Carbide insert tooling and brands for new hobby lathe/mill

[mac1911]

I acquired a 90s vintage Smithy 1220 3-1. Slowly getting it cleaned up , tightened up , replace worn , missing parts ect ect.
I have been fooling around with the cheap HF Brazed Carbide it came with. I grew tired of the tool post and ordered a Bostar axa QCTP I have a few HSS cutters but I like the idea of the inserts until I get good at grinding HSS and a decent grinder with correct wheels.
So whats a good brand of holders and bits for the hobby mills lathes

 

[KyleG]

I’ve been happy with Latheinserts.com and Carbide Depot.

 

[Larry$]

If you have a bench grinder buy a decent wheel for it and some HSS steel. Not all your tools need to be ground from the largest size your tool post will take. Smaller tool blanks are much faster to grind. A medium/fine diamond stone for quick touch ups. It isn't all that hard to grind lathe tools that work fine. You can get one of those 6 or 8 pc. Chinese sets to copy the shapes to get started. A QCTP is nice but you can start W/O one. Make yourself a tool for setting height. I copied one that Oxtool made. I like the easy adjustability of it. Not that you need to do that often. I've got an assortment of insert tools. Mostly I use them for hogging steel. Good inserts are expensive!. Import ones are hit or miss. Some have been very good but I suspect don't last as long. I can get beautiful finishes with HSS. I've got Shars & PM tool holders, seem fine. Shars puts them on sale periodically.

 

[mikey]

I highly recommend you go to Amazon and buy this book: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction...mzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840

Everything you need to know, from tool posts to recommended tools and inserts is in this extremely well-written and useful book. Every new hobby machinist who needs to know about inserted carbide tooling should begin here, with David's book.

HSS is great but you do have to learn to grind them. In t he meantime you still need to learn to use your lathe and carbide tools are not a bad way to start. My usual recommendation is to use GOOD (Kennametal, Micro 100) brazed carbide tools first while you learn to grind HSS. If you prefer inserted tools then either go with AR Warner HSS inserts or buy David's book and learn which carbide tools you should get.

Good Luck!

Go buy David's book. It will save you big bucks in the long run.

 

[mac1911]

If you have a bench grinder buy a decent wheel for it and some HSS steel. Not all your tools need to be ground from the largest size your tool post will take. Smaller tool blanks are much faster to grind. A medium/fine diamond stone for quick touch ups. It isn't all that hard to grind lathe tools that work fine. You can get one of those 6 or 8 pc. Chinese sets to copy the shapes to get started. A QCTP is nice but you can start W/O one. Make yourself a tool for setting height. I copied one that Oxtool made. I like the easy adjustability of it. Not that you need to do that often. I've got an assortment of insert tools. Mostly I use them for hogging steel. Good inserts are expensive!. Import ones are hit or miss. Some have been very good but I suspect don't last as long. I can get beautiful finishes with HSS. I've got Shars & PM tool holders, seem fine. Shars puts them on sale periodically.

Thanks
Im getting the QCTP because I have already grown tired of changing /shims / tool pieces

My hurdle with grinding is space.
Currently my lathe is in my shed that I run off Gen power and I have little space left for the grinder.
So for now as I play around with the lathe im trying to find middle ground.

 

[Ischgl99]

I have some AR Warner HSS inserts and toolholders, they work well, but the inserts are pricey. Some of the inserts have different relief angles depending on the tool, so you need to be aware of what carbide insert will work with them if you buy their tools and want to use carbide later, or buy their inserts to use with other brand tools.

I buy inserts from www.latheinserts.com as well as from Ebay if I find a trustworthy looking source, the toolholders from latherinserts are chinese, but appear decent quality. I’m not sure where the inserts are from since they come in an unmarked box. The owner of the company used to work for Kennametal I believe, so knows his stuff. I recently bought an SCLC toolholder from them and it has an M3.5 hold down screw instead of M4 like western brands. It still works fine, just be aware you won’t be able to interchange hold down screws between holders if some have M3.5 and others M4. I keep some extras on hand since they are hard to find if you drop them on the floor when changing an insert. I think the best value is something from TMX, great quality at a better price than something from Kennametal.

I like buying Kennametal inserts, they come in packs of 5 instead of 10, so you don’t have to spend as much when trying out something new.

 

[mac1911]

Thank you.

 

[Larry$]

I agree with Mikey & David. Professional quality tools, insets and holders are great. Get them if you've got the $. Brazed carbide tools are cheaper than inserted but you will need to sharpen them sooner or later. Diamond wheels and dust collection. Inserts come 5 or 10 to the package. Name brand ones from $6 to $12 each insert, for the common sizes.

since they are hard to find if you drop them on the floor when changing an insert.

I finally started using a shallow pan to change inserts over. My old hands struggle and my screws seem to have enough energy to travel long distances.
I've found that I can get good results sharpening the top face of inserts on a diamond wheel. It only takes a small amount of carbide removal . Yes it ruins the chip breaker but it also makes the insert cut better on aluminum and reduces the required depth of cut on steel. Quick & cheap! I cast aluminum and get the hard aluminum oxide on & in the castings. A proper sprue pouring well helps but.... Hell on cutting tools.

 

[Ischgl99]

I finally started using a shallow pan to change inserts over

That’s a good idea, I have an extra disposable cookie pan like I have been using to collect chips under my lathe I can use. My eyesight and dexterity are not what they use to be either!

 

[mac1911]

I agree with Mikey & David. Professional quality tools, insets and holders are great. Get them if you've got the $. Brazed carbide tools are cheaper than inserted but you will need to sharpen them sooner or later. Diamond wheels and dust collection. Inserts come 5 or 10 to the package. Name brand ones from $6 to $12 each insert, for the common sizes.

I finally started using a shallow pan to change inserts over. My old hands struggle and my screws seem to have enough energy to travel long distances.
I've found that I can get good results sharpening the top face of inserts on a diamond wheel. It only takes a small amount of carbide removal . Yes it ruins the chip breaker but it also makes the insert cut better on aluminum and reduces the required depth of cut on steel. Quick & cheap! I cast aluminum and get the hard aluminum oxide on & in the castings. A proper sprue pouring well helps but.... Hell on cutting tools.

I have been dressing up the cheap brazed Carbide tools that came with the lath. I use some fine diamond files I use on gun smithing
Helped a good amount and was able to get a decent finish compared to the last few attempts.
Theres still a but of a taper but so much better now than when I got it.