Grinding HSS bits gives you the opportunity to make custom bits suited to what are sometimes unique situations that hobbyists face. That said, if you want simplicity and HSS you can use Diamond Tool Holders (Quinn has been using these frequently recently) and/or T-15 inserts from A.R. Warner (insert holders with HSS bits than you can sharpen on an oil stone).
Thank you, Rick. That’s exactly what I’m doing right now. I had my very first lathe—a LittleMachineShop mini lathe—for a couple of months. After working on a couple of small projects and watching a series of Blondihacks videos, I decided to sell it and buy the same PM-1022V machine that Quinn was using. The problem is that reselling comes with a significant loss of money, at least that was the case for me.
Yeah, I've watched Mr Pete's videos on the unitmats he's got (did you see that teensy micro-micro lathe he did a few videos on?). I'm enjoying the Atlas 6x18 restoration. I do love his 'explorative' videos, I've enjoyed his recent sensitive drill press videos.
Even with a 10” lathe I’d recommend 3/8” tooling: blanks cost less and there’s less to grind away.
While LMS does have a YT channel, it's mostly about how-to's for what they sell (Chris Wood would be perfect for this task, but is no longer full-time having sold the business some time back - he does stop in occasionally). However, if you dig into the LMS website, you can see the evolution from the basic SIEG C2 to the latest LMS 7450 7x16 with all of the add-ons (but without the how to do it yourself videos).Yeah, I've watched Mr Pete's videos on the unitmats he's got (did you see that teensy micro-micro lathe he did a few videos on?). I'm enjoying the Atlas 6x18 restoration. I do love his 'explorative' videos, I've enjoyed his recent sensitive drill press videos.
I don't really need any of these guys to do a 'how to' on improving the Chinese 7x. There are tons, some great (Steve Jordan, Artisan Makes and the previously mentioned "We can make that better") and some bloody awful!
What I'd enjoy, is a series where one of the usual suspects gets a Chinese 7x (from a reputable importer like LMS or Grizzly) takes say the bed, headstock and tailstock castings as settleable and upgradeable (but not replaceable) and then goes to town on the thing, sparing no effort or expense (within reason).
I actually think ToT would the best person for the job, as he has the chops, the imagination and the sense of humour to take on the challenge but to be fair it's not a sensible use of anybody's time, so I can't blame him for declining!
Yeah, I've watched Mr Pete's videos on the unitmats he's got (did you see that teensy micro-micro lathe he did a few videos on?). I'm enjoying the Atlas 6x18 restoration. I do love his 'explorative' videos, I've enjoyed his recent sensitive drill press videos.
I don't really need any of these guys to do a 'how to' on improving the Chinese 7x. There are tons, some great (Steve Jordan, Artisan Makes and the previously mentioned "We can make that better") and some bloody awful!
What I'd enjoy, is a series where one of the usual suspects gets a Chinese 7x (from a reputable importer like LMS or Grizzly) takes say the bed, headstock and tailstock castings as settleable and upgradeable (but not replaceable) and then goes to town on the thing, sparing no effort or expense (within reason).
I actually think ToT would the best person for the job, as he has the chops, the imagination and the sense of humour to take on the challenge but to be fair it's not a sensible use of anybody's time, so I can't blame him for declining!
That loss of money represents a very low price for the learning it provided. Lessons from a machinist would have cost a lot more, even if you could find them.