Best unimat lathe cutting tool for beginners?

[chips&more]

The one on the right goes with the thread cutting attachment and it's missing a cap screw. All those little boxes are your master thread patterns. Not sure if that middle item is Unimat? And like others have noted, the round thing on the left is a face plate.

Edit: just noticed your added close-up pictures. Do not think the two pictured items are genuine Unimat. Maybe have been made for it, but not genuine. So, it’s anybody’s guess?

 

[thomas s]

One more vote for HSS tools

 

[Don B]

Thanks ls for the fast reply. What's the face plate used for? Here's the pics you suggested I take.

The face plate can be used for bolting an odd or square shape to for machining, or be used to drive a lathe dog for turning between centers.)

 

[george wilson]

Carbide really isn't needed even on larger bench lathes. Certainly not for these very low powered Unimats. Carbide takes more force to cut,and is not as sharp as HSS. This could be harder on the sewing machine size motors. Check them for getting too hot.

I don't use a Unimat,just my opinion. Even ion my HLVH,and my 16" lathe,I only use carbide for special uses,like facing off the face plate. Cast iron is hard on HSS tools,where the lathe cannot be made to go slow enough. I think it was ridiculous to make a 16" lathe that only goes down to 60 RPM. So,I made a special pulley,and reduced my speed to 1/2,or 30 RPM. 15 RPM would be even better,when you consider that I can swing 24" in the gap. So,carbide becomes necessary there. The HLVH only goes down to 125 RPM,so it has a too high minimum speed,too. But,it is a lathe for small work,really.

There is an ongoing notion among hobby level machinists that there is something magical,and necessary about using carbide. What SHOULD be an ongoing notion is to learn to sharpen your own tools. I even make my own special molding(mini form tools),out of carbon steel,since I can file it to shape. It works just fine for special parts I make for mechanical antiques. They used carbon for hundreds of years-thousands,actually. Just has to be run slowly.

One project that I used HSS,and carbon form tools is seen below. I like HSS because it will leave a clean cut at the speeds I use in my shop. So will carbon,for those special shapes that I cannot file into hard HSS.