better is still a subject I question.

 

[darkzero]

Shars has 2 styles now, not including the old style which is NLA. As I mentioned one style is longer in length & uses smaller set screws which is a popular style sold by others now. Shars even specifies to order by type A or type B depending on which QCTP model you have from them. They claim one will not fit the other QCTP even though they are the same size/series. This does not make sense to me cause if you have a BXA or whatever, all other BXA holders should fit. Of course I understand there are variances between Chinese manufacturers h this probably the reason but this just sounds like a mess to me. No one else specifies this & Shars did not specify this with their old style holders.

Can't link to their ebay pages to show the differeneces as their ebay store is still closed. Their website probably has it. They did just announce yesterday that they have resumed operation. Found their pic though.


Here's a thread here showing some comparisons. The Shars holder in this post is just one of the newer styles. Older style NLA holder not shown.

Qctp Holder Review Part 1

I have read a lot of discussions on the pros and cons of QCTP holders from various manufacturers but never a head to head comparison so I collected four of the commonly used BXA-1 holders for review. I have had inexpensive import QCTP's and more recently a new Aloris QCTP . Just from an...

www.hobby-machinist.com

I have nothing against Aloris, they are good quality & set the "standard". I had a DTM TP65A (AXA) for my old mini lathe which I loved. DTM was created by former employess of Aloris, owner retired & their doors closed. When I got my current lathe I wanted another DTM QCTP (well I really wanted a Multifix but cost wise it didn't make sense for me being in the US). I couldn't find a DTM TP75A (BXA).

Yup that's what I have too. I bought a Dorian SQCTP when they had just transitioned to the wedge style from their previous cam style. I assume they had to do something about model confusion cause they later changed the color of the wedge style from red to silver. I'm very happy with the Dorian but I hate their current holders. They kept changing them. Aloris came out with the oversized holders (1 shank size larger) & Dorian followed. Those standard size & oversized Dorian holders were fine for me. But then Dorian decided to change their holders & make them what I call extreme oversized (2 shank sizes bigger). Now these extreme oversized holders are their "standard" now, they no longer make the "normal" size. Here's a post I made about them a while back. (Post #8)

Upgrading to a QCTP ....... advice please

I'm contemplating replacing the old peg & wedge tool post on my old 10 inch throw lathe, currently I've been using a Myford clamp and centre bolt but have found this unsatisfactory in that the nine inch long boring tool I was using kept easing out of true from under the clamp, which ended up...

www.hobby-machinist.com

If I knew what I knew now back then I would have just bought all genuine Aloris holders to begin with to use with my Dorian TP. But I probably wouldn't have been able to afford all that back then anyway. But I'm perfectly fine with the holders I have now which are 90% Shars old style. The rest are Dorian & a few CDCO. IMHO it's the tool post that makes most of the difference.

 

[Buffalo21]

DZ,

thank you, the links you posted were good reads,

 

[BGHansen]

I must have a lot of dumb luck as I have at least 75 BXA holders from CDCO and have had no issues at all.

Bruce

 

[uncle harry]

My first and last order from CDCO tool company included an AXA tool post and about 8 tool holders along with quite a bit of other tooling. Most of the holders were ok but inconsistent how they say down on the wedge type tool post. One was so far out of whack that it couldn't be tightened up on the post. I tried contacting Frank about the issue and he did not return my emails. He was very johnny-on-the-spot taking my purchase inquiry and order but when I had an issue I could get no reply from him. I will not order from that outfit ever again.

I've had sloppy fit problems with some of their AXA blocks as well. I have made shims out of HVAC tin to fit the took post. Inconvenient at best, especially when I lose the shims.

 

[Nyala]

I've had three on order since September 2019 and have yet to receive them. Last week I sent an email requesting cancellation of the order, which included other items, and have decided to make my own AXA holders. I ordered what I needed and I'm ready to proceed.

 

[Buffalo21]

I spent a good part of the late morning, opening up 4 of the blocks to hold 5/8” (16 mm) tooling and 4 of the blocks to hold 3/4” (19 mm) tooling and left 4 of them to hold 1/2” tooling.

 

[Janderso]

I have had very good luck with Shars CXA holders.
No complaints whatsoever.