Stuck with 4 way toolpost. How to cope?

I used shims for several years, it works but is cumbersome. Keep shopping for a quick change post
Also drop hints to your friends and family what you would like for birthday present :)
 
For only one year I shimmed my cutters on my 12X37 4-way tool post. I then modified all my holders always to be on centre without any shims. it is pretty easy. My measured distance from the bottom of the toolpost slot to centre line was .603. I milled every 5/8 shank tool insert holder I had to make the cutting edge .603 above the 4 way. My 1/2 tooling I made a universal carrier that was .103 on the bottom, now all those just slot right in (you might technically call that a shim if you like)

I only had one other holder, and I gave that to a friend.

I also use 1/2" HSS tools directly in the .103 riser block.

Incredibly fast. accurate. worry free.
 
Aukai said:
6.99 at Amazon, you could probably get good prices at the discount auto stores too.
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that's what I was going to say.
they make excellent shims.
Also a shim pack of brass.

The problem with wood veneer is that it's compressible, so it will loosen up, or deflect while under load.
you need something that has no compression.
 
i used slivers of roofing steel for rough fits. And the ubiquitous feeler guage for finer fits. I found some on sale that were maybe not accurate enough to set valves but certainly made good shims when disassembled. Been a while but they showed up in a dollar bin at some parts store.

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Most hardware stores have a rack that includes flat bar. If you use 2" wide bar, you can cut pieces the width of the tool bit (or the slot in the 4-way) and get it pretty close. I have a number of these in 1/8" and 1/4" thickness. They change the height of bit shanks by the amount of difference in available sizes in my AXA holder. Back in my early apprenticeship days, I did the same thing with a 4-way tool holder, sometimes needing thinner shims to adjust the height.

Feeler gauges rarely go for more than a dollar at garage/estate sales. Disassemble rusty ones and soak in vinegar overnight. The rust pits don't affect their use as shims.
 
I made a QCTP some years ago, following an old magazine article I found on line. Might have been Popular Mechanics. I can't find it now. It was along the same lines as the Norman post mentioned above. You can make holders to suit a wide variety of bits.

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One of the nice things about the Norman QCTP is the low cost. For under $100 I bought enough material to make 20 tool holders. And they can be made to fit any lathe. If you have more than one lathe as long as the post is the same OD you can use the tool holders on both lathes. Won't even have to adjust the height if the post bases are made to compensate for different center line heights.
 
mickri said:
One of the nice things about the Norman QCTP is the low cost. For under $100 I bought enough material to make 20 tool holders. And they can be made to fit any lathe. If you have more than one lathe as long as the post is the same OD you can use the tool holders on both lathes. Won't even have to adjust the height if the post bases are made to compensate for different center line heights.
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Totally agree about the cost and adaptability factors. I'm currently finishing up a Norman-style tool holder for a dial indicator. I got tired of swapping it in and out of one of my preexisting holders. That's six so far -- three for conventional tools (and my DI), one parting blade, a boring bar and one for a diamond/tangential style cutter. I made the post out of steel and the holders are 6061 aluminum. They are plenty rigid, more so than my little 7x12 lathe itself. Folks with bigger lathes probably want to use steel throughout.
 
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