# Dial Indicator & Boring Bars from Shars



## harrzack (Apr 13, 2017)

I've been learning how bad the low cost brazed carbide boring bars are (incorrectly ground) and was looking for indexable carbide - but saw these C12 babies and went for them.  Now in hand, I half fear they are ground as badly as the brazed bars (not totally confirmed yet) but at least I can grind them.

Def take a look at their dial indicator! There is a video there of a fellow running accuracy test on the Shars and other top names - and it came out with FLYING colors - for $11! 


Dial Indicator: http://bit.ly/2p9GwO5


Boring bars:  http://bit.ly/2p9OmXU


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 13, 2017)

Can't beat that for 11 bucks! Thank you for the tip.


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## harrzack (Apr 13, 2017)

HA! Even if you have a couple already - how can any red-blooded tool-lover pass this by!!


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## Groundhog (Apr 13, 2017)

(I'm not advocating Shars, just my personal experience).
Since the close of Enco I shop around a lot but seem to be using Shars as a "go-to" supplier (and usually the "Shars") brand. I got a bigger lathe last fall and have been purchasing a bunch of new tooling (QCTP, tool holders, HSS blanks, indicators & holders, etc).
For my home hobby shop I've been happy with quality, price & service. I have several Shars dial indicators & no problems.


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## harrzack (Apr 13, 2017)

Yes - Shars fairly good, but you do have to check carefully.   Also - they have a store on feeBay called "discount_machine".  Some times prices are a tad higher - but often better.   Check both!

Another nicety of the Shars site is the great photos and dimensions of their various products.   Not a shill - just happy buyer!


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## mikey (Apr 13, 2017)

harrzack said:


> I've been learning how bad the low cost brazed carbide boring bars are (incorrectly ground) and was looking for indexable carbide - but saw these C12 babies and went for them.  Now in hand, I half fear they are ground as badly as the brazed bars (not totally confirmed yet) but at least I can grind them.
> 
> Boring bars:  http://bit.ly/2p9OmXU



The bars are listed as M42, which is HSS/Co, not carbide. Am I missing something?


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## kvt (Apr 13, 2017)

I have a purchased several items from Shars,  and they have been ok,  But I am not expert, but for my low level needs they work,   Also have a few old  high quality tools aslo that I have used for my fine small works.  
And some of my cheeper indicators were more than that.


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## harrzack (Apr 13, 2017)

mikey said:


> The bars are listed as M42, which is HSS/Co, not carbide. Am I missing something?



mikey - I contacted Shars about that, and as expected the 'carbide' is a typo.  I'm still not sure if they are ground correctly though...


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 13, 2017)

I have a shars 3 jaw scroll chuck for my south bend, I'll probably buy another one, a 4 jaw scroll chuck. I do have one dial indicator gage from them that works fine. The quality of the stuff I have gotten from them isn't bad, allows me to by more. I think a set of r8 collets from them will be purchased too.


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## NCjeeper (Apr 14, 2017)

I like Shars stuff.


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## mikey (Apr 14, 2017)

harrzack said:


> mikey - I contacted Shars about that, and as expected the 'carbide' is a typo.  I'm still not sure if they are ground correctly though...



Thank you for looking into that. If that is an M42 set then the price is very nice for an 8% cobalt set of bars. You can grind them with a bench grinder or belt sander and hone them with a diamond stone. I like these bars in a boring head but they also work well on the lathe, provided we keep in mind their extension limitations. 

If you plan to use them on the lathe, consider grinding a 5 degree lead on them - this reduces tangential forces and also shifts cutting forces toward axial for improved accuracy. The positive lead also allows you to cut cleanly in a closed bottom bore compared to a zero lead bar - less rubbing and chatter.


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## fast freddie (Apr 14, 2017)

harrzack said:


> mikey - I contacted Shars about that, and as expected the 'carbide' is a typo.  I'm still not sure if they are ground correctly though...


They look like they need to be ground correctly by the user


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